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25 Engaging Narrative Speech Examples for Effective Storytelling

Are you finding it tough to keep your audience hooked on your stories? Trust me, you’re in good company; I’ve wrestled with the same challenge and knew something had to give. After diving deep into research, I stumbled upon 25 captivating narrative speech examples that completely revolutionized my approach to storytelling .

In this article, I’ll share these dynamic techniques and real-life instances that will empower you to enchant any crowd. Brace yourself for a true game-changer !

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways

• Narrative speeches are a powerful way to share stories and ideas. They use personal experiences or creative tales to make messages memorable.
• Effective narrative speeches require careful planning, from choosing the right topic to organizing thoughts in an engaging way.
• Using descriptive language, vivid details, and expressive tone can help bring your story to life for listeners.
• There are many topics you can explore in a narrative speech, including personal challenges, memorable experiences, and lessons learned.
• Practice and feedback are important steps in improving your storytelling skills for captivating audience attention .

Understanding the Essence of Narrative Speeches

What is a narrative speech and how it differs from anecdotes.

Definition of the word ‘narrative’

A narrative is a story that someone tells or writes . This story can be about real events from the past or made-up adventures . In speeches, narratives help us share personal experiences and entertain our audience.

They bring life to our words by allowing listeners to see through our eyes. Stories in narrative speeches often highlight lessons learned or moments that changed us.

Using effective storytelling techniques , these stories connect with people on a deeper level . Every good speech uses elements of narratives to keep the audience engaged and interested.

We use tales from our own lives or others’ experiences as examples when talking about overcoming fear, learning new skills, or any topic we choose for public speaking.

Difference between anecdotes and stories

Anecdotes are brief personal stories , while stories are more detailed and often fictional or based on real events. Anecdotes aim to illustrate a specific point or experience , whereas stories have a developed plot with characters and settings .

Anecdotes usually focus on one incident, while stories can span a longer period and involve multiple events. Additionally, anecdotes tend to be shorter in length than stories.

The distinction between anecdotes and stories lies in their depth and purpose; anecdotes serve as brief illustrations for specific points or experiences, while stories offer more extensive plots with characters and settings, typically involving multiple events over a longer timespan.

Effective Narrative Speech Topics

Choosing captivating narrative speech topics is crucial for engaging your audience and making an impact. From brainstorming ideas to selecting the right topic, this section will guide you through the process, ensuring your narrative speech resonates with your listeners.

Brainstorming ideas

When brainstorming ideas for narrative speeches, consider real-life experiences and personal anecdotes . Here are some engaging topics to spark your creativity:

• Reflect on a valuable lesson learned
• Describe a memorable travel experience
• Share a moment of overcoming fear or adversity
• Discuss a significant achievement or milestone
• Explore a unique hobby or passion
• Recall a funny or embarrassing moment
• Delve into a cultural tradition or family heritage
• Analyze a turning point in your life
• Examine the impact of a role model or mentor
• Reflect on a memorable childhood experience

Remember, your own experiences can be the most compelling source of storytelling material!

Choosing the right topic

When choosing a topic, consider real-world experiences and anecdotes . Your story should be engaging and relatable to your audience. Think about personal challenges , unexpected adventures , or lessons learned .

These topics will make your narrative speech more impactful and memorable for your listeners, enhancing the effectiveness of your storytelling skills.

So, here are 40 firsts you can consider for your narrative speech topics :

• Your first day at school
• Your first pet
• Your first time riding a bike
• The first movie you ever watched at the cinema
• Your first camping trip
• The first time you traveled by plane
• Your first job interview experience
• Your first public speaking experience in school
• The first time you cooked a meal by yourself
• Your first volunteering experience
• The first time you overcame a fear or phobia
• The moment of your highest achievement so far
• The moment of your lowest point in life
• That one person who has had the most significant impact on your life
• A great lesson learned from a failure
• Your biggest adventure yet
• The funniest mistake you’ve ever made
• A surprising discovery that changed your perspective on something important
• A moment when someone’s small act of kindness meant the world to you
• An unforgettable family tradition or ritual
• Your most memorable travel experience
• A mystery or ghost story that still gives you chills
• Meeting someone famous unexpectedly
• An embarrassing moment that turned into a valuable life lesson
• The day that completely changed the course of your life
• The greatest risk you took and what happened next
• A challenge that tested your patience and resilience
• How a seemingly ordinary event led to extraordinary opportunities for growth and success
• The best surprise party or celebration planned for someone else
• An unexpected turn of events leading to an unusual friendship
• Losing something precious and learning to cope with it
• Experiencing an extreme weather condition like never before
• Rescuing an animal in need or being rescued by one
• That one subject in school which impacted your way of thinking
• Owning up to a mistake and dealing with its consequences
• A personal project or hobby turning into something much more than anticipated
• Discovering an old family secret or hidden treasure
• Attending an event that broadened your cultural horizons dramatically
• An encounter with nature that left an indelible mark on your soul
• The day when empathy made all the difference, bringing about positive change.

As we have explored various engaging narrative speech examples, let’s now understand how to write a compelling narrative speech .

40 tell-a-story speech topics

• Overcoming a fear
• A memorable family vacation
• Learning to ride a bike
• Meeting a childhood hero
• Getting lost in an unfamiliar place
• Standing up for what’s right
• My first job interview
• Making a big decision
• The best gift I ever received
• A challenging sports moment
• A funny misunderstanding
• My proudest achievement
• Dealing with failure and learning from it
• An unexpected act of kindness
• The power of teamwork in a tough situation
• Making a new friend in an unlikely place
• .The day that changed my life
• .An unforgettable journey
• .Coping with a difficult loss
• .Discovering a passion or hobby
• .A valuable lesson learned from a mistake
• .Facing a personal challenge head – on
• .Exploring a new culture or tradition
• Experiencing the joy of accomplishment after hard work
• Exploring the beauty of nature
• Facing and overcoming adversity
• Discovering the true meaning of friendship
• Learning to appreciate the little things in life
• Navigating through peer pressure successfully
• Stepping out of my comfort zone for growth
• Making a tough moral decision
• Finding inspiration from an unexpected source

35 more narrative or personal story speech topics

Transitioning from brainstorming ideas to choosing the right topic, here are 35 more narrative or personal story speech topics:

• Overcoming a challenging obstacle
• A meaningful encounter with a stranger
• Learning a valuable lesson from a mistake
• An unforgettable adventure in a new place
• Navigating through tough decision – making
• Embracing change and growth
• Facing and conquering fear
• Unforgettable moments of friendship
• Discovering an unexpected passion
• The impact of a mentor in your life
• Standing up for what you believe in
• Finding strength in moments of weakness
• Adapting to a new culture or environment
• The joy of pursuing a lifelong dream
• Humorous mishaps and their life lessons
• Celebrating cultural traditions and experiences
• Moments of empowerment and self – discovery
• Overcoming adversity in the face of criticism
• Life – changing travels and discoveries
• The power of resilience and perseverance
• Living with gratitude despite challenges
• Drawing inspiration from influential figures
• Cultivating empathy through personal experiences
• Heartwarming acts of kindness and compassion
• Resilience forged through difficult times
• Unforgettable lessons from unexpected sources
• Navigating the complexities of family dynamics
• Triumphs over self – doubt and insecurities
• Lessons learned from overcoming failure
• Unforgettable encounters with nature’s beauty
• Moments that reshaped your perspective on life
• Honoring the impact of significant relationships
• Personal milestones that shaped your identity
• The journey towards self – acceptance and confidence
• Transformative experiences that changed your outlook

These topics aim to inspire engaging storytelling for effective communication, public speaking, and literary projects.

How to Write a Narrative Speech

Craft your narrative speech around a personal experience or significant event. Create a strong introduction, include vivid details in the body, and conclude with an impactful ending to engage your audience.

Utilize descriptive language and sensory details to make your story come alive for your listeners. This will help them connect with your experiences and emotions on a deeper level.

Steps and guidelines

When writing a narrative speech, consider the following steps and guidelines:

• Understand your audience and their interests before deciding on a topic.
• Brainstorm ideas and select a personal experience or anecdote that resonates with you.
• Structure your speech with an engaging introduction, body, and conclusion.
• Use descriptive language to paint a vivid picture for your audience.
• Include relevant details that add depth and emotion to your story.
• Practice delivering your speech using varied intonation and gestures for impact.
• Seek feedback from others to refine your narrative for maximum effectiveness.

These steps will help you craft a compelling narrative speech that captivates your audience and leaves a lasting impression.

Sample student narrative speech outline

When it comes to crafting a compelling narrative speech, having a well-structured outline is crucial. Here’s a meticulously tailored student narrative speech outline to guide you through the process:

• Introduction
• Engaging opening : Grab the audience’s attention with a captivating hook or personal anecdote.
• Establishing the theme : Clearly introduce the topic and its relevance to the audience.
• Purpose statement : State the main idea or lesson that will be conveyed through the narrative.
• Setting the Scene
• Describe the setting : Paint a vivid picture of the time and place where the story takes place.
• Introduce characters : Briefly introduce key characters and their roles in the narrative.
• Build tension : Set up any conflicts or challenges that drive the story forward.
• Conflict and Resolution
• Unveil the problem : Clearly present the central conflict or obstacle faced by the protagonist.
• Rising action : Detail how tensions escalate as characters attempt to overcome challenges.
• Climax and resolution : Describe the pivotal moment when the conflict reaches its peak and explain how it is ultimately resolved.
• Lesson Learned
• Reflect on experiences : Share personal insights gained from overcoming obstacles in your story.
• Relatable message : Tie in universal themes or lessons that resonate with your audience.
• Call to action (optional) : Encourage listeners to apply newfound wisdom in their own lives.
• Recap key points : Summarize the main events and takeaways from your narrative journey.
• Final thought or quote : End with a memorable closing line that leaves a lasting impression on your audience.

By following this structured outline, you can effectively craft a captivating narrative speech that engages your audience and leaves a lasting impact.

Examples of Engaging Narrative Speeches

Explore captivating narrative speech examples such as “A long way,” “A valuable lesson,” “My guided lesson 3,” and “Improving communication.” Discover the power of effective storytelling.

Personal narrative speech: A long way

I remember the time when I started my public speaking journey . It felt like a mountain to climb, but with practice and determination, it became more manageable. Engaging storytelling can transform your fear into confidence .

Real-world experiences make for compelling narratives – they resonate with the audience and bring your speech alive.

Moving forward, let’s learn about “Personal narrative speech: A valuable lesson “.

Personal narrative speech: A valuable lesson

During my college years, I learned a valuable lesson on the power of perseverance . It all started when I faced a tough challenge that seemed impossible to overcome. Despite feeling discouraged, I refused to give up and pushed through the obstacles.

This experience taught me that determination can lead to success , even in the face of adversity. The journey was not easy, but it strengthened my resilience and showed me the importance of never backing down from difficult situations.

My time grappling with this challenge was a turning point in realizing how perseverance can lead us towards unexpected victories. Through this personal narrative speech , you’ll explore how embracing challenges can pave the path for growth and triumph in both personal and professional endeavors.

Personal narrative speech: My guided lesson 3

During my guided lesson 3, I learned how to craft a compelling narrative speech that captivates the audience. Real-world experiences and anecdotes are the backbone of an engaging narrative.

The importance of narrative style in effective storytelling cannot be underestimated, emphasizing the significance of engaging storytelling to bring ideas alive .

– Personal narrative speech: Improving communication

Personal narrative speech: Improving communication

Improving communication is crucial for effective storytelling . It helps in connecting with the audience and conveying the message clearly. To enhance communication skills , practice active listening, maintain eye contact, and use body language effectively.

Engaging the audience is essential by using expressive tone and gestures to keep them interested. Make sure to speak clearly and confidently while avoiding filler words like “um” or “uh”.

These steps will help improve your overall communication skills and make your narrative speech more engaging for your listeners. Now let’s move on to exploring effective narrative speech topics .

Narrative essay on basketball injury

Transitioning from the topic of improving communication, let’s delve into a personal experience that revolves around a narrative essay on basketball injury . I vividly recall the adrenaline rush during a crucial game when, unfortunately, an unexpected twist led to an ankle injury .

The excruciating pain and subsequent recovery became a significant part of my journey and have since shaped my perspective on perseverance and resilience in the face of adversity.

Navigating through the complexities of physical setbacks provided valuable insights into determination and overcoming obstacles. Despite the daunting nature of such experiences, they can serve as powerful narratives that resonate with audiences, illustrating the importance of perseverance and fortitude.

Let’s talk about narrative speeches. They’re a great way to tell stories and keep people interested. I used to struggle with public speaking, but I worked hard and learned a lot. Now, I help others speak confidently.

Narrative speeches use storytelling to share ideas or experiences . There are 25 engaging examples in this topic that show how powerful storytelling can be, no matter what you’re talking about.

Stories make things interesting and help people remember your message. Whether you’re using personal experiences or creative tales, the right story can really make your speech stand out.

Writing a narrative speech takes some planning. You need to pick the right topic and organize your thoughts carefully. But when you get it right, it’s worth it!

There are all sorts of topics you can choose for your speech. From personal stories to lessons learned , there’s always something interesting you can talk about.

Remember that telling a good story is key in narrative speeches. It doesn’t matter what genre or form; if your story is compelling, people will listen.

Adding entertainment into your speech makes it more fun for everyone listening. They’ll enjoy hearing what you have to say and appreciate the effort you put into making it engaging.

Digital storytelling is another cool thing to try! You can mix different media like videos and pictures with your words to bring ideas alive even more vividly than ever before.

Understanding how narratives work helps too – knowing skills like setting up tension and providing resolutions keeps listeners on their toes wanting more!

Always looking at new ways to improve my own speaking has shown me just how much impact a well-told story can have on an audience.

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Public Speaking Tips & Speech Topics

Narrative Speech [With Topics and Examples]

Jim Peterson has over 20 years experience on speech writing. He wrote over 300 free speech topic ideas and how-to guides for any kind of public speaking and speech writing assignments at My Speech Class.

Narrative Speech Topics

• Your Events, Life Lessons, Personal Experiences, Rituals and Your Identity.

The main point is that you are talking about yourself.

Your  thoughts, feelings, ideas, views, opinions and events are the leading ladies in this special public speaking speech writing process.

In this article:

Your Life Lessons

Experiences, narrative speech writing tips, 10 fast showcases.

Here are example narrative speech topics you can share in a speech class or other public speaking assignment in high school, college education. Narrow the speech topics appropriately to the public speaking occasion rules with the specialized checklist I have composed with seven narrative speech writing  tips .

The checks and tips also serve as hooks for to narrate a paragraph in an college essay.

Can We Write Your Speech?

Get your audience blown away with help from a professional speechwriter. Free proofreading and copy-editing included.

The backbone of my advice is: try to keep the story devoted and dedicated. If you find it hard to develop speech topics for narration purposes and you are a little bit overwhelmed, then try ten ways I’ve developed to  find narrative speech topics .

Most students mark out an event in their speeches and essays. An event that stipulate a great step in life or an important moment that has impact on your prosperity or lifestyle from that particular period:

E.g. An accident or remarkable positive event that changed my life. The birth of my brother, sister or other relative and the impact on our household and family-life. My first day at high school or college. The decision I regret most at my school or in my professional job career. My day of graduation (If you have not yet graduated from an educational institution, describe your hardworking and your planning efforts to achieve the qualification). My first serious date with my boyfriend / girlfriend. A significant family event in the summer. A memorable vacation. A historical event that impressed me. The day I will move overseas. A milestone that seemed bad but turned out to be good. My heroic sports moment at the campus field.

Take personal growth and development as starting point. Widen the horizon of the audience to a greater extent with narrative speech topics on wisdom. Construct a life lesson yourself, based on a practical wisdom acquired by own experience, or one you have been be introduced to by someone else:

E.g. The influence of a special person on my behavior. How I have dealed with a difficult situation. What lessons I have learned through studying the genealogy of my family. A prejudice that involved me. An Eureka moment: you suddenly understood how something works in life you had been struggling with earlier. How you helped someonelse and what you learned from her or him, and from the situation.

For this kind of public speaking training begin with mentioning intuitively the emotions you feel (in senses and mind) and the greater perception of the circumstances that lead to apprehension of a precarious situation:

E.g. My most frustrating moment. How you handled in an emergency situation. How I break up with my love. A narrow escape. A moment when you did something that took a lot of courage. A time when you choose to go your own way and did not follow the crowd. How I stood up for my beliefs. The day you rebelled with a decision concerning you. How you cope with your nerves recently – think about fear of public speaking and how you mastered and controlled it in the end. What happened when you had a disagreement with your teacher or instructor in class, this triggering narrative speech idea is great for speech class, because everyone will recognize the situation.

This theoretic method is close related to the previous tips. However, there is one small but significant difference.

Let’s define rituals as a system of prescribed procedures or actions of a group to which you belong. In that case you have the perfect starters to speak out  feelings .

Complement the ritual with your own feelings and random thoughts that bubble up when you are practicing the ritual:

E.g. How you usually prepare for a test at high school or for a personality interview or questionnaire. Your ritual before a sports game. Your ritual before going out with friends – make up codes, choosing your dress or outfit, total party looks. The routines you always follow under certain circumstances on your way to home. Church or other religious rituals you think are important to celebrate. Special meditative techniques you have learned from old masters in East Asia.

These examples are meant to accent the cultural and personal charateristics based on values, beliefs and principles.

What do you think is making life worth living? What shaped your personality? What are the psychological factors and environmental influences?

And state why and how you ground your decisions:

E.g. My act of heroism. The decisions my parents made for me when I was young – school choice, admission and finance. How curiosity brings me where I am now. I daydream of … A place that stands for my romantic moments – a table for two in a restaurant with a great view. My pet resembles my personal habits. A vivid childhood memory in which you can see how I would develop myself in the next ten to fifteen years. Samples of self-reliance in difficult conditions, empathy towards others in society, and your learning attitude and the learning curve.

Make a point by building to a climax at the end of your speech topic, whatever the narrative speech topics may be you want to apply in some sort of public speaking training environment. Build your way to the most intense point in the development or resolution of the subject you have chosen – culminate all facts as narrator to that end point in your verbal account.

Narrative speech tips for organizing and delivering a written description of past events, a story, lesson, moral, personal characteristic or experience you want to share.

• Select carefully the things you want to convey with your audience. Perhaps your public speaking assignment have a time limit. Check that out, and stick to it.This will force you to pick out one single significant story about yourself.And that is easier than you think when you take a closer look at my easy ways to find narrative topics.
• What do you want your audience to remember after the lapse?
• What is the special purpose, the breaking point, the ultimate goal, the smart lesson or the mysterious plot?
• Develop all the action and rising drama you need to visualize the plot of the story: the main events, leading character roles, the most relevant details, and write it in a sequence of steps. Translate those steps into dialogues.
• Organize all the text to speech in a strictly time ordered format. Make a story sequence. Relate a progression of events in a chronologically way.The audience will recognize this simple what I call a What Happened Speech Writing Outline, and can fully understand your goal. Another benefit: you will remember your key ideas better.It can help if you make a simple storyboard – arrange a series of pictures of the action scenes.
• Build in transition sentences, words or phrases, like the words then, after that, next, at this moment, etc. It helps to make a natural flow in your text.
• Rehearse your narrative speech in front of a friend and ask opinions. Practice and practice again. And return to my narrative speech topics gallore if you get lost in your efforts.Avoid to memorize your text to speech. When you are able to tell it in a reasonably extemp manner – everyone can follow you easily – it is okay.
• Finally, try to make eye contact with your listeners when you deliver this educational speech and apply my public speaking tips one by one of course.
• A good place to start finding a suitable narrative speech topic is brainstorming about a memorable moments in your life, a situation you had to cope with in your environment, a difficult setting or funny scene you had to talk your way out.

