NARRATIVE WRITING

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NARRATIVE WRITING

• A STORY

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CHARACTERS
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SETTING
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PLOT

• The events that make up the story
• What happens.
• Beginning, middle and end

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BEGINNING

• The beginning introduces the topic and grabs the
  readers attention.
• Start with interesting sensory details.
• Perhaps begin with a person speaking or a sound.
• Somethings burning. I hear sirens!
  Somethings burning! Marcus bellowed.

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MIDDLE

• The middle gives details that appeal to the
  senses and tells what happened first, second, and
  so on with action words.
• I rushed to the corner
• The firefighter shouted thanks..
• Suddenly, giant flames burst
• I kept an anxious eye on the firefighters

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TRANSITIONS
soon
after
Transition words help tie ideas, sentences, and
paragraphs together.
during
then
until
while
before
immediately
afterward
next
finally
when
suddenly
as soon as
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VOICE
My writers voice creates an unforgettable
experience for the reader. I use dialogue well.
Rewrite any parts of your narrative that dont
sound like the real you. While we were strolling
home, I looked up and saw the moon through the
fog. Off in the distance, I heard a dog bark and
then a chorus of barks. I felt a shiver crawl up
my spine. It was probably just the cold.
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ENDING
The ending reflects on the experience and tells
what the writer learned.
I now had a dream I wanted to be a firefighter.
Someday, I wanted to be the person opening a
hydrant to help put out a fire.
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SENSORY DETAILS

• TOUCH
• SMELL
• SIGHT
• SOUNDS
• HEARING

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VIVID VERBS

• STRUTTED NOT WALKED
• WAILED NOT CRIED
• MUTTERED NOT TALKED
• SLUGGED NOT HIT
• TRANSMITTED NOT SENT
• GUZZLED NOT DRANK
• GOBBLED NOT ATE

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My exceptional word choice captures the
experience.
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SENTENCEs

• Do my sentences vary in length style?
• Use prepositional phrases
• Do my words flow smoothly?
• Did I use vivid, concrete adjectives/verbs?
• Onomatopoeia
• Simile
• Metaphor

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GRAMMAR

• Do I use correct forms of verbs?
• Do my subjects and verbs agree in number?
• Do I use the right words (to, too, two)?

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DO I SHOW INSTEAD OF TELL?
If you have created a detailed picture of your
experience by using vivid descriptions in you
writing, then you have shown your ideas.
The tornado winds roared out of the southwest
about 300 P.M. and hit us hard. Along our
street, all houses are now missing either a roof
or a front porch. A huge oak tree smashed down
on four parked cars. Broken glass, tree limbs,
and dangling electrical wires made explorations
on our street impossible.