Your Name Here’s
Personal Narrative
Graphic Organizer
Picking the right
story...
What story do you want to
tell?
Remember: Good writers pick stories that others want to hear.
Can you answer yes to
most of these questions?
It may be the
right story to
tell!
Do you remember most of
the details about your
story?
_______
Does your story have a lot
of interesting dialogue?
_______
Can you describe the
locations in your story
well?
_______
Do you want your friends
and family to hear this
story?
_______
Have you ever shared this
Does your story have a
story with others?
lesson for others to learn?
_______
_______
Who are the important people to
your narrative?
Person #1
Person #2
Person #3
Person #4
Person #5
Set the stage: What
happened FIRST in your
narrative?
At the beginning of my story...
What happened in
the middle of your
narrative?
In the middle of my narrative...
What happened at the ENDING
of your narrative?
At the ending of my story...
Most of my
narrative takes
place at
Once your graphic organizer is complete,
turn it in for your teacher’s final approval
before you begin your first draft.
Use this graphic organizer to write a draft
of your personal narrative.
Describe the Scenes - Any time your narrative moves to a new
location, describe what it looks like in a couple of sentences.
Don’t
forget!
Describe the People - Pretend that the person reading your story
has never met any of the people in your story. If a new person is
introduced, tell your reader what they are like.
Include Dialogue - Who said what? Don’t forget to use “quotation
marks” any time someone says something.
Use Proper Capitalization - The first words of sentences and
proper nouns should always be capitalized.
Use a Thesaurus - Find yourself using the same adjective over and
over again? Do a Google Search for your word followed by
“synonym” to find a more vivid word to use.
Use Paragraphs - Narratives are like chapter books; they should
be written in complete paragraphs.