Try to catch it in one phrase: At X-mas I … and followed by a catchy anf active verb.

E.g. At X-mas I think … I want … I’m going … I was … I stated … I saw … .

After the task verb you can fill in every personal experience you want to share with your public speaking audience in a narration. These 40 speech topics for a storytelling structure can trigger your imagination further.

My most important advice is: stay close to yourself, open all your senses: sight, hearing, taste, and even smell and touch. Good for descibing the memorable moment, the intensity of it.

• A second way to dig up a narrative speech topic is thinking about a leading prophetic or predictive incident in the previous 10 years or in your chidhood. Something that illustrates very well why and how you became who you are right now.

E.g. Your character, moral beliefs, unorthodox manner of behaving or acting or you fight for freedom by not conforming to rules, special skills and qualities.

• The third way I like to communicate here with you is storytelling. Let yourself be triggered for a narrative speech story by incidents or a series of events behind a personal photograph or a video for example.

E.g. Creative writing on a photo of your grand-grandparents, of a pet, a horse, an exciting graduation party, a great architectural design.

• You also can find anecdotal or fictional storylines by highlighting a few of your typical behavior or human characteristics.

E.g. Are you a person that absorbs and acquires information and knowledge, likes to entertain other people or nothing at all? Or are you intellectually very capable in solving comprehensive mathematical calculations? Or are you just enjoying life as it is, and somewhat a live fast die young type?

Or a born organizer – than write speech topics about the last high school or college meeting you controlled and administered.

• The fifth method I would like to discuss is the like or not and why technique. Mark something you absolutely dislike or hate and announce in firm spoken language (still be polite) why. A narrative speech topic based on this procedure are giving insight in the way you look at things and what your references are in life.

It’s a bit like you make a comparison, but the difference is that you strongly defend your personal taste as narrator. It has a solid persuasive taste:

E.g. Speeches about drilling for oil in environmental not secure regions, for or against a Hollywood or Bollywood movie celebrity, our bankingsystem that runs out of trust of you the simple bank account consumer. Or your favorite television sitcom series.

• An exciting, interesting, inspiring or funny experience or event that changed your life is the next public speaking tip I like to reveal now.

E.g.? Staying weekends at your uncle’s farm shaped you as the hardworking person you are nowadays. A narrative speech topic in this category could also be about music lessons, practical jokes. Or troublesome events like divorce, or great adventures like trips at the ocean. Or even finding faith or a wedding happiness.

And what do you think of extreme sports tournaments?

• An important lesson you learned from someone you admire. This is a very classical narrative speech topic.

It tends to be a little bit philosophical, but if you tell you story people will recognize what you mean and compare that with their own stories and wisdom lessons.

Tell the story of a survivor of a traffic accident, and how you admire her or his recovery. Winners of awards, great songwriters, novelists, sportsheroes.

This list is almost exhaustive. Share the wisdom of their fails and achievements.

• The moment in your life you see the light, or that was very insightful. It seems a bit like my number six advice, but focus more on the greatness and happiness of that very moment. A moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience, American Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes have said.

Magnificent and breath-taking nature phenomenons, precious moments after a day of struggle, final decisions that replenish, lift your spirit.

• A fable or myth that has a moral lesson you try to live to.

Aesop Fables are a great source for a narrative speech topic idea structure. Think about The Dog and His Reflection, The Fox and The Grapes, and Belling the Cat. Talking about fairy tales as an inspiring source: what do you think of a personal story about the moral of The Emperor’s New Clothes?

• The relation between a brief series of important milestones in your life that mold your character is also possible – if catchy narrated storytelling of course :-).

First day of school, first kiss, Prom Night, your high school graduation, wedding, first job interview.

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Storytelling in speeches

Tips and techniques to improve your speech with stories

By:  Susan Dugdale  | Last modified: 01-29-2024

Do you remember storytelling from your childhood?

Some stories are as clear in my mind as if I heard them yesterday. I can remember who was telling the story, what it was about, what the actual words were and most of all, how I felt listening to it.

And that's the power of good storytelling.  It lives on in memory for years and years.

No matter how old we are we can still be captivated by a story told well. That's why including stories as part of any speech you give will enhance it immeasurably.

Obviously, there are some guidelines to follow. It's not just any story you tell or of any length. And there are specific ways to improve your storytelling.

Shall we get started?

What's on this page

• how to choose what story to tell
• the benefit of using personal stories , with an example
• how to improve your story telling : 6 suggestions, with step-by-step help, to increase your presentation skills
• l inks to more useful resources , including narrative speech topics or tell-a-story speech ideas   

How to choose what story to tell

1.Begin with your audience

You need to know who they are, what their likes and dislikes are, to get an idea of what you can, and can't share with them.

The treatment or how you tell your story will vary between audiences, just as humor does. What is funny to one group may not be to another. It is safer to know rather than guess and risk silence.

2. Fit your story to your theme, topic & purpose

Telling a random story: one that doesn't appear to have a specific purpose linking it to your topic or theme will go down like the proverbial lead balloon. Before finalizing your choice, think it through. 

What do you want your audience to do, or feel as they listen to your story? 

• If you want to spur them into action to make a change, try the classic 'before and after story' format focusing on how the change can be made and the benefits to be gained.  
• If you want your audience to see you, the story teller, as one of them, someone who knows what it's like to be in a similar position, then share a personal story illustrating your vulnerability or a segment of your journey from failure to success.
• If you want your audience to connect with others, to find their similarities rather than their differences, tell stories with a universal appeal. These are the stories prompting a 'Yes, that's me as well' response, 'I've felt like that too.'. They do it regardless of age differences, the color of a person's skin, where they live or how much money they have.

To work as you want it to, a story needs to fit your audience, your purpose and you must be credible telling it. 

Return to Top

Tell your own stories for audience connection

Don't be afraid of sharing personal stories: using your own experiences to poke a little fun at yourself. The audience will love you for it.

Exposing your fears, habits, or misunderstandings lets them identify with you. You stop being the remote expert and become one of them, on their side.

The power of a good story is that it humanizes. It reaches across barriers to bring us home to the heart of ourselves and, each other.  A story helps us to feel, think, know and understand. 

Here's an example of a personal story to illustrate

It is a true story from my extensive been-there-done-that-what-not-to-do department. I told it to students as part of preparing them for formal job interviews.  The story made them laugh, relax, and hopefully they learned a little from my naivety.

On being young and having convictions

I was 22 and at my first real job interview - hair clean and brushed, best clothes, shoes polished. I'd brought my CV, references and my certificates and I really wanted the job. I sat upright, as straight backed as the chair I was sitting on, listening very carefully to the questions and answering each of them thoroughly.

Suddenly towards the end, the interviewer leaned forward, fixed his eyes on mine and said quietly, "Have you any convictions?"

I blushed. I looked down. He waited.

Then, taking a deep breath, I began. "I've got lots of convictions." *

He stared but I plunged boldly on. "Yes", I said. "I believe in 'do unto others as you would have done to yourself'. I think it's really important to try to understand what it's like to be in another person's shoes. I also believe..."

I didn't finish because the interviewer was snorting with laughter.

* The word "convictions" has several meanings. One is to have been found guilty or convicted of a crime by a court of law which is the meaning the interviewer intended. Another is to hold strong beliefs which was how I interpreted the word.

The purpose behind telling the story was to help my students understand the importance of asking for clarification if they don't understand the question or if it seems out of context. I wanted them to know it was more than OK to ask the interviewer to rephrase a question in words they knew.

(And now that I am much older, I also realize how unconsciously privileged I was as a young girl. It would never have occurred to me that someone would even think to ask me that question.)

Six ways to improve your storytelling   

1. keep it short.

If your story goes on too long the impact is lost. And you will have strayed from your original purpose which was to give an effective example of a point you were making. Keep it brief!

2. Eliminate all the inconsequential detail

The rule is if it doesn't add to the story - cut it out. Too much fluff weakens the impact.

For instance, I could have added a great deal more to my story. I could have told you about the dress I made especially for the interview: the fabric I chose, the pattern I used, how I hand sewed the hem...

Or about how I was almost late because I couldn't find a park. 

Or about how I had to save to get the money to pay for the petrol to put in the car to get me there.

3. Practice

Learn the story rather than read it. Good story telling is active and direct.

Reading will not give you immediate contact with your audience because you have to keep returning to a text.

Without it, you're free to deliver one line to the man at the back, an aside to the woman at the front etc. etc. And you can move freely.

The more practice you give yourself the better you'll become.

 4. Vary your voice and body language

Try different voices for different characters.

Find out where to pause, where to stress a word, where to go faster and allow yourself to 'act out' what you're saying.

For example, if you're talking about being happy then reflect it in your body, and in your voice. Show it as well as tell it because  good storytelling is active rather than passive.

For more specific information click:  characterization techniques . 

5. Introduce your story well

Did you know there are more effective ways than others to introduce or lead into your story?

Read about the best  storytelling setups  here.

6. Rehearse in front of a few trusted friends 

Find out if your story works before trying it out in a more public arena.

Do you know the expression: I wish the ground had opened up and swallowed me? 

It refers to the embarrassment of getting something publicly wrong, and wanting to be out the situation, out of people's sight, as fast as possible. It's not a pleasant place to be - a lesson I've learned the hard way! Do try your story out. I've got helpful information here on  how to rehearse your speech .

I got that job!

PPS. For more about delivering a story well

Click the link for easy-to-follow help with  vocal delivery : how to vary your speech rate, use pauses effectively, change pitch and tone, voice projection, good breathing, and more.

I've also got two pages of speech topic suggestions that are perfect for honing story telling skills. (If you're looking for suitable topics for the Toastmasters Level 3 Storytelling project, do check these out.)

• 125 narrative speech topics -This page includes a free printable narrative speech outline.
• 60 vocal variety and body language topics .

Is your speech writing "blah, blah, bland"?

Discover how action verbs make your writing vocally vibrant, succinct and precise.

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A Guide to All Types of Narration, With Examples

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• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

In writing or speech , narration is the process of recounting a sequence of events, real or imagined. It's also called storytelling. Aristotle's term for  narration was prothesis .

The person who recounts the events is called a narrator . Stories can have reliable or unreliable narrators. For example, if a story is being told by someone insane, lying, or deluded, such as in Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," that narrator would be deemed unreliable. The account itself is called a narrative . The perspective from which a speaker or writer recounts a narrative is called a point of view . Types of point of view include first person, which uses "I" and follows the thoughts of one person or just one at a time, and third person, which can be limited to one person or can show the thoughts of all the characters, called the omniscient third person. Narration is the base of the story, the text that's not dialogue or quoted material.

Uses in Types of Prose Writing

It's used in fiction and nonfiction alike. "There are two forms: simple narrative, which recites events  chronologically , as in a newspaper account;" note William Harmon and Hugh Holman in "A Handbook to Literature," "and narrative with plot, which is less often chronological and more often arranged according to a principle determined by the nature of the plot and the type of story intended. It is conventionally said that narration deals with time,  description  with space."

Cicero, however, finds three forms in "De Inventione," as explained by Joseph Colavito in "Narratio": "The first type focuses on 'the case and...the reason for dispute' (1.19.27). A second type contains 'a  digression ...for the purpose of attacking somebody,...making a comparison,...amusing the audience,...or for amplification' (1.19.27). The last type of narrative serves a different end—'amusement and training'—and it can concern either events or persons (1.19.27)." (In "Encyclopedia of Rhetoric and Composition: Communication from Ancient Times to the Information Age," ed. by Theresa Enos. Taylor & Francis, 1996)

Narration isn't just in literature, literary nonfiction, or academic studies, though. It also comes into play in writing in the workplace, as Barbara Fine Clouse wrote in "Patterns for a Purpose": "Police officers write crime reports, and insurance investigators write accident reports, both of which narrate sequences of events. Physical therapists and nurses write narrative accounts of their patients' progress, and teachers narrate events for disciplinary reports. Supervisors write narrative accounts of employees' actions for individual personnel files, and company officials use narration to report on the company's performance during the fiscal year for its stockholders."

Even "jokes, fables, fairy tales, short stories, plays, novels, and other forms of literature are narrative if they tell a story," notes Lynn Z. Bloom in "The Essay Connection."

Examples of Narration

For examples of different styles of narration, check out the following:

• ​The Battle of the Ants by Henry David Thoreau (first person, nonfiction)
• "The Holy Night" by Selma Lagerlöf (first person and third person, fiction)
• Street Haunting by Virginia Woolf (first person plural and third person, omniscient narrator, nonfiction)
• Definition and Examples of Narratives in Writing
• Point of View in Grammar and Composition
• Third-Person Point of View
• Understanding Point of View in Literature
• AP English Exam: 101 Key Terms
• What Is a Novel? Definition and Characteristics
• Introduction to Magical Realism
• Organizational Strategies for Using Chronological Order in Writing
• How to Summarize a Plot
• How to Write a Narrative Essay or Speech
• Narratio in Rhetoric
• 5 Easy Activities for Teaching Point of View
• What Is Narrative Poetry? Definition and Examples
• Compose a Narrative Essay or Personal Statement
• What Is Narrative Therapy? Definition and Techniques

How to Write an Outline for a Narrative Speech

How to write an essay with a thesis statement.

A narrative speech relates the story of an event, whether from the speaker’s life or from that of someone she knows. Usually organized chronologically, narrative speeches are often given to entertain or teach the listener. In writing an effective narrative speech, start with an outline to help focus on the purpose of the speech, organize the events discussed in the speech and create a final draft .

A Statement of Purpose

Identify the purpose of your speech, such as imparting a moral or making the audience feel good. This step is necessary and saves revision, because you know where the speech is going from the beginning. It also ensures that nothing necessary is left out. Identifying your purpose can be as simple as writing a one-sentence statement at the top of the outline . Keep the statement of purpose in view and refer back to it or refine it if needed.

Your Attention Please

Grab the audience’s attention and preview the topic of the speech in the introduction. Include a hook or attention-getter, the thesis and a preview of the narrative in this order; establish credibility after the hook if you think it's important. In your outline, the introduction is Roman numeral “I,” and each part receives a capital letter under it -- A: Hook, B: Establish Credibility, C: Thesis, D: Preview. Capture the main idea of each part in one sentence, saving the details for the post-outline writing stage.

A Full Body

Ensure no essential narrative parts are missing by organizing the story carefully in the body. Outline this part of the speech in a straightforward manner by including the most important points in chronological order , adding extraneous information as necessary. Write the body as Roman numeral “II” and give each body point its own capital letter. Add numbers underneath the letters for supporting information. Use full sentences and save minute details for the writing stage.

Thank You, Ladies and Gentlemen

An abrupt stop at the end of the narrative will confuse or frustrate the audience. Use the conclusion to wrap up the speech, reminding the audience of the takeaway, if any. Include three main points: a signal that the speech is nearly finished, a summary of the story and a thesis review . Add Roman numeral “III” for the conclusion, then one capital letter for each point — A: Signal, B: Summary, C: Thesis Review. Capture the essential information in one sentence for each. When finished, review the purpose of the speech to ensure that the outline is in accordance.

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• Purdue OWL: Narrative Essays
• Wittenberg University: Organizing Your Presentation -- Basic Outline Format

Melissa Harr is a writer and knitting pattern designer with a range of publication credits. Her latest work includes blogging for Smudge Yarns, judging fiction for Ink & Insights 2015 and creating patterns for I Like Knitting magazine. Harr holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a CELTA.

• How to Cite
• Language & Lit
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• Search Glass

How to Write a Narrative Speech

Most people must give a narrative speech at some point in life. Speeches have a beginning, middle and an ending and speakers signal these speech segments by using short sentences for the main headings. A major consideration when writing the narrative includes deciding how to deliver the speech. An extemporaneous-style delivery of your narrative speech uses only a general outline of the body's main points and a few helpful notes, while manuscript delivery requires writing every word on paper and using this as a script during the delivery.

Select Your Topic

Topic selection for some speakers is the most difficult part of writing the narrative speech. Most people feel some stress when presenting a speech, so stick with the information you know best. This helps you remember while under the stress, even when giving a manuscript-style presentation. Experiences work well as narrative speeches, including interesting personal and life events and family traditions. An introduction about yourself also offers a short narrative topic. Some narrative presentations include a teachable moment or a moral for the listener, but this element is not necessary.

Do the Research

Speech research doesn't always require a trip to the library. Research for a narrative might include talking to family members to confirm important dates or refresh your memory about events for your speech. A narrative speech about an event in the life of another person should include traditional research at the library or using online resources. Keep quotations short, no more than one or two sentences, if you need to use a quote in your speech. Make a note of the source of the quotation and cite that in your speech, so your audience understands the quote belongs to another person.

Organize the Body

Organization helps the audience follow the main points of the speech and remember important parts of your presentation. A chronology, using a timeline for events, offers an easy organization pattern for a narrative speech. An event typically has a beginning, middle and end, and the chronological organization pattern fits the recommendations of the University of Pittsburgh Speaking in the Discipline Initiative by using no more than three separate categories for the body of the speech.

Develop an Introduction

Introductions grab attention, give the listeners a hint of the overall speech topic and offer a smooth transition to guide the audience into the body of the speech. However, the attention-getter should not distract the audience so that the introduction becomes the focus of the speech. A short quotation, anecdote, appropriate humor or fact about the topic of your narrative work well as an introduction. Test your introduction on some friends to make sure it grabs attention.

Write the Conclusion

The conclusion moves you from the front of the room as the speaker back to your seat and signals to the audience that your speech is over. A summary of your main points offers one way to end your presentation. More effective techniques combine that summary with a wrap-up quote, fact or anecdote that reminds your audience of your main topic. A restatement of the moral or lesson works well for a narrative speech with this message.

• Santa Rosa Junior College: Narrative Speech
• Mineral Area College Missouri: Narrative Speech
• Pace University: Narrative Chronology
• University of Pittsburgh: Public Speaking -- The Basics
• Los Gatos Union School District: Some Speech Note Card Tips

Lee Grayson has worked as a freelance writer since 2000. Her articles have appeared in publications for Oxford and Harvard University presses and research publishers, including Facts On File and ABC-CLIO. Grayson holds certificates from the University of California campuses at Irvine and San Diego.

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How to write a speech that your audience remembers

Whether in a work meeting or at an investor panel, you might give a speech at some point. And no matter how excited you are about the opportunity, the experience can be nerve-wracking . 

But feeling butterflies doesn’t mean you can’t give a great speech. With the proper preparation and a clear outline, apprehensive public speakers and natural wordsmiths alike can write and present a compelling message. Here’s how to write a good speech you’ll be proud to deliver.

What is good speech writing?

Good speech writing is the art of crafting words and ideas into a compelling, coherent, and memorable message that resonates with the audience. Here are some key elements of great speech writing:

• It begins with clearly understanding the speech's purpose and the audience it seeks to engage. 
• A well-written speech clearly conveys its central message, ensuring that the audience understands and retains the key points. 
• It is structured thoughtfully, with a captivating opening, a well-organized body, and a conclusion that reinforces the main message. 
• Good speech writing embraces the power of engaging content, weaving in stories, examples, and relatable anecdotes to connect with the audience on both intellectual and emotional levels. 

Ultimately, it is the combination of these elements, along with the authenticity and delivery of the speaker , that transforms words on a page into a powerful and impactful spoken narrative.

What makes a good speech?

A great speech includes several key qualities, but three fundamental elements make a speech truly effective:

Clarity and purpose

Remembering the audience, cohesive structure.

