personal Narrative Info

Personal Narrative

What is it?
A personal narrative is an account of something that has happened to the author and holds some significance to them. It tells the story of one complete event from start to finish. Some personal narratives tell about only a few seconds in time, while others may cover several days. It is up to the author to make sure that only one event is being talked about and that the topic is narrow and focused.

Length
I am always asked, “How long does it have to be?” The truth is, I can’t tell you. A Personal Narrative’s length depends on how long it takes to tell your story. For some people their story can be told in a matter of 1.5 pages and be full and complete and finished. For other people it may take 7 pages to do the same thing. However, that does not mean that I think a 3 paragraph essay will fulfill these demands. The essay need to have a strong introduction that draws the reader in and makes them want to read more, a solid body that shows, not tells the events that took place and give the reader a sense of voice and purpose. Finally, the essay must have a clear conclusion that wraps everything up and leaves the reader fulfilled. How many paragraphs or pages that takes varies from writer to writer, so I never put a number on it because that focuses the writer on a meaningless number.

Narrow FocusOne of the things that will add to your writing is having a narrow focus. This means that you have a specific topic to write about. This will naturally allow for more detail and better word choice in your writing. For example, if I wanted to write about my trip to France, I wouldn’t write about the whole week. Instead I might choose to write about when I first saw the Eiffel Tower and how I overcame my fear of heights to take in its amazing view. This is also true of research paper. Instead of writing about WWII I might narrow my topic to battles. I might further narrow down to one specific battle. I could get even more specific and talk about how one decision a general made changed the tide of the battle.