Narrative writing is a form of writing in which there is
the main character. This character faces a problem or
an event and then deals with it.
In simple words, it tells you a story with a
proper sequence of events (plot). For example, you
share your amazing story about your exams. So
basically, if you do this, you are using characteristics
of a narrative.
narrative is a part of section 2 in paper 1 of O level
English. You have to write between 350 to 500 words
for this question.
Just like a cake has some layers, narrative has also
some parts.

Plot: In creative writing, it is the sequence in which
events happen.
The plot is all about the story and how your events
progress. But, it is not only how events are taking place
in you story.
A good plot shows how the character gets into
a conflict, your character has to get into trouble
and then, he has to work out a solution to deal with
the problem.
This creates suspense and drama that is one of the
most important parts of creative writing, especially
narrative. This is because you have to remember that
without suspense, no one will read your story.
1.
Exposition: The beginning of the story. The
writer provides the reader with the current
situation.
2.
Rising Action: This is about both internal and
external factors which lead to the climax of the
story.
The internal factors could be stated as
Character’s decisions and flaws whereas,
External factors could be listed as background
circumstances.
3.
Climax: “climax” is the turning point of the story.
It is very intense situation which could be either
emotional or proactive.
4.
Failing Action: This mainly refers to the effects
which occur after the climax.
5.
Resolution: Resolution takes place in a story
when the conflict is solved.
To summarise, a good plot looks something like this:
1. The main character faces a conflict (problem).
2. Things go right (everything gets normal).
3. Things go wrong (problem arise that creates
suspense).
4. Finally, wrap up how your character deals with the
problem (gets successful or fails).
Characters: For me, characters are the most
important.
Characters are what your readers remember. For
example, there is a hero or a villain that you will
remember after reading a story. Therefore, they
play a very crucial part in your essay writing.
Simply, characters are those people in your writing
that perform actions and speak dialogues. They play
their part in the story to develop the plot.
Note: Character development is the key if you want to
write a good narrative. You have to show your
characters change during the story and what part they
play.
There are different kinds of character. For example:
1. Protagonist: The main character of the story (and
the most important one).
2. Antagonist: The villain of the story (the opponent
of the protagonist).
3. Tertiary characters: They are the minor
characters in the story that may or may not be
linked to the storyline.
However, the tertiary characters serve different
functions and objectives. You can use these characters
to your benefit by developing your sequence of events
(plot).

Conflict: This is the part of the story when your
main character faces some problems. This part is
what you can call suspense or drama.
Here, you have to make sure that tension builds that
keeps your readers engaged.
Simply, let’s suppose that your character is being
accused (blamed) for a crime that he has not
committed. This is the conflict that your character will
resolve. So, the conflict allows your story to continue.
Remember the better the conflict, the better the
story.

Setting: A backdrop (or setting) refers to
the location or time in the narrative.
It can be fictional or non-fictional, depending on your
story. Let me explain this with the help of an example.
For example, a story about a boy who is bullied in
college in the suburb of Atlanta, in the 1980s.
Sample of Narrative Writing:
Question: Write a story in which you disobeyed an
order.
Sample response:
The camp had never been as crowded as it was on that
day which dawned crisp and clear. I had never
witnessed so much chaos that erupted due to the
convocation of the arriving troops.
This was because our village was under attack by a
rival party, and our soldiers were summoned to prevent
further loss of lives. This was the only thing that we
could do at the moment – abide by the orders given to
us.
Ryan, our leader, was a tall dark man who possessed
fierce looks. He assembled me and Jimmy in his office
and, we rushed to meet him. Unlike other days, we had
to clear multiple security checks because dozens of
Seraphites penetrated our camps.
Seraphites were the people of our rival squad but,
Ryan called them “Scars”. Therefore, everyone
followed his expression due to the simultaneous
feelings of fear and respect.
Ryan’s office was as usually dark, and it was like a place
out of time. The smoke of the cigarette occupied the
entire room with its offensive, eye-watering and stale
odour.
“Joel and Jimmy, do not leave the camp at any cost.
The scars have their traps all around”, he said. We
nodded and enquired about our future plans.
However, the blaring sounds of disarray disturbed our
conversation. “Go check out what the matter is. I am
expecting Chris and Karl back to the camp soon”, Ryan
said in an optimistic manner. I dashed out where I
glanced at some soldiers dragging a body towards
Ryan’s room.
I lifted the muddy black fabric from the face, and it
was Karl. “Chris has killed him! We will make that
traitor pay for this”, one of the sobbing soldiers
commented. I was in utter disbelief because Chris and
Karl had served our village for decades and therefore,
I could not comprehend one being a traitor.
“I have to get to the bottom of the issue”, I said in a
hustle. My ally Jimmy urged me to stop and not disobey
Ryan’s order of not leaving the camp. I was determined
to reach out to Chris, and I even knew about his
whereabouts.
This was because he was entrusted an assignment to
our previous hide-out. Nonetheless, Jimmy helped me
egress from the camp from the Southern door because
the number of troops was minimal over here.
I confidently marched towards the East to confront
Chris, but after twenty minutes of hectic sprinting, I
became more cautious. Unfortunately, one of the traps
of Scars caught me as my left foot was trapped in a
metalled cage (like structure).
I was surrounded by numerous Scars within a fraction
of seconds who had their heads shaved and eyebrows
removed, and they were honestly terrifying. They
referred to us (the people of my camp) as “Wolves” and
one of them said: “We need to get rid of him. He has an
idea where we are camping”.
I took a deep breath and my nose caught the most
horrible odour ever. The smell was terrible – it could
even get a beast on its feet. But, I was more concerned
about my life as it flashed before my eyes. The
muscles in my body screamed at me to flee, but the
cage kept me frozen.
My intensifying breaths came to a halt for a while
when I started to hear distant gunshots. These
disturbing sounds caught the attention of most of the
Scars, who departed in fragments to come across the
matter. This was the time when I grabbed out my
knife, which I concealed, and struck the cage with
intense force until the lock pierced into pieces.
With this, I instantly broke into a sprint and multiple
Scars started to chase me. The colour of my pale face
was draining, and my legs were losing their energy and
potential to run. However, half a mile forward, Jimmy
appeared who diverted their route.
Exhausted, I arrived at the door of the camp where
Ryan was standing with his wide-open glaring eyes and
tightly closed lips. I wanted to explain but he yelled in
an uncontrollable manner: “You disobeyed me for that
traitor? I also want to know why he did that to his
close friend, Karl.”
Simultaneously, he struck sharply at my face with
intense force from his hands and ordered me to get
locked. I was anxious about my punishment but even
more worried about Chris. My mind was bombarded
with questions such as, “Why did he commit this crime?
What if he is innocent? What punishment will the camp
decide for him, and for me?” I sobbed in the cell which
gradually escalated.
Examiner response:
First of all, let’s start with the strengths of the
response.