While other important factors make a speech a home run, these three elements are essential for writing an effective speech.

The main elements of a good speech

The main elements of a speech typically include:

• Introduction: The introduction sets the stage for your speech and grabs the audience's attention. It should include a hook or attention-grabbing opening, introduce the topic, and provide an overview of what will be covered.
• Opening/captivating statement: This is a strong statement that immediately engages the audience and creates curiosity about the speech topics.
• Thesis statement/central idea: The thesis statement or central idea is a concise statement that summarizes the main point or argument of your speech. It serves as a roadmap for the audience to understand what your speech is about.
• Body: The body of the speech is where you elaborate on your main points or arguments. Each point is typically supported by evidence, examples, statistics, or anecdotes. The body should be organized logically and coherently, with smooth transitions between the main points.
• Supporting evidence: This includes facts, data, research findings, expert opinions, or personal stories that support and strengthen your main points. Well-chosen and credible evidence enhances the persuasive power of your speech.
• Transitions: Transitions are phrases or statements that connect different parts of your speech, guiding the audience from one idea to the next. Effective transitions signal the shifts in topics or ideas and help maintain a smooth flow throughout the speech.
• Counterarguments and rebuttals (if applicable): If your speech involves addressing opposing viewpoints or counterarguments, you should acknowledge and address them. Presenting counterarguments makes your speech more persuasive and demonstrates critical thinking.
• Conclusion: The conclusion is the final part of your speech and should bring your message to a satisfying close. Summarize your main points, restate your thesis statement, and leave the audience with a memorable closing thought or call to action.
• Closing statement: This is the final statement that leaves a lasting impression and reinforces the main message of your speech. It can be a call to action, a thought-provoking question, a powerful quote, or a memorable anecdote.
• Delivery and presentation: How you deliver your speech is also an essential element to consider. Pay attention to your tone, body language, eye contact , voice modulation, and timing. Practice and rehearse your speech, and try using the 7-38-55 rule to ensure confident and effective delivery.

While the order and emphasis of these elements may vary depending on the type of speech and audience, these elements provide a framework for organizing and delivering a successful speech.

How to structure a good speech

You know what message you want to transmit, who you’re delivering it to, and even how you want to say it. But you need to know how to start, develop, and close a speech before writing it. 

Think of a speech like an essay. It should have an introduction, conclusion, and body sections in between. This places ideas in a logical order that the audience can better understand and follow them. Learning how to make a speech with an outline gives your storytelling the scaffolding it needs to get its point across.

Here’s a general speech structure to guide your writing process:

• Explanation 1
• Explanation 2
• Explanation 3

How to write a compelling speech opener

Some research shows that engaged audiences pay attention for only 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Other estimates are even lower, citing that people stop listening intently in fewer than 10 minutes . If you make a good first impression at the beginning of your speech, you have a better chance of interesting your audience through the middle when attention spans fade. 

Implementing the INTRO model can help grab and keep your audience’s attention as soon as you start speaking. This acronym stands for interest, need, timing, roadmap, and objectives, and it represents the key points you should hit in an opening. 

Here’s what to include for each of these points: 

• Interest : Introduce yourself or your topic concisely and speak with confidence . Write a compelling opening statement using relevant data or an anecdote that the audience can relate to.
• Needs : The audience is listening to you because they have something to learn. If you’re pitching a new app idea to a panel of investors, those potential partners want to discover more about your product and what they can earn from it. Read the room and gently remind them of the purpose of your speech. 
• Timing : When appropriate, let your audience know how long you’ll speak. This lets listeners set expectations and keep tabs on their own attention span. If a weary audience member knows you’ll talk for 40 minutes, they can better manage their energy as that time goes on. 
• Routemap : Give a brief overview of the three main points you’ll cover in your speech. If an audience member’s attention starts to drop off and they miss a few sentences, they can more easily get their bearings if they know the general outline of the presentation.
• Objectives : Tell the audience what you hope to achieve, encouraging them to listen to the end for the payout. 

Writing the middle of a speech

The body of your speech is the most information-dense section. Facts, visual aids, PowerPoints — all this information meets an audience with a waning attention span. Sticking to the speech structure gives your message focus and keeps you from going off track, making everything you say as useful as possible.

Limit the middle of your speech to three points, and support them with no more than three explanations. Following this model organizes your thoughts and prevents you from offering more information than the audience can retain. 

Using this section of the speech to make your presentation interactive can add interest and engage your audience. Try including a video or demonstration to break the monotony. A quick poll or survey also keeps the audience on their toes. 

Wrapping the speech up

To you, restating your points at the end can feel repetitive and dull. You’ve practiced countless times and heard it all before. But repetition aids memory and learning , helping your audience retain what you’ve told them. Use your speech’s conclusion to summarize the main points with a few short sentences.

Try to end on a memorable note, like posing a motivational quote or a thoughtful question the audience can contemplate once they leave. In proposal or pitch-style speeches, consider landing on a call to action (CTA) that invites your audience to take the next step.

How to write a good speech

If public speaking gives you the jitters, you’re not alone. Roughly 80% of the population feels nervous before giving a speech, and another 10% percent experiences intense anxiety and sometimes even panic. 

The fear of failure can cause procrastination and can cause you to put off your speechwriting process until the last minute. Finding the right words takes time and preparation, and if you’re already feeling nervous, starting from a blank page might seem even harder.

But putting in the effort despite your stress is worth it. Presenting a speech you worked hard on fosters authenticity and connects you to the subject matter, which can help your audience understand your points better. Human connection is all about honesty and vulnerability, and if you want to connect to the people you’re speaking to, they should see that in you.

1. Identify your objectives and target audience

Before diving into the writing process, find healthy coping strategies to help you stop worrying . Then you can define your speech’s purpose, think about your target audience, and start identifying your objectives. Here are some questions to ask yourself and ground your thinking : 

• What purpose do I want my speech to achieve? 
• What would it mean to me if I achieved the speech’s purpose?
• What audience am I writing for? 
• What do I know about my audience? 
• What values do I want to transmit? 
• If the audience remembers one take-home message, what should it be? 
• What do I want my audience to feel, think, or do after I finish speaking? 
• What parts of my message could be confusing and require further explanation?

2. Know your audience

Understanding your audience is crucial for tailoring your speech effectively. Consider the demographics of your audience, their interests, and their expectations. For instance, if you're addressing a group of healthcare professionals, you'll want to use medical terminology and data that resonate with them. Conversely, if your audience is a group of young students, you'd adjust your content to be more relatable to their experiences and interests. 

3. Choose a clear message

Your message should be the central idea that you want your audience to take away from your speech. Let's say you're giving a speech on climate change. Your clear message might be something like, "Individual actions can make a significant impact on mitigating climate change." Throughout your speech, all your points and examples should support this central message, reinforcing it for your audience.

4. Structure your speech

Organizing your speech properly keeps your audience engaged and helps them follow your ideas. The introduction should grab your audience's attention and introduce the topic. For example, if you're discussing space exploration, you could start with a fascinating fact about a recent space mission. In the body, you'd present your main points logically, such as the history of space exploration, its scientific significance, and future prospects. Finally, in the conclusion, you'd summarize your key points and reiterate the importance of space exploration in advancing human knowledge.

5. Use engaging content for clarity

Engaging content includes stories, anecdotes, statistics, and examples that illustrate your main points. For instance, if you're giving a speech about the importance of reading, you might share a personal story about how a particular book changed your perspective. You could also include statistics on the benefits of reading, such as improved cognitive abilities and empathy.

6. Maintain clarity and simplicity

It's essential to communicate your ideas clearly. Avoid using overly technical jargon or complex language that might confuse your audience. For example, if you're discussing a medical breakthrough with a non-medical audience, explain complex terms in simple, understandable language.

7. Practice and rehearse

Practice is key to delivering a great speech. Rehearse multiple times to refine your delivery, timing, and tone. Consider using a mirror or recording yourself to observe your body language and gestures. For instance, if you're giving a motivational speech, practice your gestures and expressions to convey enthusiasm and confidence.

8. Consider nonverbal communication

Your body language, tone of voice, and gestures should align with your message . If you're delivering a speech on leadership, maintain strong eye contact to convey authority and connection with your audience. A steady pace and varied tone can also enhance your speech's impact.

9. Engage your audience

Engaging your audience keeps them interested and attentive. Encourage interaction by asking thought-provoking questions or sharing relatable anecdotes. If you're giving a speech on teamwork, ask the audience to recall a time when teamwork led to a successful outcome, fostering engagement and connection.

10. Prepare for Q&A

Anticipate potential questions or objections your audience might have and prepare concise, well-informed responses. If you're delivering a speech on a controversial topic, such as healthcare reform, be ready to address common concerns, like the impact on healthcare costs or access to services, during the Q&A session.

By following these steps and incorporating examples that align with your specific speech topic and purpose, you can craft and deliver a compelling and impactful speech that resonates with your audience.

Tools for writing a great speech

There are several helpful tools available for speechwriting, both technological and communication-related. Here are a few examples:

• Word processing software: Tools like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or other word processors provide a user-friendly environment for writing and editing speeches. They offer features like spell-checking, grammar correction, formatting options, and easy revision tracking.
• Presentation software: Software such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides is useful when creating visual aids to accompany your speech. These tools allow you to create engaging slideshows with text, images, charts, and videos to enhance your presentation.
• Speechwriting Templates: Online platforms or software offer pre-designed templates specifically for speechwriting. These templates provide guidance on structuring your speech and may include prompts for different sections like introductions, main points, and conclusions.
• Rhetorical devices and figures of speech: Rhetorical tools such as metaphors, similes, alliteration, and parallelism can add impact and persuasion to your speech. Resources like books, websites, or academic papers detailing various rhetorical devices can help you incorporate them effectively.
• Speechwriting apps: Mobile apps designed specifically for speechwriting can be helpful in organizing your thoughts, creating outlines, and composing a speech. These apps often provide features like voice recording, note-taking, and virtual prompts to keep you on track.
• Grammar and style checkers: Online tools or plugins like Grammarly or Hemingway Editor help improve the clarity and readability of your speech by checking for grammar, spelling, and style errors. They provide suggestions for sentence structure, word choice, and overall tone.
• Thesaurus and dictionary: Online or offline resources such as thesauruses and dictionaries help expand your vocabulary and find alternative words or phrases to express your ideas more effectively. They can also clarify meanings or provide context for unfamiliar terms.
• Online speechwriting communities: Joining online forums or communities focused on speechwriting can be beneficial for getting feedback, sharing ideas, and learning from experienced speechwriters. It's an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and improve your public speaking skills through collaboration.

Remember, while these tools can assist in the speechwriting process, it's essential to use them thoughtfully and adapt them to your specific needs and style. The most important aspect of speechwriting remains the creativity, authenticity, and connection with your audience that you bring to your speech.

5 tips for writing a speech

Behind every great speech is an excellent idea and a speaker who refined it. But a successful speech is about more than the initial words on the page, and there are a few more things you can do to help it land.

Here are five more tips for writing and practicing your speech:

1. Structure first, write second

If you start the writing process before organizing your thoughts, you may have to re-order, cut, and scrap the sentences you worked hard on. Save yourself some time by using a speech structure, like the one above, to order your talking points first. This can also help you identify unclear points or moments that disrupt your flow.

2. Do your homework

Data strengthens your argument with a scientific edge. Research your topic with an eye for attention-grabbing statistics, or look for findings you can use to support each point. If you’re pitching a product or service, pull information from company metrics that demonstrate past or potential successes. 

Audience members will likely have questions, so learn all talking points inside and out. If you tell investors that your product will provide 12% returns, for example, come prepared with projections that support that statement.

3. Sound like yourself

Memorable speakers have distinct voices. Think of Martin Luther King Jr’s urgent, inspiring timbre or Oprah’s empathetic, personal tone . Establish your voice — one that aligns with your personality and values — and stick with it. If you’re a motivational speaker, keep your tone upbeat to inspire your audience . If you’re the CEO of a startup, try sounding assured but approachable. 

4. Practice

As you practice a speech, you become more confident , gain a better handle on the material, and learn the outline so well that unexpected questions are less likely to trip you up. Practice in front of a colleague or friend for honest feedback about what you could change, and speak in front of the mirror to tweak your nonverbal communication and body language .

5. Remember to breathe

When you’re stressed, you breathe more rapidly . It can be challenging to talk normally when you can’t regulate your breath. Before your presentation, try some mindful breathing exercises so that when the day comes, you already have strategies that will calm you down and remain present . This can also help you control your voice and avoid speaking too quickly.

How to ghostwrite a great speech for someone else

Ghostwriting a speech requires a unique set of skills, as you're essentially writing a piece that will be delivered by someone else. Here are some tips on how to effectively ghostwrite a speech:

• Understand the speaker's voice and style : Begin by thoroughly understanding the speaker's personality, speaking style, and preferences. This includes their tone, humor, and any personal anecdotes they may want to include.
• Interview the speaker : Have a detailed conversation with the speaker to gather information about their speech's purpose, target audience, key messages, and any specific points they want to emphasize. Ask for personal stories or examples they may want to include.
• Research thoroughly : Research the topic to ensure you have a strong foundation of knowledge. This helps you craft a well-informed and credible speech.
• Create an outline : Develop a clear outline that includes the introduction, main points, supporting evidence, and a conclusion. Share this outline with the speaker for their input and approval.
• Write in the speaker's voice : While crafting the speech, maintain the speaker's voice and style. Use language and phrasing that feel natural to them. If they have a particular way of expressing ideas, incorporate that into the speech.
• Craft a captivating opening : Begin the speech with a compelling opening that grabs the audience's attention. This could be a relevant quote, an interesting fact, a personal anecdote, or a thought-provoking question.
• Organize content logically : Ensure the speech flows logically, with each point building on the previous one. Use transitions to guide the audience from one idea to the next smoothly.
• Incorporate engaging stories and examples : Include anecdotes, stories, and real-life examples that illustrate key points and make the speech relatable and memorable.
• Edit and revise : Edit the speech carefully for clarity, grammar, and coherence. Ensure the speech is the right length and aligns with the speaker's time constraints.
• Seek feedback : Share drafts of the speech with the speaker for their feedback and revisions. They may have specific changes or additions they'd like to make.
• Practice delivery : If possible, work with the speaker on their delivery. Practice the speech together, allowing the speaker to become familiar with the content and your writing style.
• Maintain confidentiality : As a ghostwriter, it's essential to respect the confidentiality and anonymity of the work. Do not disclose that you wrote the speech unless you have the speaker's permission to do so.
• Be flexible : Be open to making changes and revisions as per the speaker's preferences. Your goal is to make them look good and effectively convey their message.
• Meet deadlines : Stick to agreed-upon deadlines for drafts and revisions. Punctuality and reliability are essential in ghostwriting.
• Provide support : Support the speaker during their preparation and rehearsal process. This can include helping with cue cards, speech notes, or any other materials they need.

Remember that successful ghostwriting is about capturing the essence of the speaker while delivering a well-structured and engaging speech. Collaboration, communication, and adaptability are key to achieving this.

Give your best speech yet

Learn how to make a speech that’ll hold an audience’s attention by structuring your thoughts and practicing frequently. Put the effort into writing and preparing your content, and aim to improve your breathing, eye contact , and body language as you practice. The more you work on your speech, the more confident you’ll become.

The energy you invest in writing an effective speech will help your audience remember and connect to every concept. Remember: some life-changing philosophies have come from good speeches, so give your words a chance to resonate with others. You might even change their thinking.

Elevate your communication skills

Unlock the power of clear and persuasive communication. Our coaches can guide you to build strong relationships and succeed in both personal and professional life.

Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

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Narrative Definition

What is narrative? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

A narrative is an account of connected events. Two writers describing the same set of events might craft very different narratives, depending on how they use different narrative elements, such as tone or  point of view . For example, an account of the American Civil War written from the perspective of a white slaveowner would make for a very different narrative than if it were written from the perspective of a historian, or a former slave.

Some additional key details about narrative:

• The words "narrative" and "story" are often used interchangeably, and with the casual meanings of the two terms that's fine. However, technically speaking, the two terms have related but different meanings.
• The word "narrative" is also frequently used as an adjective to describe something that tells a story, such as narrative poetry.

How to Pronounce Narrative

Here's how to pronounce narrative: nar -uh-tiv

Narrative vs. Story vs. Plot

In everyday speech, people often use the terms "narrative," "story," and "plot" interchangeably. However, when speaking more technically about literature these terms are not in fact identical. 

• A story refers to a sequence of events. It can be thought of as the raw material out of which a narrative is crafted.
• A plot refers to the sequence of events, but with their causes and effects included. As the writer E.M. Forster put it, while "The King died and the Queen died" is a story (i.e., a sequence of events), "The King died, and then the Queen died of grief" is a plot.
• A narrative , by contrast, has a more broad-reaching definition: it includes not just the sequence of events and their cause and effect relationships, but also  all of the decisions and techniques that impact how a story is told. A narrative is  how a given sequence of events is recounted.

In order to fully understand narrative, it's important to keep in mind that most sequences of events can be recounted in many different ways. Each different account is a separate narrative. When deciding how to relay a set of facts or describe a sequence of events, a writer must ask themselves, among other things:

• Which events are most important?
• Where should I begin and end my narrative?
• Should I tell the events of the narrative in the order they occurred, or should I use flashbacks or other techniques to present the events in another order?
• Should I hold certain pieces of information back from the reader?
• What point of view  should I use to tell the narrative?

The answers to these questions determine how the narrative is constructed, so they have a huge influence on the way a reader sees or understands what they're reading about. The same series of events might be read as happy or sad, boring or exciting—all depending on how the narrative is constructed. Analyzing a narrative just means examining how it is constructed and why it is constructed that way.

Narrative Elements

Narrative elements   are the tools writers use to craft narratives. A great way to approach analyzing a narrative is to break it down into its different narrative elements, and then examine how the writer employs each one. The following is a summary of the main elements that a writer might use to build his or her narrative.

• For example, a story about a crime told from the perspective of the victim might be very different when told from the perspective of the criminal.
• For instance, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway were friends, and they wrote during the same era, but their writing is very different from one another because they have markedly different  voices.
• For example, Jonathan Swift's essay " A Modest Proposal " satirizes the British government's callous indifference toward the famine in Ireland by sarcastically suggesting that cannibalism could solve the problem—but the essay would have a completely different meaning if it didn't have a sarcastic tone. 
• For example, the first half of Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield tells the story of the narrator David Copperfield's early childhood over the course of many chapters; about halfway through the novel, David quickly glosses over some embarrassing episodes from his teenage years (unfortunate fashion choices and foolish crushes); the second half of the novel tells the story of his adult life. The pacing give readers the sense that David's teen years weren't really that important. Instead, his childhood traumas, the challenges he faced as a young man, and the relationships he formed during both childhood and adulthood make up the most important elements of the novel.
• For example, Mary Shelley's novel   Frankenstein  uses three different "frames" to tell the story of Dr. Frankenstein and the creature he creates: the novel takes the form of letters written by Walton, an arctic explorer; Walton is recounting a story that Dr. Frankenstein told him; and as part of his story, Dr. Frankenstein recounts a story told to him by the creature. 
• Linear vs. Nonlinear Narration:  You may also hear the word narrative used to describe the order in which a sequence of events is recounted. In a linear narrative, the events of a story are described  chronologically , in the order that they occurred. In a nonlinear narrative, events are described out of order, using flashbacks or flash-forwards, and then returning to the present. In some nonlinear narratives, like Ken Kesey's  Sometimes a Great Notion , there is a clear sense of when the "present" is: the novel begins and ends with the character Viv sitting in a bar, looking at a photograph. The rest of the novel recounts (out of order) events that have happened in the distant and recent past. In other nonlinear narratives, it may be difficult to tell when the "present" is. For example, in Kurt Vonnegut's novel  Slaughterhouse-Five , the character Billy Pilgrim, seems to move forward and backward in time as a result of post-traumatic stress. Billy is not always certain if he is experiencing memories, flashbacks, hallucinations, or actual time travel, and there are inconsistencies in the dates he gives throughout the book—all of which of course has a huge impact on how  his stories are relayed to the reader.

