NARRATIVE WRITING BASICS BUILDING BLOCKS

Narrative writing is writing that has a STORY, CHARACTERS, CONFLICT, PLOT

SETTING and THEME.

You should start by outlining the story you will write. Start by just writing one or two
lines; what is your story about, what is the theme? Then move on to the plot. Where
does it start, what conflict will you introduce to your story, how will you resolve this
conflict, and how will you end the story?

Who are the key characters and supporting characters? The protagonist is the main
character. The antagonist is the evil or negative character in the story.

Where is the setting of the story?

After you have an outline, choose which point of view you will tell your story from?

FIRST PERSON: I Me or WE, the main character is telling the story

SECOND PERSON: YOU YOUR & YOURS, author talks directly to the reader, most
appropriate for emails, business letters
THIRD PERSON: HE SHE THEY, the narrator (author, or you) are telling the story.
Look at the point of view chart and write your own examples of first, second, and
third point of view.
CONFLICT:

 Man vs man, in this type of conflict, the central character clashes with

another person. It doesn’t always have to be a person. They could be
animals for instance. 
 Man vs himself, when a story has a person vs. self - conflict, the main
character battles him or herself. He or she may lack confidence or ability.
He or she may have to make a difficult choice. Or he or she may have to
address a personal problem. The key here is that the battle occurs within the
character, though it may involve and affect other characters.
 Man vs society, with this type of conflict, the main character challenges a
law, tradition, or institution. The main character or characters may battle
against the forces that represent these institutions.
 Man vs nature, when a story has a person vs. nature conflict, the main
character fights to endure or overcome forces of nature. He or she may
struggle to survive harsh elements, navigate through a disaster, or meet his or
her basic needs. Stories with this type of conflict may occur in the wilderness
often, but they can occur in urban settings too.
Look at the above creative ways to start your story, try writing some examples of
your own…
STORY ENDINGS
We will not be using cliff-hanger for
IGCSE writing
Show Don’t Tell is an important part of Narrative Writing
Look at the anchor charts below and write some examples of your own
Remember another element you should think of including in your story is
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
Let’s look at the chart below
We are going to write some examples:
Meandered – meandering streams flowed down the mountain sparkling under the
warm rays of the sun
romped – the noisy bunch of boys romped around with a ball in the garden
howled, coveted, bolted, blubbered, fancied, hurtled, idolized