The candidate makes use of
description (particularly sensory words sometimes)
which is very important in a narrative.
For example, “I took a deep breath and my nose caught
the most horrible odour ever. The smell was terrible –
it could even get a beast on its feet”.

There is some element of suspense in the story.
This keeps the reader engaged.
The candidate uses a cliffhanger technique at the end
of the narrative. For you, a cliffhanger is a
technique that creates suspense (at the end of the
story). What happens is that the writer leaves some
questions (unanswered) for the readers.
the candidate leaves it on the readers to think what
the fate of the writer (Joel) and another character,
Chris, would be. The questions such as “what if he is
innocent?” create suspense among the readers.
There is some description about the characters and
their roles, such as: “Ryan, our leader, was a tall dark
man who possessed fierce looks”. The story has major
as well as minor characters.
Moreover, the dialogues used by the characters show
that the candidate had knowledge about dialogues. But
remember that, do not use dialogues in excess.
You have to use dialogues sometimes to show the
examiner that you have knowledge about them. But, too
much dialogue makes your narrative less of a story but
some of a speech. So, use them when necessary (and
when you should use them).
If you are not using dialogues, you are compromising on
major elements of narrative writing, such as character
development. Because your reader will know about your
characters through their dialogues. So keep that in
mind.

The story revolves around the topic of disobeying
an order.
The topic was about writing a story in which you
disobeyed an order. Well, the story justifies the topic
(although there could have been some improvements).
The story clearly has a theme and a plot. Furthermore,
the candidate successfully builds up the story, making
the main character forceful to “disobey the
command” of their leader. In terms of language, the
student uses decent vocabulary along with transition
words (such as however and moreover).
The candidate uses simple sentences along with
compound sentences. The spellings and grammatical
mistakes are less but, this area can be improved
further (because in the English language, these things
matter).
The areas of improvement:
The story has not a “great” beginning (particularly, the
first paragraph).
A good starting in a story indicates what is going to
happen in future (simply, an overview was required).
For example, the candidate could have given an
overview of how events were going to happen in future.
And after all, the purpose of the introductory
paragraph is to briefly tell your readers what the story
will be about. In short, the candidate could have linked
the starting lines with the topic (of disobeying the
order).
And like the beginning, the conclusion could have
improved (by describing some challenges that the
character faced after disobeying the order).
Moving on to the next thing, which is about the element
of suspense and tension.
There is suspense in the story when the main character
gets caught by his rivals. But, a better description of
the problems faced by the character could have been
written. The tension could have been build with details
about what his rivals were planning to do with him.
the setting here, the candidate could have explained a
little bit more about the time and place. These things
are the main components of a narrative. Therefore, you
should “show not tell”.
A plot should have interesting twists (in the story)
that build up tension and mystery. This is the thing
that will prevent your writing from being “boring”.
When it comes to this sample, a couple of twists in the
plot could have made the story very good.
For example, the attack on the camp when the main
character returned or meeting with the so-called
“traitor” (or something like that may work). So, try to
do these things to keep your readers engaged.

The candidate should have worked on
the characters as well.
Look, no one likes flat characters. The student has
used characters – great. But, there are some things to
improve over here.
You have to make your character interesting (for
example your character may love to do strange or risky
things). If your characters (especially the protagonist)
are unique, readers will love your story.
For example, a casual story about a dad working hard
for his family may not necessarily be interesting. But, a
story about a dad working hard and educating his
daughter despite social pressure may work out as a
good story (depends on how you deliver it).