English Language: Top Tips for Structuring Narrative Writing How to Start Launch straight into the story by opening with direct speech. Focus on descriptions of the main character. What do they look like? What does this tell us about their personality? Describe the setting – see, sound, smell, hear and taste. Create a sense of atmosphere. Nervous? Exciting? Calm? Use a puzzling, unusual opening sentence or phrase. Sentence starters You may want to use some of these. A chill ran down my trembling spine… The smell of… The sound of the ... rang in my ears… The tall, dark… ‘I’m not ready for this…’ ‘Just breathe deeply…’ Opening Paragraph Narrative Hooks Used to open a story and immediately draw the reader in. Use dialogue: Ask the reader a question: ‘Don’t even go there... you’ll regret it!’ The threat hung in the air. or Have you ever wished the ground would open up and swallow you whole? I have. ‘But muuuuuum! Everyone is going!’ Improve Your Verbs Avoid walking and talking! gliding shouting stalking booming shuffling whispering Amazing words Try and use some! tension nervous or anxiety eerie silence stench exposed Introduce something intriguing: Did you ever expect Christmas day to turn out to be the worst day of the year? I know I certainly didn’t. Well, I’d never seen anything like this before. Describe strange behaviour of one of the characters: Use a dramatic exclamation (help!) or dramatic event: Shuffling in his seat and squirming in an awkward manner, he looked up at me with fear in his eyes. The door slammed and the glass panel gave a shudder before shattering into a million shards of shimmering glass. or This was totally out of character for him... and that frightened me. fatigued How to Improve Instead of starting sentences with ‘I’, put one of the words below in front of the ‘I’ to make it more descriptive and engaging: quickly suddenly calmly happily nervously independently Can you think of any others? visit twinkl.com English Language: Top Tips for Structuring Narrative Writing How to Start Make the characters do something. Use detail based on sense impressions - what can be seen, heard, smelled, touched or tasted. Base settings on known places, plus some invented detail. Use real or invented names to bring places alive - to help to make the setting more real and more believable. Creae atmosphere, e.g. what is hidden, what is dangerous, what looks unusual, what is out of place. Build Up How to Improve Check every ‘there’, ‘their’ and ‘they’re’. Check every ‘was’ and ‘were’ . Check every capital letter and full stop. Use the weather, time of day and season as well as place. Once you’ve checked them all, underline them so your teacher knows they’ve been checked! Lull the reader into false sense of security that all is well. Synonyms Sentence starters It was just a normal day in summer… It was one cold, dark night… I’d always been the sort of person who… It all started as you would expect… “Come on, Sarah!” I heard the familiar call of my friend from behind me… Instead of using unexciting vocabulary, select vocabulary that is precise, interesting and descriptive. walked strolled talked shouted looked glanced Sentence starters How to Start That was the moment. Use ‘empty’ words, e.g. someone, to create suspense. Suddenly, it happened. Bang! With a sick thud, I realised what I had done! The next moments were in slow motion. Dilemma How to Improve Highlight any ambitious vocab you have used. Up-level your words: choose a more ambitious, powerful word! I felt scared petrified terrified traumatised alarmed frightened Introduce a problem. Use short sentences to be dramatic. Strengthen nouns and verbs rather than using adjectives and adverbs. Employ suspenseful words such as suddenly, without warning. Draw the reader in by asking a question. Occasionally break the sentence rule by using a fragment to emphasise a point, e.g. Silence. Vary sentence openings by using: • an adverb, e.g. Carefully; • a prepositional phrase, e.g. At the end of the street; • a subordinate clause, e.g. Although she was tired, Vanya… Swinging his stick in the air, he… visit twinkl.com English Language: Top Tips for Structuring Narrative Writing Reaction How to Start Build on many of the techniques already used in the earlier part of the story. Vary sentence structure by using longer sentences to get a rhythm going to describe the increasing tension as events unfold. Use alliteration and short sentences to portray sounds within the action. Use metaphor and simile to help paint the scene and describe the feelings of the characters. Introduce further complications using connecting words and phrases such as unfortunately… and what he hadn’t noticed was… Sentence starters How was I going to solve this? How to Improve Check to see if you’re able to add the following to your work: alliteration a repetition of the same letter or a repetition of sounds within a text e.g. slippery, slimy snakes adverb (‘ly’) sentence starter starting a sentence with an ‘-ly’ word e.g. Silently…, Carefully… adjective sentence starter starting a sentence with a describing word e.g. Cold and alone, the boy... verb opener starting a sentence with a ‘doing’ or ‘action’ e.g. Running quickly, the boy... simile a comparison using ‘like’ or ‘as’ e.g. The dog was a fast as a rocket. The cat was fluffy like a cloud. adverb an ’ly’ word that tells us how an action is done e.g. The boy worked silently. vivid verb a more interesting and specific ‘doing word’, sometimes ending in ‘ing’ e.g. The boy stumbled. The cat ambled along the wall. adjective a describing word e.g. The little, fluffy cat... group of 3 use of three words to add detail e.g. The small, noisy and fluffy cat’, The car struggled, roared and spluttered onomatopoeia a word which imitates a noise or an action e.g. Bang! Pop! rhetorical question a question that involves the reader and doesn't need answering e.g. Have you ever...? personal pronouns using words to refer to people e.g. I, you, we, our Reluctantly, I… Looking around me, I… My face felt hot and tingly as I… Over by the… visit twinkl.com English Language: Top Tips for Structuring Narrative Writing Resolving the Dilemma Allowing help to arrive in an unexpected form, e.g. It was at that moment that… Ending Making the character(s) do something unexpected. Allowing the character some extra effort to overcome the problem. Story Mountain Only resolving a part of the dilemma so the characters learn a lesson for the future. Dilemma Engaging Endings Build Up Use dialogue Show how a character has changed ‘I told you it was a mistake!’ After that, he always made sure he double-checked to make sure it didn’t happen again. Ask the reader a question What would you have done? Make a mysterious remark Ending back at the beginning So, then, I knew what I had to do. Returning to the start of the story, even using some of the same words or sentences to show that the story has followed a full circle. or That was the day everything changed. Opening Reaction Ending Provide a moral/instruction with the ending So, if you find yourself in the same situation as me, don’t do what I did or you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. or Make sure you always tell the truth. visit twinkl.com