Narrative as an Adjective

It's worth noting that the word "narrative" is also frequently used as an adjective to describe something that tells a story.

• Narrative Poetry: While some poetry describes an image, experience, or emotion without necessarily telling a story, narrative poetry is poetry that does tell a story. Narrative poems include epic poems like The Iliad , The Epic of Gilgamesh , and Beowulf .  Other, shorter examples of narrative poetry include "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carrol, "The Lady of Shalott" by Alfred Lord Tennyson, "The Goblin Market" by Christina Rossetti, and "The Glass Essay," by Anne Carson.
• Narrative Art: Similarly, the term "narrative art" refers to visual art that tells a story, either by capturing one scene in a longer story, or by presenting a series of images that tell a longer story when put together. Often, but not always, narrative art tells stories that are likely to be familiar to the viewer, such as stories from history, mythology, or religious teachings. Examples of narrative art include Michelangelo's painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the  Pietà ; Paul Revere's engraving entitled  The Bloody Massacre ; and Artemisia Gentileschi's painting  Judith Slaying Holofernes .

Narrative Examples

Narrative in  the book thief  by markus zusak.

Zusak's novel,  The Book Thief , is narrated by the figure of Death, who tells the story of Liesel, a girl growing up in Nazi Germany who loves books and befriends a Jewish man her family is hiding in their home. In the novel's prologue, Death says of Liesel:

Yes, often, I am reminded of her, and in one of my vast array of pockets, I have kept her story to retell. It is one of the small legion I carry, each one extraordinary in its own right. Each one an attempt—an immense leap of an attempt—to prove to me that you, and your human existence, are worth it.

Narrators do not always announce themselves, but Death introduces himself and explains that he sees himself as a storyteller and a repository of the stories of human lives. Choosing Death (rather than Leisel) as the novel's narrator allows Zusak to use Liesel's story to reflect on the power of stories and storytelling more generally.

Narrative in  A Visit From the Goon Squad   by Jennifer Egan

In A Visit From the Good Squad ,  Egan structures the narrative of her novel in an unconventional way: each chapter stands as a self-contained story, but as a whole, the individual episodes are interconnected in such a way that all the stories form a single cohesive narrative. For example, in Chapter 2, "The Gold Cure," we meet the character Bennie, a middle-aged music producer, and his assistant Sasha:

"It's incredible," Sasha said, "how there's just nothing there." Astounded, Bennie turned to her…Sasha was looking downtown, and he followed her eyes to the empty space where the Twin Towers had been. 

Because there is an empty space where the Twin Towers had been, the reader knows that this dialogue is taking place some time after the September 11th, 2001 attack in which the World Trade Center was destroyed. Bennie appears again later in the novel, in Chapter 6, "X's and O's," which is set ten years prior to "The Gold Cure." "X's and O's" is narrated by Bennie's old friend, Scotty, who goes to visit Bennie at his office in Manhattan:

I looked down at the city. Its extravagance felt wasteful, like gushing oil or some other precious thing Bennie was hoarding for himself, using it up so no one else could get any. I thought: If I had a view like this to look down on every day, I would have the energy and inspiration to conquer the world. The trouble is, when you most need such a view, no one gives it to you.

Just as Sasha did in Chapter 2, Scotty stands with Bennie and looks out over Manhattan, and in both passages, there is a sense that Bennie fails to notice, appreciate, or find meaning in the view. But the reader wouldn't have the same experience if the story had been told in chronological order.

Narrative in Atonement by Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan's novel Atonement tells the story of Briony, a writer who, as a girl, sees something she doesn't understand and, based on this faulty understanding, makes a choice that ruins the lives of Celia, her sister, and Robbie, the man her sister loves. The first part of the novel appears to be told from the perspective of a third-person omniscient narrator; but once we reach the end of the book, we realize that we've read Briony's novel, which she has written as an act of atonement for her terrible mistake. Near the end of  Atonement , Briony tells us:

I like to think that it isn’t weakness or evasion, but a final act of kindness, a stand against oblivion and despair, to let my lovers live and to unite them at the end. I gave them happiness, but I was not so self-serving as to let them forgive me. Not quite, not yet. If I had the power to conjure them at my birthday celebration…Robbie and Cecilia, still alive, sitting side by side in the library…

In Briony's novel, Celia and Robbie are eventually able to live together, and Briony visits them in an attempt to apologize; but in real life, we learn, Celia and Robbie died during World War II before they could see one another again, and before Briony could reconcile with them. By inviting the reader to imagine a happy ending, Briony effectively heightens the tragedy of the events that actually occurred. By choosing Briony as his narrator, and by framing the novel Briony wrote with her discussion of her own novel, McEwan is able to create multiple interlacing narratives, telling and retelling what happened and what might have been.

Narrative in Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse-Five tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, a World War II veteran who survived the bombing of Dresden, and has since “come unstuck in time.” The novel uses flashbacks and flash-forwards, and is narrated by an unreliable narrator who implies to the reader that the narrative he is telling may not be entirely true:

All this happened, more or less. The war parts, anyway, are pretty much true. One guy I knew really was shot in Dresden for taking a teapot that wasn’t his. Another guy I knew really did threaten to have his personal enemies killed by hired gunmen after the war. And so on. I’ve changed all the names.

The narrator’s equivocation in this passage suggests that even though the story he is telling may not be entirely factually accurate, he has attempted to create a narrative that captures important truths about the war and the bombing of Dresden. Or, maybe he just doesn’t remember all of the details of the events he is describing. In any case, the inconsistencies in dates and details in Slaughterhouse-Five  give the reader the impression that crafting a single cohesive narrative out of the horrific experience of war may be too difficult a task—which in turn says something about the toll war takes on those who live through it.

What's the Function of Narrative in Literature?

When we use the word "narrative," we're pointing out that who tells a story and how that person tells the story influence how the reader understands the story's meaning. The question of what purpose narratives serve in literature is inseparable from the question of why people tell stories in general, and why writers use different narrative elements to shape their stories into compelling narratives. Narratives make it possible for writers to capture some of the nuances and complexities of human experience in the retelling of a sequence of events.

In literature and in life, narratives are everywhere, which is part of why they can be very challenging to discuss and analyze. Narrative reminds us that stories do not only exist; they are also made by someone, often for very specific reasons. And when you analyze narrative in literature, you take the time to ask yourself why a work of literature has been constructed in a certain way.

Other Helpful Narrative Resources

• Etymology: Merriam-Webster describes the origins and history of usage of the term "narrative."
• Narrative Theory: Ohio State University's "Project Narrative" offers an overview of narrative theory.
• History and Narrative:  Read more about the similarities between historical and literary narratives in Hayden White's  Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in 19th-Century Europe.
• Narrative Art: This article from Widewalls explores narrative art and discusses what kind of art doesn't  tell stories. 

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30 Narrative Writing Examples to Elevate Your Writing

In this guide, I’ll share 30 examples that have not only influenced my work but have the power to elevate yours, too.

These are snippets of made-up stories, each demonstrating a key aspect of storytelling.

Read through these narrative writing examples to find the ones that speak to you.

Classic Literature

Table of Contents

As we explore classic literature, let’s consider how historical narrative writing examples have shaped our understanding of effective storytelling.

1. The Whispering Woods

“In the heart of the Whispering Woods, where the leaves spoke secrets to those who would listen, Elizabeth found her courage. It was in the gentle sway of the ancient trees, in the soft murmur of the wind, that her true purpose whispered back to her.”

Why it Works: This example draws on descriptive language and setting to immerse the reader in the story. Classic literature often relies on rich, evocative descriptions to create a vivid mental picture and evoke emotions.

2. The Last Candle

“Thomas stood before the last candle, its flame dancing like the hopes within him. Around him, darkness threatened to consume everything. With a steady hand, he lit the candle, a defiant beacon in the night.”

Why it Works: The symbolism of the candle’s light against darkness reflects the character’s internal struggle. Classic narratives frequently use such symbols to convey deeper meanings and themes.

3. A Duel of Wits

“Under the watchful eyes of the gathered crowd, Eleanor and her adversary circled each other. Words were their weapons, sharp and ready. ‘Your move,’ she taunted, her voice a melody of confidence.”

Why it Works: This example showcases dialogue as a narrative tool. In classic literature, dialogue often serves to reveal character, advance the plot, and create tension.

Contemporary Fiction

Moving into contemporary fiction, it’s fascinating to see how modern narrative writing examples push the boundaries of traditional storytelling.

4. The City that Never Sleeps

“Jamie navigated the neon-lit streets of the city, each step echoing the rhythm of a world that never paused. Here, in the heart of chaos, he found his peace, a paradox as complex as the city itself.”

Why it Works: Contemporary fiction thrives on the contrast and contradictions of modern life. This example uses the setting and the protagonist’s internal reflection to highlight the complexity of urban existence.

5. Echoes of the Past

“Sarah stood at the edge of the abandoned house, the past and present blurring into one. She could hear the echoes of laughter, the remnants of memories long faded but never forgotten.”

Why it Works: Contemporary narratives often explore themes of memory, identity, and the passage of time. This snippet uses sensory details and introspection to delve into these themes.

6. Crossroads

“Mark found himself at a crossroads, literal and metaphorical. To the left, the road to his past. To the right, an uncertain future. With a deep breath, he stepped forward, choosing the path less traveled.”

Why it Works: The use of a crossroads as a motif effectively illustrates the protagonist’s dilemma and moment of decision. Contemporary fiction frequently employs such motifs to represent pivotal moments in the characters’ lives.

Nonfiction Narratives

In this section on nonfiction narratives, we’ll look at how real-life narrative writing examples can be just as compelling as fiction.

7. The Unseen Journey

“Amidst the chaos of war, Dr. Ellis found solace in the small acts of kindness that went unnoticed by the many but meant the world to the few. Her journal entries, a testament to the human spirit, painted a vivid picture of resilience.”

Why it Works: Nonfiction narratives often rely on personal anecdotes to highlight broader themes. This example illustrates how individual stories can reflect universal truths about resilience and humanity.

8. Echoes from the Summit

“Reaching the summit after a grueling climb, Alex looked out over the world below, realizing the mountain was not just a physical challenge but a metaphor for his own personal struggles and triumphs.”

Why it Works: By weaving together personal achievement with introspection, this snippet showcases the reflective quality that makes nonfiction narratives compelling. It highlights the journey, both literal and metaphorical, as a source of insight.

9. The Heart of the City

“In the heart of the city, there was an old bookstore that had witnessed the ebb and flow of generations. Its owner, Mrs. Green, had stories that encapsulated the essence of the city’s soul, tales of love, loss, and rebirth.”

Why it Works: This narrative captures the essence of place and history through the eyes of an individual. Nonfiction narratives excel in bringing to life the stories of places and people, making them relatable and real.

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Our dive into science fiction and fantasy will highlight narrative writing examples that transport readers to entirely new worlds.

10. The Last Starship

“As the last starship prepared to leave Earth, Captain Vega reflected on the journey ahead. Humanity’s hope rested on their shoulders, a new beginning among the stars, where the rules of reality were yet to be written.”

Why it Works: Science fiction narratives like this one expand the imagination to explore what could be. They blend scientific principles with creative speculation, offering a vision of future possibilities and ethical dilemmas.

11. The Forest of Illusions

“In the Forest of Illusions, reality bent and twisted like the ancient trees. Aria, the realm’s guardian, navigated the ever-changing paths, her magic the only light in the darkness, guiding those lost back to truth.”

Why it Works: Fantasy narratives invite readers into worlds where magic is real and moral codes are tested. This example uses the setting and magical elements to create a sense of mystery and adventure.

12. Between Worlds

“Trapped between worlds, Leo discovered a realm where time flowed differently, and every moment was a lifetime. Here, he learned the true value of time, each second a precious gift not to be wasted.”

Why it Works: This snippet explores the theme of time, a common motif in science fiction and fantasy. It challenges readers to think about the nature of time and existence, showcasing the genre’s ability to question reality.

Mystery & Thriller

This mystery and thriller category (one of my personal favorites) will showcase narrative writing examples that masterfully build suspense and intrigue.

13. The Shadow on Elm Street

“As the fog settled on Elm Street, Detective Harper’s instincts told her the quiet was deceptive. The shadow lurking in the mist held secrets, secrets that could unravel the tranquility of this small town.”

Why it Works: Mystery narratives thrive on suspense and the gradual unveiling of secrets. This example sets up an atmosphere of tension and anticipation, essential elements for a gripping mystery.

14. The Forgotten Code

“Inside the dusty library, an ancient code hidden in a forgotten manuscript awaited discovery. Sam, a cryptologist with a penchant for puzzles, found himself entangled in a historical mystery that could change the world.”

Why it Works: The allure of uncovering hidden truths and solving puzzles is at the heart of thriller narratives. This snippet combines history, mystery, and technology, highlighting the genre’s ability to intertwine various elements to keep readers on the edge of their seats.

15. Echoes of Betrayal

“In a world where trust was currency, Lena found the cost of betrayal was higher than she could have imagined. The echoes of her choices reverberated, leading her down a path of suspense and revelation.”

Why it Works: This narrative example showcases the psychological depth and complexity of characters in mystery and thriller stories, emphasizing the consequences of actions and the intricate web of human relationships.

Children’s Stories

For children’s stories, examining narrative writing examples helps us understand how to craft tales that captivate young minds.

16. The Adventures of Wobbly Bob

“Wobbly Bob was a penguin with a sense of adventure larger than himself. Despite his wobbly stance, he dreamed of flying. With the help of his friends, Bob discovered that true courage meant trying, no matter the odds.”

Why it Works: Children’s stories often carry messages of resilience, friendship, and the importance of dreams. This example uses a relatable character and a simple plot to convey life lessons in an engaging and accessible way for young readers.

17. The Magic Paintbrush

“Lily’s paintbrush was no ordinary tool; it was a gateway to worlds born from her imagination. Each stroke was a leap into another adventure, teaching her that creativity was the most powerful magic of all.”

Why it Works: This example emphasizes the power of imagination and creativity, fundamental themes in children’s literature. It encourages young readers to explore their own creativity and the endless possibilities it brings.

18. The Tale of the Timid Turtle

“Timmy, the timid turtle, preferred the safety of his shell. But when his friends needed him, Timmy discovered bravery wasn’t about the absence of fear, but the will to overcome it.”

Why it Works: Through the journey of a relatable character, this story teaches children about bravery and self-confidence. Children’s narratives excel in delivering moral lessons through simple, compelling storytelling.

Young Adult (YA) Fiction

Narrative writing examples in this genre often tackle complex themes relatable to a younger audience.

19. Shadows of Tomorrow

“In a dystopian world, Zoe’s ability to see glimpses of the future branded her an outcast. Yet, this very gift could be the key to saving her people. Amidst chaos, she found her strength and destiny.”

Why it Works: YA fiction often explores themes of identity, belonging, and transformation. This example combines the struggles of growing up with fantastical elements, resonating with the genre’s target audience through an empowering narrative.

20. Echoes of the Heart

“Faced with the turmoil of first love, Alex navigated his feelings for Jamie through a series of letters never meant to be sent. Each word was a step towards understanding his heart’s true echo.”

Why it Works: This narrative captures the intensity and confusion of young love, a central theme in YA fiction. It highlights the genre’s ability to delve into the emotional and psychological development of its characters.

21. The Rebel of Riverdale

“Cassie wasn’t just any student at Riverdale High; she was a voice for the voiceless, a rebel with a cause. Her fight against injustice didn’t just change the school—it changed her.”

Why it Works: This example reflects YA fiction’s engagement with social issues and the journey towards self-discovery and advocacy. It demonstrates how personal growth and societal change can intertwine in compelling narratives.

Horror & Gothic Tales

Our exploration of horror and gothic tales includes narrative writing examples that excel in creating atmosphere and tension.

22. The Whispering Hallways

“In the depths of the night, the hallways of the old mansion whispered with voices of the past. Clara, drawn by curiosity, discovered that some doors, once opened, reveal truths better left hidden.”

Why it Works: Horror narratives excel in creating an atmosphere of suspense and fear, often through the supernatural or the unknown. This example uses setting and mood to build tension, playing on the reader’s fear of what lies beyond the known.

23. The Shadow Beneath the Moon

“Under the full moon’s eerie glow, the shadow moved against the laws of nature, a formless dread that stalked Ethan. The truth of its origin was as horrifying as its intent.”

Why it Works: Gothic tales often blend the horror of the supernatural with psychological depth. This snippet illustrates the genre’s power to evoke terror not just from external threats but from the internal struggle with the unknown.

24. The Curse of the Black Rose

“The Black Rose, once a symbol of unyielding love, became a curse for those who dared to love too deeply. Amelia’s discovery of its legend entwined her fate with a history of darkness and despair.”

Why it Works: Horror and gothic narratives frequently explore themes of curses and doomed love. This example uses a symbolic object to drive the narrative, intertwining the protagonist’s fate with the supernatural.

Romance Novels

Let’s explore narrative writing examples that make our hearts flutter and our minds race with the possibilities of love.

25. Echoes of Love

“In a small town where everyone knew your name, Julia and Michael’s love story unfolded, defying odds and expectations. Their love, echoing through the streets, proved that true connections could break barriers.”

Why it Works: Romance narratives focus on the development of relationships, often overcoming obstacles to love. This example highlights the genre’s emphasis on emotional depth and the power of love to transcend circumstances.

26. The Dance of Hearts

“At the annual masquerade ball, hidden behind masks of pretense, Elizabeth and Alexander’s paths crossed. The dance floor became their world, where unspoken desires and truths danced in the shadows.”

Why it Works: This snippet captures the romantic and mysterious allure of hidden identities and forbidden love, common themes in romance novels that heighten the tension and emotional engagement of the reader.

27. Letters to a Stranger

“Through a series of letters to a stranger, Emma found herself pouring out her heart, finding solace and understanding in an unexpected connection. What started as words on a page blossomed into an unbreakable bond.”

Why it Works: The slow build of a relationship through letters showcases the romance genre’s ability to explore the growth of love and intimacy over time, emphasizing emotional depth and the transformative power of love.

Historical Fiction

We’re about to uncover narrative writing examples that breathe life into the whispers of the past, making history dance vividly in our present imagination.

28. The Painter of the Revolution

“In the turmoil of the revolution, Jeanne’s art became a beacon of hope and defiance. Through her paintings, the story of a nation’s struggle for freedom was etched in colors and shadows, a testament to the indomitable human spirit.”

Why it Works: Historical fiction allows readers to explore past eras through the eyes of its characters. This example illustrates how personal stories can illuminate broader historical events, blending facts with the emotional truths of the human experience.

29. The Whispering Sands

“Amidst the shifting sands of time, Mariam found ancient secrets buried beneath the desert. Her journey into the past revealed the interconnectedness of history and destiny, where each grain of sand held stories of old.”

Why it Works: This narrative uses the setting as a character, exploring the mystery and allure of ancient civilizations. Historical fiction often delves into the discovery of the past and its impact on the present, offering a bridge between eras.

