Before we dive deep into the nuances of a good narrative essay, we shall first understand its meaning. The internet is filled with young college students attempting to find the difference between a narrative essay and a short story. Plenty of academicians and students regard narrative essays and short stories as the same. Some regard that narrative essays are more formal than creative writing. However, narrative essays are not similar to short stories. Here are the tips you should follow on how write a highly regarded narrative essay:
- Narratives are Personal
Short stories are a creative form of writing that specialises in describing stories. On the other hand, narrative essays are necessarily a personal experience description. It could include incidents such as an educational experience, a story about how you acquired a new skill, and so on. Hence, use topics of your own choosing if not categorically mentioned by your educator. Narrative essays usually have a single topic or centre of discussion around which the entire narrative revolves. A single theme is decided and used as the framework to describe the incident. It could also include dialogues, characters, and lessons.
- The Story is Already Prepared
Another glaring difference between short stories and narrative essays is that the essays do not require creative thinking. It merely requires a good recollection memory to remember the sequence of events. The incident you intend to add in an essay is already prepared, and the only major input from your end would be the addition of a message or moral to the essay. The moral serves a dual purpose of driving home a good lesson from the essay and providing a solid theme that would act as a thesis statement. For a better survey of the progress made during your essay, prepare an outline and trace your essay accordingly.
- What to Add and What to Omit?
Personal experiences are always filled with many emotions and a lot of details. Most of these details could be irrelevant to your thesis statement and would not align with your essay outline. The author should refrain from adding particularities, backstories, plot offshoots, or cross-references. It is also not necessary to explain every detail about each character, location, and environment. Include the absolute necessities and leave the fillers.
- The Critical Point
Every narration does not start with the main message or thesis statement. Instead, the essay should begin from a relevant point in time and progress to the main event. The main event should be the defining moment of the story, after which the moral of the story becomes largely clear. The description before the main event is vital to help the reader get into the context. For example, you failed all the entrance tests for your dream institution, and hence you realised the importance of studying hard.
- The Final Word
Once the story has been established, the main message becomes largely clear. However, the moral is still largely based upon the subjective understanding of the reader. The author is liable to provide a conclusion paragraph that encircles the final intended message and the finale of the incident. In a narrative essay’s conclusion, be wary of providing a summation of the key points from the body. As most of the information before the main event establishes context, the conclusion should not include irrelevant information. Instead, the conclusion should be focused on how the incident you have described connects to the thesis statement made in the beginning.
- Proofread
The final step before submitting your narrative essay is to proofread. Identify and edit the mistakes and check the flow of the essay. Include emotional descriptors wherever needed. However, remember that the essay is a form of academic writing and should not include slang or explicit vocabulary.
Remember that a story greatly differs from a narrative essay. Furthermore, though a narrative essay is a personal description, it is also a form of academic writing. Hence, be wary of the common blunders and produce your greatest work. Hopefully, the aforementioned points will help you write a great narrative essay of your own.
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