TIME TO WRITE A NARRATIVE

Plan: A boy is lazy and not motivated. He hears about the sports competition in
school and feels bad that he never does well in sports. He strives to change his
habits and his best friend helps him to achieve his goal. He gains the fruits of his
efforts and achieves his dream!
SAMPLE ESSAY
Rajiv lay for hours lethargically on the sofa of his sitting room, dominated by the
towering flat screen sprawled across one wall, gazing at all the boys playing
energetically outside. “Why don’t you go out and play?” yelled his mum, but he didn’t
want to move from his comfy seat, he was indeed a couch potato!
The next day at school, the teacher announced that the annual sports day was going
to be held soon. Everyone in the class was jubilant…except Rajiv, he detested
sports day, because he always came last! The others in the class were sniggering at
him and he felt himself turning as red as a beet, then his best friend Dylan tried to
encourage him and said, “hey why don’t you take part this year, I’ll help you train for
the running event.”
A spark kindled inside Rajiv, and he felt that he really needed to change himself,
however he harboured a lot of self- doubts. He wasn’t sure if he could jog, let alone
run a race, and how much sweat and tears in the form of hard work would he have to
put in? Dylan assured him that they would do it as a team, so that day Rajiv trotted
home feeling a bit more confident about himself…this time he was really going to try
and dispel all his negative thoughts, he was going to try and be a winner!
Slogging for hours after school training and practising in the park was their new
routine. Sometimes Rajiv wanted to give up he was frustrated, exhausted, unfit, and
all his muscles ached. But Dylan wouldn’t let him; urging him to persevere, and keep
his final goal in focus.
Finally, it was time for the much- awaited sports day, the boys were biting their nails;
their hearts were pounding. The race began and Rajiv had a late start, but
miraculously, he overtook the others on the track, charging ahead triumphantly and
went on to win! It was an ecstatic day for him and his parents, the others in class
jumped up and down, cheering for him too. He thanked his friend profusely for all his
support, and learned that if you put your mind to something…you can achieve your
goal. 376 words
Now let’s write another story, we can start by thinking of the theme, plot. Next, we
shall decide about the characters in your story and the setting.
Some prompts to think about…
Paddling along in a canoe, I made it to the centre of the lake, suddenly the boat
got a leak and…(overcoming a challenge)
Ryan loved riding his bike through the woods, but today the woods looked different.
The trees looked angry, and there were no birds chirping…(courage)
Lauren’s life had been consumed by the inter school dance competition and she
sprained her ankle just before the event; how could she miss the event, who would
take her place? (facing a dilemma)
Sample 1
Paddling along in a canoe, I glided towards the centre of the lake with ease but
suddenly; the boat sprung a leak and some icy cold water started trickling in, like the
first drops of rain sliding down a snow-capped mountainside into a stream, forming a
small puddle around my feet.
At first, I ignored the wetness thinking that some water might have leaked from my
water bottle, but as the cheeky puddle grew larger and larger, my heart started
thudding louder and louder and as I peered into the distance; all I could see around
me was miles of steel blue waves which appeared to be becoming angrier and
angrier as the sky changed its warm glowing mood and darkened above me. “Oh no,
a thunderstorm, that’s all I need right now!”, I spat out - knowing that no one could
hear my desperation.
Drip, drip, drip, the clouds opened up and let out their shower of raindrops, landing
straight into the already wet canoe like bullets too my heart! Terrible thoughts started
tearing through my mind, I could feel how arctic cold the lake water was and it looked
likely that the boat was starting to tilt!
“Jump in”, I thought to myself; “you will have to swim for your life.”
Grabbing my life jacket, mustering up all the courage that I could, and squeezing my
eyes tightly shut, I dived into the dark abyss; no idea how I was going to escape – or
if I even was.
The chill of the water pierced me like a thousand needle pricks together but I
continued swimming, arms flailing as I had no choice; it was ‘sink or swim.’ Time was
a crawling snail, with only the unwelcoming waves for company. Would I survive
these choppy waters, how long could my body defend itself against the cold water,
would I live to tell this tale? The rains were lashing down, and my visibility only a few
feet.
Then I heard a glorious hopeful symphony of sounds…
Chirpy chatter and heart-warming chuckles reached out to me like the soothing
hands of a caress; when I was at a point of feeling utterly dejected. A tingle of hope
ran through my freezing cold veins as the voices could be faintly heard from a
distance; there was another boat nearby! “Help, help!”, I shrieked…my heart
pounding with excitement. Jerking their heads up suddenly from their fun and frolic,
one of them spotted me from a distance, waiving with both arms as another one
grabbed their binoculars to see what the commotion was about. I must have been a
sorry sight! Frantically steering their boat, they began rowing towards me. There
was a happy ending to my disastrous day after all! (455)

NOW TRY IT YOURSELF

“The Lost Bag”, use this as a title to write a narrative…
Sitting down at a bus stop
Notice bright pink rucksack left behind
You start worrying
Describe your thoughts a little
Decide to look in the bag to try and identify who it is
Find a diary, describe the diary, you are drawn to it…want to read it
Get engrossed, it belongs to a young girl who is dealing with so much pain because
her mother is very ill
At the back of the diary, you find an address
You decide to go there
You’re startled when the door opens
It’s a girl from your class who no-one talks to because everyone finds her withdrawn
You become friends…
Theme – not to judge others
Characters – you and the girl
Setting – bus stop and her home

NOW TRY IT YOURSELF

“I looked in the mirror and saw…”, use this as a title to write a narrative…