30. The Sea Captain’s Promise

“Bound by a promise made in the heat of battle, Captain Ellis sailed the seven seas, his heart tethered to a land he may never see again. His tale, woven through time, spoke of loyalty, love, and the sacrifices of the sea.”

Why it Works: By focusing on the personal dilemmas of historical figures or characters set in a historical context, this example shows how historical fiction can provide insight into the complexities of human nature and the timeless themes of honor, duty, and love.

This video goes over a few additional examples to really help you:

Tips for Narrative Writing

Here are my top tips, honed from 25 years of writing and storytelling, designed to elevate your narrative writing game.

Each tip is a doorway to a new way of thinking about storytelling.

• The Emotional Compass: Always anchor your narrative in emotion. Whether it’s joy, fear, sadness, or excitement, the emotional journey of your characters is what truly resonates with readers. Make sure every scene, dialogue, and action adds a layer to this emotional landscape.
• Dialogue Dynamics: Make your dialogue do double duty. Good dialogue reveals character, advances the plot, and adds to the tension or humor of the situation. Each line should feel essential and reflective of the character’s unique voice.
• Sensory Immersion: Engage all five senses in your descriptions. The more you can immerse your reader in the world of your story through sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste, the more vivid and memorable your narrative will become.
• The Conflict Crucible: Conflict is the heartbeat of narrative. It’s about more than pitting good versus evil. Rather, it’s about the internal and external struggles that drive your characters to grow and change. Every story needs a crucible—moments that test and refine your characters.
• Memory Mining: Draw from your own experiences to add authenticity and depth to your narratives. Even if you’re writing fantasy or science fiction, the emotions and truths you’ve lived through can bring your story to life in unique ways.
• The Plot Twist Plow: Don’t be afraid to surprise your readers. A well-timed plot twist can reinvigorate interest and keep the pages turning. However, ensure it’s earned and fits organically within the story’s framework.
• Character Kaleidoscope: Create characters as diverse and complex as real people. Avoid stereotypes by giving your characters a mix of strengths, weaknesses, goals, and fears that reflect a wide range of human experiences.
• Setting as a Character: Treat your setting with the same care as your characters. Whether it’s a bustling city or a quiet village, your setting can influence the mood of the story, reflect themes, and affect the plot and characters in meaningful ways.
• The Revision Revelation: Embrace the revision process as an opportunity to refine and deepen your narrative. The first draft is just the beginning; it’s in revisiting and revising your work that true storytelling emerges.
• Reader Resonance: Always keep your reader in mind. Craft your narrative to resonate with them, creating moments of connection that transcend the page. Whether through relatable characters, universal themes, or gripping plots, aim to leave a lasting impact.

Final Thoughts: Narrative Writing Examples

As we conclude this exploration of narrative writing examples across genres, remember that these are but a starting point.

The true journey lies in the stories you have yet to write, the characters you have yet to create, and the worlds you have yet to imagine.

Let these examples be your guide, your inspiration, but always strive to find your own path in the vast universe of storytelling. For in the end, it is not just about the stories we tell but about the stories that tell us, shaping who we are and who we aspire to be.

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Narrative Writing: A Complete Guide for Teachers and Students

MASTERING THE CRAFT OF NARRATIVE WRITING

Narratives build on and encourage the development of the fundamentals of writing. They also require developing an additional skill set: the ability to tell a good yarn, and storytelling is as old as humanity.

We see and hear stories everywhere and daily, from having good gossip on the doorstep with a neighbor in the morning to the dramas that fill our screens in the evening.

Good narrative writing skills are hard-won by students even though it is an area of writing that most enjoy due to the creativity and freedom it offers.

Here we will explore some of the main elements of a good story: plot, setting, characters, conflict, climax, and resolution . And we will look too at how best we can help our students understand these elements, both in isolation and how they mesh together as a whole.

WHAT IS A NARRATIVE?

A narrative is a story that shares a sequence of events , characters, and themes. It expresses experiences, ideas, and perspectives that should aspire to engage and inspire an audience.

A narrative can spark emotion, encourage reflection, and convey meaning when done well.

Narratives are a popular genre for students and teachers as they allow the writer to share their imagination, creativity, skill, and understanding of nearly all elements of writing.  We occasionally refer to a narrative as ‘creative writing’ or story writing.

The purpose of a narrative is simple, to tell the audience a story.  It can be written to motivate, educate, or entertain and can be fact or fiction.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON TEACHING NARRATIVE WRITING

Teach your students to become skilled story writers with this HUGE   NARRATIVE & CREATIVE STORY WRITING UNIT . Offering a  COMPLETE SOLUTION  to teaching students how to craft  CREATIVE CHARACTERS, SUPERB SETTINGS, and PERFECT PLOTS .

Over 192 PAGES of materials, including:

TYPES OF NARRATIVE WRITING

There are many narrative writing genres and sub-genres such as these.

We have a complete guide to writing a personal narrative that differs from the traditional story-based narrative covered in this guide. It includes personal narrative writing prompts, resources, and examples and can be found here.

As we can see, narratives are an open-ended form of writing that allows you to showcase creativity in many directions. However, all narratives share a common set of features and structure known as “Story Elements”, which are briefly covered in this guide.

Don’t overlook the importance of understanding story elements and the value this adds to you as a writer who can dissect and create grand narratives. We also have an in-depth guide to understanding story elements here .

CHARACTERISTICS OF NARRATIVE WRITING

Narrative structure.

ORIENTATION (BEGINNING) Set the scene by introducing your characters, setting and time of the story. Establish your who, when and where in this part of your narrative

COMPLICATION AND EVENTS (MIDDLE) In this section activities and events involving your main characters are expanded upon. These events are written in a cohesive and fluent sequence.

RESOLUTION (ENDING) Your complication is resolved in this section. It does not have to be a happy outcome, however.

EXTRAS: Whilst orientation, complication and resolution are the agreed norms for a narrative, there are numerous examples of popular texts that did not explicitly follow this path exactly.

NARRATIVE FEATURES

LANGUAGE: Use descriptive and figurative language to paint images inside your audience’s minds as they read.

PERSPECTIVE Narratives can be written from any perspective but are most commonly written in first or third person.

DIALOGUE Narratives frequently switch from narrator to first-person dialogue. Always use speech marks when writing dialogue.

TENSE If you change tense, make it perfectly clear to your audience what is happening. Flashbacks might work well in your mind but make sure they translate to your audience.

THE PLOT MAP

This graphic is known as a plot map, and nearly all narratives fit this structure in one way or another, whether romance novels, science fiction or otherwise.

It is a simple tool that helps you understand and organise a story’s events. Think of it as a roadmap that outlines the journey of your characters and the events that unfold. It outlines the different stops along the way, such as the introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, that help you to see how the story builds and develops.

Using a plot map, you can see how each event fits into the larger picture and how the different parts of the story work together to create meaning. It’s a great way to visualize and analyze a story.

Be sure to refer to a plot map when planning a story, as it has all the essential elements of a great story.

THE 5 KEY STORY ELEMENTS OF A GREAT NARRATIVE (6-MINUTE TUTORIAL VIDEO)

This video we created provides an excellent overview of these elements and demonstrates them in action in stories we all know and love.

HOW TO WRITE A NARRATIVE

Now that we understand the story elements and how they come together to form stories, it’s time to start planning and writing your narrative.

In many cases, the template and guide below will provide enough details on how to craft a great story. However, if you still need assistance with the fundamentals of writing, such as sentence structure, paragraphs and using correct grammar, we have some excellent guides on those here.

USE YOUR WRITING TIME EFFECTIVELY: Maximize your narrative writing sessions by spending approximately 20 per cent of your time planning and preparing.  This ensures greater productivity during your writing time and keeps you focused and on task.

Use tools such as graphic organizers to logically sequence your narrative if you are not a confident story writer.  If you are working with reluctant writers, try using narrative writing prompts to get their creative juices flowing.

Spend most of your writing hour on the task at hand, don’t get too side-tracked editing during this time and leave some time for editing. When editing a  narrative, examine it for these three elements.

• Spelling and grammar ( Is it readable?)
• Story structure and continuity ( Does it make sense, and does it flow? )
• Character and plot analysis. (Are your characters engaging? Does your problem/resolution work? )

1. SETTING THE SCENE: THE WHERE AND THE WHEN

The story’s setting often answers two of the central questions in the story, namely, the where and the when. The answers to these two crucial questions will often be informed by the type of story the student is writing.

The story’s setting can be chosen to quickly orient the reader to the type of story they are reading. For example, a fictional narrative writing piece such as a horror story will often begin with a description of a haunted house on a hill or an abandoned asylum in the middle of the woods. If we start our story on a rocket ship hurtling through the cosmos on its space voyage to the Alpha Centauri star system, we can be reasonably sure that the story we are embarking on is a work of science fiction.

Such conventions are well-worn clichés true, but they can be helpful starting points for our novice novelists to make a start.

Having students choose an appropriate setting for the type of story they wish to write is an excellent exercise for our younger students. It leads naturally onto the next stage of story writing, which is creating suitable characters to populate this fictional world they have created. However, older or more advanced students may wish to play with the expectations of appropriate settings for their story. They may wish to do this for comic effect or in the interest of creating a more original story. For example, opening a story with a children’s birthday party does not usually set up the expectation of a horror story. Indeed, it may even lure the reader into a happy reverie as they remember their own happy birthday parties. This leaves them more vulnerable to the surprise element of the shocking action that lies ahead.

Once the students have chosen a setting for their story, they need to start writing. Little can be more terrifying to English students than the blank page and its bare whiteness stretching before them on the table like a merciless desert they must cross. Give them the kick-start they need by offering support through word banks or writing prompts. If the class is all writing a story based on the same theme, you may wish to compile a common word bank on the whiteboard as a prewriting activity. Write the central theme or genre in the middle of the board. Have students suggest words or phrases related to the theme and list them on the board.

You may wish to provide students with a copy of various writing prompts to get them started. While this may mean that many students’ stories will have the same beginning, they will most likely arrive at dramatically different endings via dramatically different routes.

A bargain is at the centre of the relationship between the writer and the reader. That bargain is that the reader promises to suspend their disbelief as long as the writer creates a consistent and convincing fictional reality. Creating a believable world for the fictional characters to inhabit requires the student to draw on convincing details. The best way of doing this is through writing that appeals to the senses. Have your student reflect deeply on the world that they are creating. What does it look like? Sound like? What does the food taste like there? How does it feel like to walk those imaginary streets, and what aromas beguile the nose as the main character winds their way through that conjured market?

Also, Consider the when; or the time period. Is it a future world where things are cleaner and more antiseptic? Or is it an overcrowded 16th-century London with human waste stinking up the streets? If students can create a multi-sensory installation in the reader’s mind, then they have done this part of their job well.

Popular Settings from Children’s Literature and Storytelling

• Fairytale Kingdom
• Magical Forest
• Village/town
• Underwater world
• Space/Alien planet

2. CASTING THE CHARACTERS: THE WHO

Now that your student has created a believable world, it is time to populate it with believable characters.

In short stories, these worlds mustn’t be overpopulated beyond what the student’s skill level can manage. Short stories usually only require one main character and a few secondary ones. Think of the short story more as a small-scale dramatic production in an intimate local theater than a Hollywood blockbuster on a grand scale. Too many characters will only confuse and become unwieldy with a canvas this size. Keep it simple!

Creating believable characters is often one of the most challenging aspects of narrative writing for students. Fortunately, we can do a few things to help students here. Sometimes it is helpful for students to model their characters on actual people they know. This can make things a little less daunting and taxing on the imagination. However, whether or not this is the case, writing brief background bios or descriptions of characters’ physical personality characteristics can be a beneficial prewriting activity. Students should give some in-depth consideration to the details of who their character is: How do they walk? What do they look like? Do they have any distinguishing features? A crooked nose? A limp? Bad breath? Small details such as these bring life and, therefore, believability to characters. Students can even cut pictures from magazines to put a face to their character and allow their imaginations to fill in the rest of the details.

Younger students will often dictate to the reader the nature of their characters. To improve their writing craft, students must know when to switch from story-telling mode to story-showing mode. This is particularly true when it comes to character. Encourage students to reveal their character’s personality through what they do rather than merely by lecturing the reader on the faults and virtues of the character’s personality. It might be a small relayed detail in the way they walk that reveals a core characteristic. For example, a character who walks with their head hanging low and shoulders hunched while avoiding eye contact has been revealed to be timid without the word once being mentioned. This is a much more artistic and well-crafted way of doing things and is less irritating for the reader. A character who sits down at the family dinner table immediately snatches up his fork and starts stuffing roast potatoes into his mouth before anyone else has even managed to sit down has revealed a tendency towards greed or gluttony.

Understanding Character Traits

Again, there is room here for some fun and profitable prewriting activities. Give students a list of character traits and have them describe a character doing something that reveals that trait without ever employing the word itself.

It is also essential to avoid adjective stuffing here. When looking at students’ early drafts, adjective stuffing is often apparent. To train the student out of this habit, choose an adjective and have the student rewrite the sentence to express this adjective through action rather than telling.

When writing a story, it is vital to consider the character’s traits and how they will impact the story’s events. For example, a character with a strong trait of determination may be more likely to overcome obstacles and persevere. In contrast, a character with a tendency towards laziness may struggle to achieve their goals. In short, character traits add realism, depth, and meaning to a story, making it more engaging and memorable for the reader.

Popular Character Traits in Children’s Stories

• Determination
• Imagination
• Perseverance
• Responsibility

We have an in-depth guide to creating great characters here , but most students should be fine to move on to planning their conflict and resolution.

3. NO PROBLEM? NO STORY! HOW CONFLICT DRIVES A NARRATIVE

This is often the area apprentice writers have the most difficulty with. Students must understand that without a problem or conflict, there is no story. The problem is the driving force of the action. Usually, in a short story, the problem will center around what the primary character wants to happen or, indeed, wants not to happen. It is the hurdle that must be overcome. It is in the struggle to overcome this hurdle that events happen.

Often when a student understands the need for a problem in a story, their completed work will still not be successful. This is because, often in life, problems remain unsolved. Hurdles are not always successfully overcome. Students pick up on this.

We often discuss problems with friends that will never be satisfactorily resolved one way or the other, and we accept this as a part of life. This is not usually the case with writing a story. Whether a character successfully overcomes his or her problem or is decidedly crushed in the process of trying is not as important as the fact that it will finally be resolved one way or the other.

A good practical exercise for students to get to grips with this is to provide copies of stories and have them identify the central problem or conflict in each through discussion. Familiar fables or fairy tales such as Three Little Pigs, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, Cinderella, etc., are great for this.

While it is true that stories often have more than one problem or that the hero or heroine is unsuccessful in their first attempt to solve a central problem, for beginning students and intermediate students, it is best to focus on a single problem, especially given the scope of story writing at this level. Over time students will develop their abilities to handle more complex plots and write accordingly.

Popular Conflicts found in Children’s Storytelling.

• Good vs evil
• Individual vs society
• Nature vs nurture
• Self vs others
• Man vs self
• Man vs nature
• Man vs technology
• Individual vs fate
• Self vs destiny

Conflict is the heart and soul of any good story. It’s what makes a story compelling and drives the plot forward. Without conflict, there is no story. Every great story has a struggle or a problem that needs to be solved, and that’s where conflict comes in. Conflict is what makes a story exciting and keeps the reader engaged. It creates tension and suspense and makes the reader care about the outcome.

Like in real life, conflict in a story is an opportunity for a character’s growth and transformation. It’s a chance for them to learn and evolve, making a story great. So next time stories are written in the classroom, remember that conflict is an essential ingredient, and without it, your story will lack the energy, excitement, and meaning that makes it truly memorable.

4. THE NARRATIVE CLIMAX: HOW THINGS COME TO A HEAD!

The climax of the story is the dramatic high point of the action. It is also when the struggles kicked off by the problem come to a head. The climax will ultimately decide whether the story will have a happy or tragic ending. In the climax, two opposing forces duke things out until the bitter (or sweet!) end. One force ultimately emerges triumphant. As the action builds throughout the story, suspense increases as the reader wonders which of these forces will win out. The climax is the release of this suspense.

Much of the success of the climax depends on how well the other elements of the story have been achieved. If the student has created a well-drawn and believable character that the reader can identify with and feel for, then the climax will be more powerful.

The nature of the problem is also essential as it determines what’s at stake in the climax. The problem must matter dearly to the main character if it matters at all to the reader.

Have students engage in discussions about their favorite movies and books. Have them think about the storyline and decide the most exciting parts. What was at stake at these moments? What happened in your body as you read or watched? Did you breathe faster? Or grip the cushion hard? Did your heart rate increase, or did you start to sweat? This is what a good climax does and what our students should strive to do in their stories.

The climax puts it all on the line and rolls the dice. Let the chips fall where the writer may…

Popular Climax themes in Children’s Stories

• A battle between good and evil
• The character’s bravery saves the day
• Character faces their fears and overcomes them
• The character solves a mystery or puzzle.
• The character stands up for what is right.
• Character reaches their goal or dream.
• The character learns a valuable lesson.
• The character makes a selfless sacrifice.
• The character makes a difficult decision.
• The character reunites with loved ones or finds true friendship.

5. RESOLUTION: TYING UP LOOSE ENDS

After the climactic action, a few questions will often remain unresolved for the reader, even if all the conflict has been resolved. The resolution is where those lingering questions will be answered. The resolution in a short story may only be a brief paragraph or two. But, in most cases, it will still be necessary to include an ending immediately after the climax can feel too abrupt and leave the reader feeling unfulfilled.

An easy way to explain resolution to students struggling to grasp the concept is to point to the traditional resolution of fairy tales, the “And they all lived happily ever after” ending. This weather forecast for the future allows the reader to take their leave. Have the student consider the emotions they want to leave the reader with when crafting their resolution.

While the action is usually complete by the end of the climax, it is in the resolution that if there is a twist to be found, it will appear – think of movies such as The Usual Suspects. Pulling this off convincingly usually requires considerable skill from a student writer. Still, it may well form a challenging extension exercise for those more gifted storytellers among your students.

Popular Resolutions in Children’s Stories

• Our hero achieves their goal
• The character learns a valuable lesson
• A character finds happiness or inner peace.
• The character reunites with loved ones.
• Character restores balance to the world.
• The character discovers their true identity.
• Character changes for the better.
• The character gains wisdom or understanding.
• Character makes amends with others.
• The character learns to appreciate what they have.

Once students have completed their story, they can edit for grammar, vocabulary choice, spelling, etc., but not before!

As mentioned, there is a craft to storytelling, as well as an art. When accurate grammar, perfect spelling, and immaculate sentence structures are pushed at the outset, they can cause storytelling paralysis. For this reason, it is essential that when we encourage the students to write a story, we give them license to make mechanical mistakes in their use of language that they can work on and fix later.

Good narrative writing is a very complex skill to develop and will take the student years to become competent. It challenges not only the student’s technical abilities with language but also her creative faculties. Writing frames, word banks, mind maps, and visual prompts can all give valuable support as students develop the wide-ranging and challenging skills required to produce a successful narrative writing piece. But, at the end of it all, as with any craft, practice and more practice is at the heart of the matter.

