Narrative writing involves the production of stories or personal essays. It encourages writers to use their creativity and powers of observation to develop stories that can capture a reader's imagination. It recounts a personal or fictional experience or tells a story based on a real or imagined event. Examples include autobiographies or fictional stories. Some of the narrative topics in the 1998 National Assessment of Educational Progress writing assessment asked students to write stories in response to photographs, cartoons, or poems.
1.
Think of a real experience you have had that would be hard to forget. Think about what makes it so hard to forget. Tell what happened.
2.
Think about your best holiday celebration ever. Write an essay to tell about this celebration and why it was your favorite.
3.
Think about how you spend Saturdays during the school year. Pick out a particularly memorable Saturday, and explain exactly what you did that day and why it was especially memorable.
4.
Remember the best school assembly ever. Write an essay telling what happened, how the audience responded, and why the assembly was important.
5.
Write a letter to an old classmate about an event in elementary school that was the most memorable to you.
6.
A flying saucer has been sighted over your town. You have never believed in flying saucers, but then you see it for yourself and... Write a science fiction story telling what happens next. Does the saucer land? Do you meet the crew? How do you communicate? What do they look like? Are they friendly? Puzzled? Shy? Suspicious? What about sounds? Sights? Smells?
Make your story as interesting as you can for your reader. Create characters and describe the setting. Make your plot move along to a climax and a satisfying conclusion.
7.
Pretend you were selected to receive a special award. Write the article that would be in the newspaper to announce your award.
8.
Have you ever been stranded in a place you didn't want to be? Maybe your parents forgot to pick you up after a ball game, and you were left stranded long after everyone else had gone home.
9.
You won a school contest that allowed you to be teacher-for-a-day. Write about your experience as teacher-for-a-day.
10.
At an awards assembly you were surprised to hear your name called for a certain award. Afterward, when your teacher asked you to write in your journal, you decide to write about this experience.