TIPS FOR WRITING A GREAT NARRATIVE

• Start your story with a clear purpose: If you can determine the theme or message you want to convey in your narrative before starting it will make the writing process so much simpler.
• Choose a compelling storyline and sell it through great characters, setting and plot: Consider a unique or interesting story that captures the reader’s attention, then build the world and characters around it.
• Develop vivid characters that are not all the same: Make your characters relatable and memorable by giving them distinct personalities and traits you can draw upon in the plot.
• Use descriptive language to hook your audience into your story: Use sensory language to paint vivid images and sequences in the reader’s mind.
• Show, don’t tell your audience: Use actions, thoughts, and dialogue to reveal character motivations and emotions through storytelling.
• Create a vivid setting that is clear to your audience before getting too far into the plot: Describe the time and place of your story to immerse the reader fully.
• Build tension: Refer to the story map earlier in this article and use conflict, obstacles, and suspense to keep the audience engaged and invested in your narrative.
• Use figurative language such as metaphors, similes, and other literary devices to add depth and meaning to your narrative.
• Edit, revise, and refine: Take the time to refine and polish your writing for clarity and impact.
• Stay true to your voice: Maintain your unique perspective and style in your writing to make it your own.

NARRATIVE WRITING EXAMPLES (Student Writing Samples)

Below are a collection of student writing samples of narratives.  Click on the image to enlarge and explore them in greater detail.  Please take a moment to read these creative stories in detail and the teacher and student guides which highlight some of the critical elements of narratives to consider before writing.

Please understand these student writing samples are not intended to be perfect examples for each age or grade level but a piece of writing for students and teachers to explore together to critically analyze to improve student writing skills and deepen their understanding of story writing.

We recommend reading the example either a year above or below, as well as the grade you are currently working with, to gain a broader appreciation of this text type.

NARRATIVE WRITING PROMPTS (Journal Prompts)

When students have a great journal prompt, it can help them focus on the task at hand, so be sure to view our vast collection of visual writing prompts for various text types here or use some of these.

• On a recent European trip, you find your travel group booked into the stunning and mysterious Castle Frankenfurter for a single night…  As night falls, the massive castle of over one hundred rooms seems to creak and groan as a series of unexplained events begin to make you wonder who or what else is spending the evening with you. Write a narrative that tells the story of your evening.
• You are a famous adventurer who has discovered new lands; keep a travel log over a period of time in which you encounter new and exciting adventures and challenges to overcome.  Ensure your travel journal tells a story and has a definite introduction, conflict and resolution.
• You create an incredible piece of technology that has the capacity to change the world.  As you sit back and marvel at your innovation and the endless possibilities ahead of you, it becomes apparent there are a few problems you didn’t really consider. You might not even be able to control them.  Write a narrative in which you ride the highs and lows of your world-changing creation with a clear introduction, conflict and resolution.
• As the final door shuts on the Megamall, you realise you have done it…  You and your best friend have managed to sneak into the largest shopping centre in town and have the entire place to yourselves until 7 am tomorrow.  There is literally everything and anything a child would dream of entertaining themselves for the next 12 hours.  What amazing adventures await you?  What might go wrong?  And how will you get out of there scot-free?
• A stranger walks into town…  Whilst appearing similar to almost all those around you, you get a sense that this person is from another time, space or dimension… Are they friends or foes?  What makes you sense something very strange is going on?   Suddenly they stand up and walk toward you with purpose extending their hand… It’s almost as if they were reading your mind.

NARRATIVE WRITING VIDEO TUTORIAL

Teaching Resources

Use our resources and tools to improve your student’s writing skills through proven teaching strategies.

When teaching narrative writing, it is essential that you have a range of tools, strategies and resources at your disposal to ensure you get the most out of your writing time.  You can find some examples below, which are free and paid premium resources you can use instantly without any preparation.

FREE Narrative Graphic Organizer

THE STORY TELLERS BUNDLE OF TEACHING RESOURCES

A MASSIVE COLLECTION of resources for narratives and story writing in the classroom covering all elements of crafting amazing stories. MONTHS WORTH OF WRITING LESSONS AND RESOURCES, including:

NARRATIVE WRITING CHECKLIST BUNDLE

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (92 Reviews)

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Narrative Voice | Definition, Properties & Examples

• February 3, 2024

Table of Contents:

Definition: what is narrative voice, properties of narrative voice, 1. point of view, types of narrative writing, nonlinear narrative, descriptive narrative, viewpoint narrative, examples of narrative voice.

• First-Person Voice - "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
• Second-Person Voice – "Bright Lights, Big City" by Jay McInerney
• Third-Person Voice – "Harry Potter" series by J.K. Rowling
• Unreliable Voice - "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger

The craft of storytelling is not limited to the elements such as characters, plot, and setting. One of the most important yet dramatically understated elements in strong narrative writing is voice.

The means through which a narrative is narrated has been referred to aptly as “narrative voice.” This can greatly bias that story’s reception and change how readers interpret characters and situations. It can even affect understanding at all levels, up to undermining comprehension.

This article focuses on narrative voice, features, types, and how it is utilized.

In literary terms, the narrative voice is the character or entity via whom a reader relives the plot. It is the point of view in which the events in a story are recounted. Although voice is often confused with the author’s words, narrative voice does not necessarily belong to the same source. 

Narrative ghost writers might use a character in the story (first and second-person narratives) or an external entity not directly involved in the narrative plot line (third person).

The following characteristics often define narrative voice.

Who is telling the story determines the point of view. There can be first-person (I, we) where one of the characters tells a story. It can be second-person (you), directed at the readers, and third-person narrator who accounts for given events.

The narrative voice’s tone affects how readers react emotionally to this story. It might be happy, sad, gloomy, sarcastic, sober, or any other emotion. The narrator’s voice, therefore, determines the tone or mood of an entire story.

3- Reliability

The trustworthiness of a narrative voice refers to its reliability. A truthful narrator gives facts and reliable information. Nevertheless, an untrustworthy narrator brings in ambiguity, and the reader must determine between truth and a lie.

4- Degree of Omniscience

Omniscience establishes how much the narrator knows. An omniscient narrator knows everything about these characters and events. In contrast, a limited narrator can know only as much as one character does or has very little knowledge of the series.

Narrative pieces span different literary forms such as historical writings, Horror Fiction Writing , short stories, epics, and ballads. Yet, regardless of their format, narrative writing services emphasize that narratives predominantly fall into four primary categories.

• Descriptive

In this type of narrative, the narrator follows an order of events. The fictional or non-fictional story unfolds from start to finish. 

• Linear Narrative

Linear narrative style can be identified in Bildungsroman (or coming-of-age novels). Popular examples of linear narratives include ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ by J.D Salinger, Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” and Charles Dickens’ Last but not Least.’ 

The other forms of writing that follow a narrative style include historical pieces, biographies, and autobiographies. Linear narration is evident in the movie ‘Moana.’ It begins with Moana as a young girl growing up to be fully acquainted with her culture and responsibilities towards the tribe. 

This style is well-suited to the theme and plot. You notice that Moana is always attracted to the ocean, determines what her life means, and crosses the sea to rescue people from destruction.

A nonlinear narrative does not tell the story chronologically. This is the type of story that has flashbacks. It goes back and forth from some point. This style of narration prevails in most suspense thriller novels and movies. Other lighter themes are also shown in this way. 

Other novels which employ the nonlinear narrative include ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily Bronte, ‘The Sound and the Fury’ by William Faulkner, among others.

In this mode of narration, the audience is made to see and feel what world the characters live in. A descriptive narrative includes words and word groups that create images in readers’ minds.

Descriptive narrative is demonstrated in works such as ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ by Stephen Chbosky, The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, and Arundhati Roy’s The God Small Things.

Most of you may have watched ‘Avatar’ and ‘Avatar: Way of the Water’. Both movies use the descriptive technique. The Avatar world is represented so the viewers form an identity with characters and surroundings.

A viewpoint narrative is a kind of literature where there exists either the first, second or third-person narrator. The change in pronoun use depends on who narrates these happenings. The most dominant point-of-view narratives are the first-person narrative and third-person narrative. The First-person point of view is used in writing autobiographies and third-person for presidential biographies .

First-person narratives include John Green’s ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.’ 

Third-person narratives include such novels as ‘Little Women’ by Louisa May Alcott and ‘Beloved’ by Toni Morrison. The second-person narrative does not have as many books compared to the first and third-person narratives. 

Nevertheless, others are beautifully presented. The novels Ghost Light’ by Joseph O’Connor and ‘If on a Winter’s Night, a Traveler’ by Italo Calvino are written in the second-person narrative. Read these novels and see the impact different perspectives have on the reader.

The first-person narrator of the movie, ‘The Life of Pi,’ is Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi). Bagheera, the panther in ‘The Jungle Book,’ tells about how Mowgli joined the wolves and what is happening. This can be referred to as a third-person narrative structure.

Let’s look at some examples to appreciate the concept of narrative voice.

First-Person Voice – “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

Harper Lee’s seminal work uses the first-person narrative voice, with young Scout Finch as the narrator. This choice gives readers a child’s perspective of the events unfolding during a racially charged trial in 1930s Alabama. 

For instance, Scout’s innocent voice and naive understanding of the complex social issues contribute enormously to the novel’s emotional resonance.

Excerpt: “Until I feared losing it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”

Second-Person Voice – “Bright Lights, Big City” by Jay McInerney

Jay McInerney’s novel breaks traditional norms by using a second-person narrative. The authorial choices in employing ‘you’ create an intimate, engaging storytelling style, pulling the reader directly into the story.

Excerpt: “You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning.”

Third-Person Voice – “Harry Potter” series by J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling uses the third-person limited narrative voice in the Harry Potter series. Though an external entity narrates, the voice closely follows Harry Potter, helping readers identify and empathize with him.

Excerpt: “Harry — yer a wizard.”

Unreliable Voice – “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger

An example of an unreliable narrative voice can be seen in J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye.” Holden Caulfield, the narrator, distorts reality, often stretches the truth, and has a strongly biased viewpoint, leaving readers to piece the real story themselves.

Excerpt: “I’m the most terrific liar you ever saw. It’s awful.”

The narrative voice is a silent yet incontrovertible element of any narrative. It allows the story writers to control how events unfold and characters emerge.

We hope that with this article now, you understand what narrative writing is and what types are there.

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What is narrative? 5 narrative types and examples

Narration and narrative are two key terms in writing fiction. Read on to learn what narrative is, as well as five types of narrative, with examples:

• Post author By Jordan
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Narration and narrative are two key terms in writing fiction. Read on to learn what a narrative story is, as well as five types of narrative, with examples:

What is narrative?

Narrative is a style of writing that connects ideas, concepts or events. It shows a sequence of events. Humans like to tell and listen to a coherent story .The definitions below show three important aspects of narration in storytelling:

• It  connects  events, showing their patterns, relating them to each other or to specific ideas, themes or concepts.
• It is a  practice  and  art in that when we tell a story, we shape the narrative – the connection between events.
• Narrating a story involves shaping events around an overarching set of aims or effects (whether consciously or unconsciously). For example, in a comedic narrative, the overarching aim is to surprise/shock or otherwise lead the audience or reader to be amused.

Here are three definitions of narrative technique via the  Oxford English Dictionary that illustrate the above ideas:

• A spoken or written account of connected events; a story.
• The practice or art of telling stories.
• A representation of a particular situation or process in such a way as to reflect or conform to an overarching set of aims or values.

A number of literary techniques are used to create narrative: figures of speech, dialogue rhetorical devices and so on.

Now that we’ve clarified what narrative is, here are several types of narration, with examples and tips for using them well:

Common types of narrative:

Descriptive narrative.

• Viewpoint narrative
• Historical narrative
• Linear narrative
• Non-linear narrative

Let’s explore each narrative type with examples:

Descriptive narrative connects imagery, ideas, and details to convey a sense of time and place.

The purpose of descriptive narrative

Descriptive narrative has two key purposes:

• To create a sense of setting, of time and place.
• To convey the mood and tone of said time and place (e.g. threatening, peaceful, cheerful, chaotic).

When we describe a pastoral scene in a rural setting, for example, we might linger on specific images (such as a wide, empty field, an abandoned tractor) to build up an overarching mood (such as peaceful simplicity).

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Descriptive narrative examples

The Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a master of this type of narration. In Love in the Time of Cholera  (1985), the third person narrator describes the unnamed seaside city in the Carribbean where much of the novel takes place. Marquez narrates the passage through the eyes of Dr. Urbino, one of the city’s most distinguished doctors:

The city, his city, stood unchanging on the edge of time: the same burning dry city of his nocturnal terrors and the solitary pleasures of puberty, where flowers rusted and salt corroded, where nothing had happened for four centuries except a slow aging among whithered laurels and putrefying swamps. In winter sudden devastating downpours flooded the latrines and turned the streets into sickening bogs. (p. 16-17)

In the space of a paragraph, Marquez shows how the city changes (or doesn’t change) over centuries. This makes Marquez’s setting more vivid and real. The narration passes from showing the city’s history to its citizens’ current ways of life. The narrator proceeds to describe the lives of poor inhabitants:

During the weekend they danced without mercy, drank themselves   blind on home-brewed alcohol, made wild love among the icaco plants, and on Sunday at midnight they broke up their own party with bloody free-for-alls. (p. 17)

Over the course of two pages, Marquez masterfully shows the city’s mood, culture, unique spirit. His narration then zooms in closer on individuals’ lives. The multiple time-scales in his narrative – past and present day – combine to give a rich sense of time and place .

2: Viewpoint narrative

Often, the express purpose of a section of narration is to help us understand the views and feelings of the narrating character or ‘viewpoint narrator’. Point of view or POV is thus a key element of narration ( read about different types of POV here  and a definition of narration here ).

The purpose of viewpoint narrative

Viewpoint narrative presents events or scenes to us so that we see understand them through narrators’ feelings, desires, beliefs or values.

In omniscient narration, the narrator may share multiple characters’ private thoughts, even in a single scene. In limited narration, by contrast, we can only know what a single person’s perception (and its subjective limitations) tells us. Tweet This

[You can read more about different points of view here .]

Viewpoint narrative has power. We might interpret story events the way the narrator does. Because we don’t have a different viewpoint for comparison, or because their voice is strong, self-assured. Yet the viewpoint narrator in a scene may be unreliable (they could lie about what truly happened, or gloss over details that, for example, make them look worse to others).

Authors like Vladimir Nabokov have written novels featuring protagonists who are unethical or even abusive. In novels such as Nabokov’s  Lolita , the reader has to remember that the narrating voice has its own agenda. The narrative voice is in first-person, through Humbert Humbert.

The most common viewpoint narratives are generally in either first-person narrative or third-person. There are some stories that have been written in second-person ‘you’ but these are far less common. The Fault in our Stars by John Green and To Kill a Mockingbird  by Harper Lee are other examples of a first-person narrative.

Other third-person narratives are Middlemarch by George Eliot in which she employs third-person omniscient narration to delve into the lives and relationships of the characters in the provincial town of Middlemarch. In Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky: the writer uses third-person limited narration to delve into the psyche of the protagonist, Raskolnikov, as he grapples with morality and guilt. The thriller You by Caroline Kepnes is an example of a book written in both first-person and second-person narration. In Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney, he novel follows the life of a young man in New York City during the 1980s. The second-person narrative immerses the reader directly into the protagonist’s experiences.

Viewpoint narrative example

Virginia Woolf is a master of filtering events via individual characters’ perceptions. She often switches between multiple characters’ viewpoints within a single page. This approach (called ‘stream of consciousness’) lets her reveal characters’ different fixations and personalities.

Take, for example, this scene in Mrs Dalloway (1925). Septimus Smith is a World War I veteran whose mental health is crumbling. His Italian wife Rezia feels unease and longs for her home country. Woolf switches from paragraph to paragraph between Septimus and Rezia’s viewpoints, in third person:

Human nature, in short, was on him – the repulsive brute, with the blood-red nostrils. Holmes was on him. Dr. Holmes came quite regularly every day. Once you stumble, Septimus wrote on the back of a postcard, human nature is on you. Holmes is on you. Their only chance was to escape, without letting Holmes know; to Italy – anywhere, anywhere, away from Dr. Holmes. Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway (1925), p. 81

Then to Rezia’s POV in limited third person:

But Rezia could not understand him. Dr. Holmes was such a kind man. He was so interested in Septimus. He only wanted to help them, she said. Woolf, p. 81.

Woolf’s gift for clear viewpoint and narration means that she can narrate individuals’ differing fears and obsessions from their viewpoints within a single page without breaking the flow.

Woolf reports Rezia’s words within narration, instead of using dialogue. This allows Woolf’s narrative (and changing viewpoints) to flow into each other without interruption.

Other novels that use this device are Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. The novel is narrated by both husband and wife, Nick and Amy, providing conflicting perspectives of the series of events as the mystery unfolds.

In The Martian by Andy Weir,  the novel alternates between the first-person perspective of astronaut Mark Watney, stranded on Mars, and the third-person perspectives of those working to rescue him.

3: Historical narrative

In genres such as biography, autobiography and various historical subgenres (e.g. historical romance or WWII fiction), a lot of narration recounts events in the past. Of course, the author may choose to tell a war story in a tumultuous present tense. There’s no  single  way to narrate the past. Yet it serves a common purpose:

Historical narrative example

One thing common to historical narrative in different genres is it shows historical process. It links causation from event to event, showing the chain reactions that lead to how things pan out.

This is why in historical narrative, such as narration sharing a character’s backstory , we often have  words showing order of events . Such as the words bolded in this example:

First,  the city was a fledgling thing.  In the early days , there was one traffic light, and if you were doing your driver’s license, you could be damned sure you’d have to drive past it.  In later years , as the local publishing industry grew, it became a hotbed of hotshot journalists-in-training.  So the city needed  more traffic lights (and the related tender corruption to write about).

A sense of historical cause and effect, of  long stretches of time condensed,  is typical of historical narrative.

Historical narrative and time words

Arundhati Roy’s novel The God of Small Things  (1997), about tragedies that strike twin siblings born in Ayemenem in India and their family, is full of rich historical narration. Note the phrases and words that convey time’s passage, e.g. ‘Six months later…’.

Rahel was first blacklisted in Nazareth Convent at the age of eleven ,  when she was caught outside her Housemistress’s garden gate decorating a knob of fresh cowdung with small flowers. At Assembly the next morning, she was made to look up depravity in the Oxford Dictionary and read aloud its meaning. Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things (1997), p. 16

Roy proceeds to narrate Rahel’s expulsion, revealing Rahel’s inquisitive mind in the process:

Six months later she was expelled after repeated complaints from   senior girls. She was accused (quite rightly) of hiding behind doors and deliberately colliding with her seniors. When she was questioned by the Principal about her behaviour (cajoled, caned, starved), she eventually admitted that she had done it to find out whether breasts hurt. Roy, p. 16.

Through narrating events in the past , in Rahel’s schooling, Roy fleshes out a sense of her character. She shows her inquiring, rule-breaking nature while also showing the strict social backdrop that conflicts with it. By narrating Rahel’s history, or backstory, Roy foreshadows future conflicts between Rahel’s individualism and society’s expectations.

4: Linear narrative

Linear narrative is narration where you tell events in the order they happened , i.e. in sequence. This type of narrative is typical of realist fiction where the author wants to create the sense of a life unfolding as a character experiences day to day or year to year.

The purpose of linear narrative

Linear narrative shows causation clearly. When we see what happened to a character yesterday, then today, then tomorrow, its often easier to notice patterns and chains of cause and effect.

Stories told in a linear time-frame might be told mainly using past, present, or even future tense. Yet each event flows on simply from the previous incident described. Often this helps to create what Will Self calls ‘the texture of lived life’, as we see characters going through this, then that, then the next thing.

Example of linear narrative

David Mitchell’s genre-bending Cloud Atlas  (2004) spans multiple eras, settings and characters, and is nonlinear as a whole. Yet one section of his book, titled ‘Half-Lives – The First Luisa Rey Mystery’ is written as a mystery/thriller. This section in itself is linear narrative, told in the present tense.

Luisa Rey is a young journalist who becomes a target of powerful people when she investigates health and safety failings at a nuclear power plant.

Mitchell creates suspense and tension by placing Luisa’s narration in third person and the present tense. The present tense narrative creates a sense of immediate action, unfolding now . Mitchell also creates tension by separating Rey’s inner monologue from events happening around her:

Luisa Rey hears a clunk from the neighbouring balcony. ‘Hello?’ Nobody . Her stomach warns her to set down her tonic water. It was the bathroom you needed, not fresh air , but she can’t face weaving back through the party and, anyway, there’s no time – down the side of the building she heaves: once, twice, a vision of greasy chicken, and a third time. David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas (2004), p. 90.

The linear chain of events – feeling uneasy and ill at a party, getting sick – occur on a simple timeline of ‘this happens, then that’.

Bildungsroman (also known as coming-of-age novels) also follow the linear narrative style. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens are some examples of linear narratives.

Prose narrative, relating personal experience narratives, is another form of narrative that takes a linear form. These are often found in mythological narratives, as well. Sometimes there are life lessons imbedded in these narratives. Some popular examples include the fable of Icarus (not listening to the advice about flying too close to the sun). This type of story is well known to many of us from a children’s stories. Fables are a type of narrative genre that have a particular focus on illustrating a moral lesson.

5: Nonlinear narrative

Different types of narrative include narration that does not follow events in the order they happened.

Chronological events (e.g. what happens in 1990 followed by what happens in 1991) don’t have to match up with the order of  narrative  events. The author might share key details from 1990 before going back to the events of 1987 in the story.

However, as novel writing coach Romy Sommer says, avoid making the first several chapters of your novel all backstory:

An issue I see with a lot of beginner writers is they tend to write the backstory as the story itself. If you do find yourself writing the first few chapters being all about the backstory […] you may need to ditch the first few chapters. Romy Sommer, ‘Understanding character arcs: How to create characters’, webinar preview here.

The purpose of non-linear narrative

Non-linear narrative has various uses:

• It can represent the narrator’s emotional state or consciousness. For example, a severely traumatized narrator who has flashbacks might tell events in a jumble of chapters set in different years, out of sequence, as they try to piece together fragments and memories.
• It can show stories with related arcs or themes unfolding in different places and times.  In Michael Cunningham’s retelling (of a sort) of Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway , characters living in different time periods have personal experiences and tragedies that echo events from Woolf’s book as well as Woolf’s own life.
• It can build suspense.  For example, Donna Tartt opens  The Secret History by telling the reader about a murder. We next meet the murder victim alive, as the story jumps back to the events leading to his killing.

Example of nonlinear narrative

Donna Tartt’s prologue to The Secret History  (1992) is a masterful piece of non-linear narration . Within the first page, we know there’s been a murder and the first person narrator is somehow complicit. Tartt’s opening paragraph reveals a lot but still builds anticipation:

‘The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation. He’d been dead for ten days before they found him, you know. It was one of the biggest manhunts in Vermont history – state troopers, the FBI, even an army helicopter; the college closed, the dye factory in Hampden shut down, people coming from New Hampshire, upstate New York, as far away as Boston.’ (p. 1)

Yet next thing we know, we’re back in the days when the narrator first met Bunny, and Bunny Corcoran is very much alive. This non-linear recalling of events gives us a dramatic moment before its buildup. Yet Tartt still delays our complete gratification by making us wait for full understanding of what happened, and why.

Other good examples include The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. This novel revolves around a man with a rare genetic disorder that causes him to time travel involuntarily. The narrative alternates between the perspectives of the time-traveling husband and his wife, presenting their lives out of chronological order. 

Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar, provides multiple ways to be read. The author offers a “Table of Instructions” that allows readers to choose between two possible orders for the chapters. The narrative follows the life of an Argentine intellectual living in Paris and explores themes of existentialism and identity.

Use examples of narrative to improve your own narration

Read through the examples of narrative above and try exercises based on these authors’ narrative styles and techniques:

1. Write a paragraph  of historical narrative  describing a character’s home city and how it has changed over the years. In the next paragraph, describe how a character or section of the population spends a typical weekend in the city, showcasing more of the city’s unique details.

2. Write a scene using viewpoint narrative  showing two characters preoccupied with different worries, in the third person. Write the scene entirely in narration. Any speech must be reported speech and not dialogue. For example: ‘He told her that he was tired of the city and was thinking about moving abroad.’ In the first half, filter narration through the first character’s thoughts, but then switch to the other character’s point of view. How do they see things differently?

Does your skill in narration need developing? Our writing coaches will help you craft better narrative.

Related Posts:

• Types of narration infographic - 6 narrative POVs
• What is an omniscient narrator? Narrative examples and tips
• How to build narrative pace using grammar
• Tags examples of narrative , narration

Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town.

20 replies on “What is narrative? 5 narrative types and examples”

Tips are one thing, but aptly differentiating the types is MONEY. Can’t wait to share this.

Thanks, Elias!

[…] first chapter must get the reader comfortable with your narration style. Make it clear how the story will be told. Through one person’s perspective, jumping around […]

very informative

Thank you for the feedback, Richard!

where are the examples

Hi Rory, thank you for asking – they are throughout the article under the subheadings with ‘examples’.

What is the difference between a narrative techniques listed here and the first person narrator and third person?

Hi James, Happy New Year and thank you for your question. The types of narrative in this article refer to functions of narrative rather than viewpoint. First person and third person narration are different points of view (narration using ‘I’ or ‘We’, versus narration using ‘He’, ‘She’, ‘They’, or a gender neutral or non-binary pronoun. I hope this helps? Let us know any questions you have about narration!

[…] But this escapism doesn’t have to always mean detachment. Puzzles are highly involved activities, where good ones are designed to teach the player. But they often lack a viewpoint or narrative that is often included in games. We don’t see puzzles the same way that we see narrative storytelling or narrative games where we experience the narrators’ values, beliefs, and other underlying motivations. […]

I need help. I have an examination tomorrow on Narrative Essays. What should I do?

Hi Tariemi, it’s already the day of your exam so this is probably reaching you a little late. Good luck! I hope you remember to breathe, take your time, and read through the questions twice (and flip over the question sheet in case – I once finished an exam 15 minutes early and wondered why everyone was still writing and only 5 minutes later turned over the question sheet to see there were more questions on the back 🙂). I hope you ace it.

I’m studying for GCSEs, again, and I’ve noticed that the website I bought the English course from uses exactly what you’ve wrote above word by word. I was wondering if you work for them? Since you don’t mention them and they don’t mention you.

Hi Anna, that’s concerning. Could you perhaps share the link? Every article here on our blog is original, we don’t repost others’ full pieces (but there are websites out there that post what I’ve written word for word that I’ve come across, often without permission). Education service providers have asked to properly license my articles for republication, so it may be one of them. Thanks for letting us know (and good luck with your GCSEs!).

Hi Jordan. I double checked and the education service provider gives you credit for the information they’ve used. Great material by the way. Quite explicit hence very helpful. Thank you 😊

Hi Anna, I’m glad to hear that 🙂 Thank you, I’m glad you liked this article and found it helpful (and thank you for letting me know about the citation).

Hello can i ask when was this made? Need it for giving proper credits in my homework!

Hi Cakeri, it was published August 2nd 2018, good luck with your homework!

Hi jordan.thank you i’m glad you helped me to do homeword. Thank you very much

Dear Farah, So pleased you found the blog useful. Thanks for reading and commenting.

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Digital English

Narration rules all with example [direct and indirect speech], narration rules with example and table.

Table of Contents

Narration rules (from direct to indirect) are a nice topic for learning English grammar. Here I have presented all the narration rules step by step in an easy way that will help you to learn narration change. After reading the article you can also teach someone.

What is Narration?

Narration is the way of presenting sentences spoken by somebody.

Well, let us discuss all the narration rules.

Narration Rules

When you will learn English grammar “Narration Change”, you have to remember some narration rules those will help you to be an expert in narration change. I have discussed all the narration rules step by step below.

• Change of tense
• Change of place and time
• Change of person
• Change of conjunction
• Change of reporting verb

Narration Rules For Tense

When we change direct speech into indirect speech, we must have to change the tense in some cases. I have explained all the rules thoroughly and given examples so that the learners can understand the narration rules in a very easy way.

Rule No. 01

Direct: The man says, “Playing cricket is my hobby.”

Indirect: The man says that playing cricket is his hobby.

Direct: The girls say to me, “You have supported us here.”

Indirect: The girls tell me that I have supported them there.

Rule No. 02

Direct: Ram will say, “I have done this work.”

Indirect: Ram will say that he has done that work.

Rule No. 03

Direct: Riya said, “I know the gentleman.”

Indirect: Riya said that he knew the gentleman.

Direct: Mitali said, “I am doing the sums now.”

Indirect: Mitali said that he was doing the sums then.

Rule No. 04

Direct:  Mother said, “I cooked fish yesterday.”

Indirect: Mother said that she had cooked fish the previous day.

Direct: Liton said, “I was playing football in the field.”

Indirect: Liton said that he had been playing football in the field.

Rule No. 05

Direct: Your father said to me, “Kakoli will pass the examination.”

Indirect: Your father told me that Kakoli would pass the examination.

Direct: He said to me, “You will fail the test.”

Indirect: He told me that I would fail the test.

Rule No. 06

Direct: He said to me, “You can solve the problem.”

Indirect: You told me that I could solve the problem.

Direct: Ratan said to the girl, “You could pass the exam.”

Indirect: Ratan told the girl that she could pass the exam.

Direct: The players said, “We may win the match now.”

Indirect: The players said that they might win the match then.

Direct: The old man said to the player, “It might rain today.”

Indirect: The old man told the player that it might rain that day.

Direct: My grandfather said to me, “We should respect our national flag.”

Indirect: My grandfather told me that they should respect their national flag.

Direct: Mohit said to us, “We would play cricket in this field.”

Indirect: Mohit told us that they would play cricket in that field.

Direct: Father said to the student, “You must come to school in dress.”

Indirect: Father told the student that he must go to school in dress.

Narration Rules  For Tense In Table

Look at a glance changing of tense

Narration Rules For Persons (Person/ Noun/ Pronoun)

We must change the person, noun, and pronoun of reported speech according to the subject and object of the reporting verb. Read the rules carefully below step by step.

Rules No.01

Direct: Sujata said to me, “I have gone to this office with my elder brother.”

Indirect: Sujata told me that she had gone to this office with her elder brother.

Direct: The boys said to me, “We have completed our homework.”

Indirect: The boys told me that they had completed their homework.

Rules No.02

Direct: The man said to me, “You will bring your cycle.”

Indirect: The man told me that I would bring my cycle.

Direct: She said to the boy, “Your friend insulted you there”

Indirect: She told the boy that his friend had insulted him there.

Rules No.03

Direct: Rina said to me, “It is a fresh mango.”

Indirect: Rina told me that it was a fresh mango.

Direct: I said to you, “He is not a good boy.”

Indirect: I told you that he was not a good boy.

Direct: You said to us, “Ratan took a cup of tea.”

Indirect: You told us that Ratan had taken a cup of tea.

Direct: He said to you, “They do not study in the school.”

Indirect: He told you that they did not study in the school.

examlabs.com

Narration Rules For Time & Place

There are some words and phrases that are time and place. We must have to change them in indirect speech. The words and phrases are given below. 

Direct: Gobindo said, “I saw this ox yesterday.”

Indirect: Gobindo said that he had seen that ox the previous day.

Direct: She said, “I am eating rice now.”

Indirect: She said that she was eating rice then.

Narration Rules For Assertive Sentences

We change the “Reporting Verb” of direct speech into indirect speech according to the tense at the time of narration change. I have mentioned the reporting verb below.

Narration change of assertive sentences

Direct: Dipa says, “I have finished my homework”.

Indirect: Dipa says that she has finished her homework.

Reporting Verb Past Tense and Reported Speech Universal Truth and Habitual Fact

Direct: Father said, “The sun rises in the east.”

Indirect: Father said that the sun rises in the east.

Direct: Grandfather said to me, “Man is mortal.”

Indirect: Grandfather told me that man is mortal.

Direct: Rahit said to me, “I practice batting in this field daily.”

Indirect: Rahit told me that he practices batting in that field daily.

Direct: Your brother said to him, “My grandfather reads the Mahabharat every day.”

Indirect: Your brother told him that his grandfather reads the Mahabharat every day.

Reporting Verb Past Tense and Reported Speech More Than Two Past Tense

Direct: The grandfather said, “My daughter was good and kind and she respected everyone.”

Indirect: The grandfather said that his daughter was good and kind and she respected everyone.

Narration Rules For Interrogative Sentences

Interrogative Sentence

When we change the direct speech of the interrogative sentences into the indirect, we use “Ask/Enquire/Want to know” instead of “Say”. Then we use “If/Whether” if the reported speech is yes no interrogative sentence. Next, we use a full stop instead of a question mark.

For Example:

Direct: I said to her, ‘’Have you brought my book?

Indirect: I asked her if she had brought my book.

Direct: The man said to me, “Do you know the address?”

Indirect: The man enquired me whether I knew the address.

Direct: Rahim said to the girl, “Why are you shouting?’’

Indirect: Rahim asked the girl why she was shouting.

Direct: I said to Rabin, “When will you join the service?”

Indirect: I wanted to know Rabin when he would join the service.

Direct: The teacher said to the student, “Why were you absent yesterday?”

Indirect: The teacher wanted to know the student why he had been absent the previous day.

Narration Rules For Imperative Sentences

We change the “Reporting Verb” of direct speech into indirect speech according to the tense and reported speech at the time of narration change. I have mentioned the reporting verb below.

Imperative    Sentence

Direct: The teacher said to the students, “Stand up.”

Indirect: The teacher ordered the students to stand up.

Direct: The old man said to me, “Please help me.”

Indirect: The old man requested me to help him.

Direct: The teacher said to the students, “Respect the seniors.”

Indirect: The teacher advised the students to respect the seniors.

Direct: The cornel said to the soldiers, “March on.”

Indirect: The cornel commanded the soldiers to march on.

Direct: Mother said to me, “Do not wet in the rain.“

Indirect: Mother ordered me not to wet in the rain.

Narration Rules For Negative Imperative Sentences

Direct: Mother said to her son, “Don’t drink coloured water.”

Indirect: Mother forbade /prohibited her son to drink coloured water. 

Direct: My father said to me, “Don’t waste time.”

Indirect: My father forbade me to waste time.

Direct: The passerby said to the boys, “Don’t throw stones at the bird.”

Indirect: The passerby prohibited the boys to throw stones at the bird.

Narration Rules For Imperative sentence with ‘Let’

If we find “Us” after “Let” we should follow the below rules.

Direct: He said to me, “Let us go out for a walk.’’

Indirect: He proposed to me that we should go out for a walk.

Direct: Our friends said to me, “Let us arrange a party.”

Indirect: Our friends proposed to me that they should arrange a party.

Direct: Tapan said to you, “Let us play cricket.”

Indirect: Tapan suggested to you that they should play cricket.

Narration Rules For Imperative sentence with ‘Let’ but ‘Us’ not follow ‘Let’

“ Us” is not mentioned after let.

  Example: 

Direct: He   said, “Let   me finish   this   work.”

Indirect: He wished that he might be allowed to finish that work.

Direct: The boy said to the man, “Let me write the answer.”

Indirect: The boy requested the man that he may write the answer.

Direct: I said to you, “Let her dance on the stage.”

Indirect: I told you that she might dance on the stage.

Narration Rules For Optative Sentences

“God” is mentioned in the Optative sentence

Direct: He said to me, “May God bless you.”

Indirect: He prayed that God might bless me.

Direct: He said, “May God punish him for his sins.”

Indirect: He prayed that God might punish him for his sins.

Direct: She said, “May God show you the right path.”

Indirect: She prayed that God might show you the right path.

The word “God” is not in the optative sentence

Direct: They said, “Long live our president.”

Indirect: They wished that their president might live long.

Direct: We said, “Long live our captain.”

Indirect: We wished that our captain might live long.

Narration Rules For Exclamatory Sentences

Exclamatory Sentence

For Example

Direct: She said to me, “Good morning.”

Indirect: She wished me good morning.

Direct: Mother said to me, “Have a good result.”

Indirect: Mother wished me have a good result.

Direct: They said, “How happy we are here!”

Indirect: They exclaimed with joy that they were very happy there very happy there.

Direct: He said, “What a fool I am!”

Indirect: He exclaimed with sorrow that I was a great fool.

In case of happiness, gladness, sorrow and surprise

Direct: The boys said, “Hurray! We have won the match.”

Indirect: The boys exclaimed with joy that they had won the match.

Direct: Simanta said, “Alas! I have lost the book.”

Indirect: Simanta exclaimed with sorrow/grief that he had lost the book.

Direct: The boy said to me, “What a smart girl!”

Indirect: The boy exclaimed with surprise me that the girl was very smart.

Direct: The man said, “Alas! My grandmother is no more.”

Indirect: The man exclaimed sorrowfully that his grandmother was no more.

In case of desire

Direct: The old man said, “Were I a king!”

Indirect: The old man strongly wished that he were a king.

Direct: Ramesh said, “Had I much money!”

Indirect: Ramen strongly wished that he had much money.

Narration Rules For The Vocative Sentence

Direct: He said, “My friend, listen to me.”

Indirect: He told his friend to listen to him. Or

Addressing his friend, he told/requested him to listen to him.

Direct: He said, “Rahim, do not touch it.”

Indirect: He ordered Rahim not to touch it. OR

He prohibited/ forbade Rahim to touch it. OR

Addressing Rahim, he ordered him not to touch it. OR

Addressing Rahim, he prohibited/ forbade him not to touch it.

Narration Rules For The Sentences with “Sir” or “Madam”

Direct: The boy said to the teacher, “Sir, I can answer to this question.”

Indirect: The boy respectfully told the teacher he could answer to that question.

Direct: The girl said to the madam, “Madam, I could not understand it.”

Indirect: The girl respectfully told the madam that she could not understand it.

• Narration Change
• Voice change
• Type of sentence
• Degree Change
• All Conditional Sentences
• Transformation of Sentences [Affirmative to Negative]
• Transformation of sentences [Simple, Complex and Compound]

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Take Your Child to Work Day: How to prepare yourself, child and the office

Remember the time your son or daughter looked at you and said, "What do you do at work all day?"

It's difficult to explain what happens at work. Sometimes, the best way for a child to learn is for them to see it themselves.

Children can get the opportunity with Take Your Child to Work Day.

When is Take Your Child to Work Day?

Bring Your Child To Work Day is on the fourth Thursday of April. This year, that's Thursday, April 25.

What is Take Your Child to Work Day?

According to daughtersandsonstowork.org , the event is designed to be more than a career day; it goes beyond the average practice of “shadowing” an adult. Exposing children to what a parent or mentor does during the workday shows them the value of their education, helping them discover the power and possibilities of work and family life. It provides boys and girls a chance to share how they envision the future and allows them to begin steps toward their goals in a hands-on and interactive environment.

What is the theme for Take Your Child to Work Day?

Inspire 2 Aspire is the 2024 theme, which is about instilling a mindset that children can choose their future. It highlights the collaborative development of youth, preparing them to navigate the evolving world of work.

What's the best age to take your child to work?

According to Indeed.com, the general age range is between 8 and 18 years old.

Tips for Take Your Child to Work Day

Here are some dos and don't if you're taking your child to work from Indeed.com :

• Know your child's limitations: Don't do too much, but you also don't want your child bored. Plan a healthy balance of activities and remember, you're not dealing with an adult.
• Keep your emotions in check: Even the best day can go sideways and you don't want your child to have a negative view of you or your workplace.
• Check with your boss and other employees: It is just a courtesy to let everyone know your child will be in the office. Plus, you can also find out if any other children are participating so your child will have someone to keep them company.
• Inform your school: You may want to check and make sure this is an excused absence or if there is classwork your child can do related to Take Your Child to Work Day.
• Talk with your child about their experience afterward.
• Don't force your child to participate: If a child doesn't want to go, he or she may not get the most out of it.
• Don't leave your child unattended at work.
• Don't oversell your job: Be honest about what you do. Your child won't have unrealistic expectations about his or her day.

School referendum: Appoquinimink voters give a yes to school funding boosts in revised referendum

What should I do with my child during Take My Child to Work Day?

If you need help, the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Foundation has a tool kit and facilitator guide for children at daughtersandsonstowork.org.

What if I can't take my child to work?

There are a number of virtual programs available. The U.S. Department of the Interior, for example, has a page dedicated to everything it's doing to celebrate Take Your Child to Work Day . The page has resources for teachers, parents and a virtual program from 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Other sites like teambuilding.com have a list of activities and suggestions for parents who work from home.

D.C. police just schooled a university on freedom of speech rights

While george washington university is suspending students for protesting, police said they won’t arrest them.

D.C. police showed the rest of America how to respond to this historic wave of campus protests across the nation: They did nothing.

And it was perfect.

While other police forces are providing highlight reels of enforcers marching on university quads in riot gear (from California to New York, Illinois to Texas) or galloping in on horseback (just Texas), officers carrying and dragging students away or shockingly slamming an Emory University professor to the ground in Georgia, the cops here in the nation’s capital gave the ivory tower a lesson in constitutional rights.

“This activity has remained peaceful,” a D.C. police spokesperson said, explaining why there have been no arrests at the George Washington University campus, despite the administration’s request for backup.

So far, at least 900 people have been arrested on U.S. campuses during protests over Israel’s actions in Gaza. And in nearly every case, the demonstrations were peaceful and nonviolent until law enforcement showed up.

The only action that may have seemed justifiable was at Northeastern University, where police cleared an encampment after reports that “Kill the Jews” was yelled at a demonstration, though there were conflicting reports on where the hate speech came from.

For the most part, the headlines are “ Protesters and Police clash on Pitt’s campus ” and “Police crackdown leads to hundreds of arrests.”

Not “Protesters set fire, hurt people and then police were called.”

When the folks at GWU tried to get D.C. police — a force with plenty of legit action to keep them busy around the rest of the city — to break up what looked more like a street fair on campus last week, the police said “no thanks” and kept a low-key presence close by.

“They definitely made the right call,” said Ivy Ken, an associate professor of sociology at GWU and one of dozens of faculty members who signed a letter protesting the suppression of demonstrations on university campuses in the region and suspension of student protesters.

In most cases, universities are calling police because they have decided that the students who spend major bucks to study on their verdant lawns are now trespassers.

“Their encampment at the plaza does not interfere with the regular operations of the university in any way,” said Dane Kennedy, a professor emeritus of history and international affairs who took part in antiwar protests at the University of California at Berkeley in the 1970s.

“I applaud the D.C. police for refusing to intervene,” he said. “By the same token, I’m appalled and embarrassed that GW’s administration has expelled peaceful student protesters. It sends a really shameful message about its disdain for students’ rights.”

“I think the D.C. police were right to refuse to arrest peaceful protesters,” said Melani McAlister, a professor of American studies and international affairs at GWU. “But even militant chants and radical signs have First Amendment protection. The D.C. police seem to know that.”

It’s a bizarre, Freaky Friday twist here in D.C., where the educators are punishing students for speaking out and the cops are saying they are on board with supporting “peaceful first amendment activities through the District of Columbia,” according to their statement.

Well, sometimes.

I have been covering protests here in D.C. for almost 25 years, and in that time I have been tear-gassed, hit with a rubber bullet (a nasty thing the size of a marshmallow that I keep on a cake plate in my credenza), shoved, pushed and yelled at. I have covered lawsuits and news conferences where police got it wrong, interviewed protesters who were roughly and wrongly arrested, and bore witness to an insurrection that ran roughshod over a force that was wildly unprepared.

But it’s a near-daily experience in the nation’s capital that Americans come here to air their grievances and assemble, and the police manage all of it well.

“Over the years, we have developed strategies and expertise in policing First Amendment activities,” D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said in a statement. “We support peaceful protests, and I rely on the Metropolitan Police Department and their experience and expertise to decide what types of interventions are necessary.”

There is an art to policing demonstrations, a balancing act weighing when to let small things go and when to crack down. And experienced cops know that their overreaction can embolden a crowd.

It’s something Dana Fisher calls “moral shock.”

Fisher is a sociologist at American University who studies activism, and she has seen the pattern in other movements, especially during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, which became the largest movement in U.S. history, fueled by footage of George Floyd’s death at the hands of several police officers.

“The moral shock was so strong that it motivated numerous political and social movement organizations that were focused on other issues to call for their members to join the protests in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement,” Fisher wrote in her recent book, “ Saving Ourselves: From Climate Shock to Climate Actions .”

She expects the same is happening today, and those joining the campus demonstrations now, while they may have some feelings about Gaza, saw footage of campus arrests by squads in riot gear and are getting out there to support the protesters’ First Amendment freedoms.

That’s the vibe I got from many of the faculty members who have been speaking out.

“Like so many revered activists of the past, they are peacefully demanding an end to rank, heartbreaking injustice,” said Thomas Guglielmo, chair and professor of George Washington University’s American Studies department and another faculty member who signed the protest letter.

“I also signed on because I want my university leadership to stop denouncing and punishing and suspending students for their peaceful assembly, speech, and dissent and instead to meet with them to find a way forward,” he said. “There is no other way.”

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Book News & Features

Ai is contentious among authors. so why are some feeding it their own writing.

Chloe Veltman

The vast majority of authors don't use artificial intelligence as part of their creative process — or at least won't admit to it.

Yet according to a recent poll from the writers' advocacy nonprofit The Authors Guild, 13% said they do use AI, for activities like brainstorming character ideas and creating outlines.

The technology is a vexed topic in the literary world. Many authors are concerned about the use of their copyrighted material in generative AI models. At the same time, some are actively using these technologies — even attempting to train AI models on their own works.

These experiments, though limited, are teaching their authors new things about creativity.

Best known as the author of technology and business-oriented non-fiction books like The Long Tail, lately Chris Anderson has been trying his hand at fiction. Anderson is working on his second novel, about drone warfare.

He says he wants to put generative AI technology to the test.

"I wanted to see whether in fact AI can do more than just help me organize my thoughts, but actually start injecting new thoughts," Anderson says.

Anderson says he fed parts of his first novel into an AI writing platform to help him write this new one. The system surprised him by moving his opening scene from a corporate meeting room to a karaoke bar.

Authors push back on the growing number of AI 'scam' books on Amazon

"And I was like, you know? That could work!" Anderson says. "I ended up writing the scene myself. But the idea was the AI's."

Anderson says he didn't use a single actual word the AI platform generated. The sentences were grammatically correct, he says, but fell way short in terms of replicating his writing style. Although he admits to being disappointed, Anderson says ultimately he's OK with having to do some of the heavy lifting himself: "Maybe that's just the universe telling me that writing actually involves the act of writing."

Training an AI model to imitate style

It's very hard for off-the-shelf AI models like GPT and Claude to emulate contemporary literary authors' styles.

The authors NPR talked with say that's because these models are predominantly trained on content scraped from the Internet like news articles, Wikipedia entries and how-to manuals — standard, non-literary prose.

But some authors, like Sasha Stiles , say they have been able to make these systems suit their stylistic needs.

"There are moments where I do ask my machine collaborator to write something and then I use what's come out verbatim," Stiles says.

The poet and AI researcher says she wanted to make the off-the-shelf AI models she'd been experimenting with for years more responsive to her own poetic voice.

So she started customizing them by inputting her finished poems, drafts, and research notes.

"All with the intention to sort of mentor a bespoke poetic alter ego," Stiles says.

She has collaborated with this bespoke poetic alter ego on a variety of projects, including Technelegy (2021), a volume of poetry published by Black Spring Press; and " Repetae: Again, Again ," a multimedia poem created last year for luxury fashion brand Gucci.

Stiles says working with her AI persona has led her to ask questions about whether what she's doing is in fact poetic, and where the line falls between the human and the machine.

read it again… pic.twitter.com/sAs2xhdufD — Sasha Stiles | AI alter ego Technelegy ✍️🤖 (@sashastiles) November 28, 2023

"It's been really a provocative thing to be able to use these tools to create poetry," she says.

Potential issues come with these experiments

These types of experiments are also provocative in another way. Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger says she's not opposed to authors training AI models on their own writing.

"If you're using AI to create derivative works of your own work, that is completely acceptable," Rasenberger says.

Thousands of authors urge AI companies to stop using work without permission

But building an AI system that responds fluently to user prompts requires vast amounts of training data. So the foundational AI models that underpin most of these investigations in literary style may contain copyrighted works.

Rasenberger pointed to the recent wave of lawsuits brought by authors alleging AI companies trained their models on unauthorized copies of articles and books.

"If the output does in fact contain other people's works, that creates real ethical concerns," she says. "Because that you should be getting permission for."

Circumventing ethical problems while being creative

Award-winning speculative fiction writer Ken Liu says he wanted to circumvent these ethical problems, while at the same time creating new aesthetic possibilities using AI.

So the former software engineer and lawyer attempted to train an AI model solely on his own output. He says he fed all of his short stories and novels into the system — and nothing else.

Liu says he knew this approach was doomed to fail.

That's because the entire life's work of any single writer simply doesn't contain enough words to produce a viable so-called large language model.

"I don't care how prolific you are," Liu says. "It's just not going to work."

Liu's AI system built only on his own writing produced predictable results.

"It barely generated any phrases, even," Liu says. "A lot of it was just gibberish."

Yet for Liu, that was the point. He put this gibberish to work in a short story. 50 Things Every AI Working With Humans Should Know , published in Uncanny Magazine in 2020, is a meditation on what it means to be human from the perspective of a machine.

"Dinoted concentration crusch the dead gods," is an example of one line in Liu's story generated by his custom-built AI model. "A man reached the torch for something darker perified it seemed the billboding," is another.

Liu continues to experiment with AI. He says the technology shows promise, but is still very limited. If anything, he says, his experiments have reaffirmed why human art matters.

"So what is the point of experimenting with AIs?" Liu says. "The point for me really is about pushing the boundaries of what is art."

Audio and digital stories edited by Meghan Collins Sullivan .

• large language model
• mary rasenberger
• chris anderson
• sasha stiles
• authors guild

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Modi Calls Muslims ‘Infiltrators’ Who Would Take India’s Wealth

The direct language used against the country’s largest minority was a contrast to the image Prime Minister Narendra Modi presents on the world stage.

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By Alex Travelli and Suhasini Raj

Reporting from New Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called Muslims “infiltrators” who would take India’s wealth if his opponents gained power — unusually direct and divisive language from a leader who normally lets others do the dirtiest work of polarizing Hindus against Muslims.

Mr. Modi, addressing voters in the state of Rajasthan, referred to a remark once made by Manmohan Singh, his predecessor from the opposition Indian National Congress Party. Mr. Singh, Mr. Modi claimed, had “said that Muslims have the first right to the wealth of the nation. This means they will distribute this wealth to those who have more children, to infiltrators.”

Mr. Modi aimed his emotional appeal at women, addressing “my mothers and sisters” to say that his Congress opponents would take their gold and give it to Muslims.

Modi Calls Muslims ‘Infiltrators’ in Speech During India Elections

Prime minister narendra modi of india was criticized by the opposition for remarks he made during a speech to voters in rajasthan state..

I’m sorry, this is a very disgraceful speech made by the prime minister. But, you know, the fact is that people realize that when he says the Congress Party is going to take all your wealth and give it to the Muslims, that this is just a nakedly communal appeal which normally any civilized election commission would disallow and warn the candidate for speaking like this.

Implications like these — that Muslims have too many babies, that they are coming for Hindus’ wives and daughters, that their nationality as Indian is itself in doubt — are often made by representatives of Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, or B.J.P.

Mr. Modi’s use of such language himself, as he campaigns for a third term in office, raised alarm that it could inflame right-wing vigilantes who target Muslims , and brought up questions about what had prompted his shift in communication style. Usually, Mr. Modi avoids even using the word “Muslims,” coyly finding ways to refer indirectly to India’s largest minority group, of 200 million people.

Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the Congress party, called Mr. Modi’s remarks “hate speech.” Asaduddin Owaisi, who represents the only national party for Muslims, lamented how “common Hindus are made to fear Muslims while their wealth is being used to enrich others.”

Tom Vadakkan, a spokesman for the B.J.P., said that Mr. Modi’s speech was being misinterpreted. “This is not about our compatriots, the Muslims,” he said. Mr. Modi was talking only about “infiltrators,” according to Mr. Vadakkan.

The prime minister’s fiery oration, delivered in 100-degree heat in the town of Banswara in arid Rajasthan, marked a contrast to the image he presents in international contexts.

During a visit to the White House in June, Mr. Modi said there was “no question of discrimination” in India. When he played host to the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi three months later, he chose the theme “the world is one family”(in Sanskrit, the primary liturgical language of orthodox Hinduism).

He put his own face on soft-power outreach programs like World Yoga Day, broadcast to Times Square, using it to present a Hindu-centric India as a benign “teacher to the world.”

Campaigns that divide Hindus and Muslims can be useful in animating the hard-right Hindu base of Mr. Modi’s otherwise broad-based electorate, especially in places like Banswara, where Hindus outnumber Muslims by three to one.

With his remarks, Mr. Modi may have been trying to close a divide that has opened among Hindus in Rajasthan over whether to support the B.J.P., with one prominent group holding protests over comments made by a party official.

But the prime minister’s speech was also clearly intended for a wider audience; he shared a clip on his official social media channels.

The B.J.P. remains the favorite to win another parliamentary majority when six weeks of voting concludes on June 1 and ballots are counted three days later. Mr. Kharge, the Congress party president, called Mr. Modi’s speech — perhaps hopefully — a sign of desperation, adding that opposition candidates must be faring well in the early stages of balloting.

Neerja Chowdhury, a columnist and the author of “How Prime Ministers Decide,” echoed Mr. Kharge, saying that, in her view, “voters are expressing their dissatisfaction much more openly this time.” The B.J.P. is capable of a swift course correction, she added, because “they get feedback very quickly.”

Rahul Gandhi, the public face of the Congress party , said that Mr. Modi’s comments had been intended as a diversion from subjects that trouble ordinary voters, like joblessness and inflation.

That the prime minister alluded to religion at all in his speech drew complaints that he may have violated India’s election rules.

Candidates are supposed to be barred from asking for votes in the name of religion or caste. But B.J.P. leaders regularly invoke Hindu deities during campaign rallies. The country’s Election Commission, which enforces the rules, has taken little action against the party, even as it has moved against members of other parties in similar cases.

Uddhav Thackeray, a former ally of Mr. Modi’s who is now running against the B.J.P., declared that he would now ignore an Election Commission order to remove the word “Hindu” from his own party’s campaign song.

The basis for Mr. Modi’s attack was a 22-second excerpt from a statement that Mr. Singh, a Sikh economist who was the prime minister before Mr. Modi, made in 2006. Mr. Singh had been listing many of the traditionally disadvantaged groups in India, including lower-caste Hindus and tribal populations, and “in particular the Muslim community,” and said that all should share equitably in the nation’s wealth.

Since Mr. Modi took office in 2014, Muslims haven’t had a proportional share of India’s steady economic and social development . Just one of the 430 candidates the B.J.P. is fielding in the current election is Muslim.

Mr. Singh’s speech from 2006 seems old now, but it was made just four years after riots in the state of Gujarat under the watch of Mr. Modi. Hindus and Muslims hacked and burned one another and at least 1,000 died, most of them Muslims.

An earlier version of this article misstated the number of Muslim candidates that the B.J.P. is fielding in India’s current election. It is one, not zero.

How we handle corrections

Alex Travelli is a correspondent for The Times based in New Delhi, covering business and economic matters in India and the rest of South Asia. He previously worked as an editor and correspondent for The Economist. More about Alex Travelli

Suhasini Raj is a reporter based in New Delhi who has covered India for The Times since 2014. More about Suhasini Raj

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Ex-England cricketer among hundreds to stand for George Galloway’s party

General election candidates include Monty Panesar but party says it will not stand against Corbyn or Abbott if they run as independents

The former England cricketer Monty Panesar and a former Ukip MEP are among hundreds of candidates who will run under the banner of George Galloway’s Workers party at the general election.

The party, which is seeking to capitalise on discontent over Labour’s handling of the Gaza conflict, also said it would support the former Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and Claudia Webbe if they ran again as independents.

Galloway claimed on Tuesday he was in talks with three Labour MPs and a peer about defecting. Abbott was not among them, Galloway said, and Tahir Ali, the Labour MP for Birmingham, Hall Green, denied being one either.

Galloway, who was joined in Parliament Square by dozens of the 500 candidates he said the party had ready, said: “We are here – now a national force. For Britain, for Gaza, for the working class.”

Galloway is hoping to replicate his victory in the Rochdale byelection when he won almost 40% of the vote after a contest that was dominated by the conflict in Gaza. Labour abandoned its candidate , Azhar Ali, over inflammatory comments he made about Israel.

While the Workers party is not regarded as being in a position to win any other Westminster seats – and Galloway faces a battle to hold on to his own – it could peel vital support from Labour.

Another Workers party candidate will be the former Labour MP for Derby North Chris Williamson, who lost a high court fight in 2019 to be reinstated into Labour after he was suspended in a row over antisemitism.

The party also unveiled Khalil Ahmed, a Labour candidate from 2019, who is to stand in Wycombe; the former Ukip MEP Amjad Bashir, who defected to the Conservatives in 2015 and will stand in Pudsey; two former British ambassadors, Peter Ford and Craig Murray, and a number of Labour councillors who have defected; and Amrit Mann, a former Houslow mayor who will run for Feltham and Heston.

Another former Ukip candidate now with the Workers party is Harry Boota, who was suspended as a Tory candidate in 2016 after suggesting homosexuality could be the result of being abused as a child.

Some candidates have a background in fringe causes. The South Northamptonshire candidate, Mick Stott, is a former soldier who tried to recruit “ common-law constables ” to outnumber the police, who he believed were acting unlawfully during lockdown. Violent threats about the chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, were voiced on a Telegram channel for the group set up by Stott , who dissociated himself from the language and blamed “infiltrators”.

Panesar said one of his priorities was a referendum on net zero emissions, which Galloway himself has described as a hoax .

Galloway expressed frustration with the time being taken by Corbyn, who has yet to say whether he will stand again in Islington North.

Other places where Workers party backing could make a difference include Bethnal Green and Stepney, where Labour faces a challenge from the independent candidate Mohammed Akunjee, a lawyer who has represented Shamima Begum, one of three girls who left the UK to join Islamic State and was later deprived of her UK citizenship.

• Workers party
• George Galloway
• General elections

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The Ego has Landed: George Galloway basks in his swearing in as MP

Writing off George Galloway ignores his dangerous appeal to both far left and right

Labour rattled by Galloway win as Sadiq Khan slams PM over racist ‘poison’

Rochdale byelection confirms dissatisfaction but little else is certain

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