how do you use dialogue in a narrative essay example

Writing A Narrative Essay

• Library Resources
• Books & EBooks
• What is an Narrative Essay?
• Choosing a Topic
• MLA Formatting

Using Dialogue

• Using Descriptive Writing
• OER Resources
• Copyright, Plagiarism, and Fair Use

Examples of Dialogue Tags

Examples of Dialogue Tags:

interrupted

Ebooks in Galileo

Additional Links & Resources

• Dialogue Cheat Sheet

Dialogue is an exchange of conversation between two or more people or characters in a story. As a literary style, dialogue helps to advance the plot, reveal a character's thoughts or emotions, or shows the character's reaction within the story. Dialogue gives life to the story and supports the story's atmosphere.

There are two types of dialogue that can be used in an narrative essay.

Direct dialogue  is written between inverted commas or quotes. These are the actual spoken words of a character 

Indirect dialogue  is basically telling someone about what another person said

Formatting Dialogue

Dialogue is an important part of a narrative essay, However formatting dialogue can be troublesome at times.

When formatting dialogue use these rules and examples to help with your formatting:

Place double quotation marks at the beginning an end of spoken words.  The quotations go on the  outside  of both the words and end-of-dialogue punctuation.

• Example:  "What is going on here?" John asked.

Each speaker gets a new paragraph that is indented.

      “hi,” said John as he stretched out his hand.

           "Good Morning, how are you?" said Brad shaking John’s hand.

                      "Good. Thanks for asking," John said.

Each speaker’s actions are in the same paragraph as their dialogue.

 A  dialogue tag  is anything that indicates which character spoke and describes how they spoke.

If the tag comes before the dialogue,  use a comma straight after the tag. If the dialogue is the beginning of a sentence, capitalize the first letter. End the dialogue with the appropriate punctuation (period, exclamation point, or question mark), but keep it INSIDE the quotation marks.

• Examples Before: 

James said, “I’ll never go shopping with you again!”

John said, “It's a great day to be at the beach.”

She opened the door and yelled, “Go away! Leave me alone!”

If the dialogue tag comes after the dialogue , Punctuation still goes INSIDE quotation marks. Unless the dialogue tag begins with a proper noun, it is  not  capitalized. End the dialogue tag with appropriate punctuation. Use comma after the quote unless it ends with a question mark or exclamation mark.

• Examples After: 

“Are you sure this is real life?” Lindsay asked.

“It’s so gloomy out,” he said.

“Are we done?” asked Brad . 

“This is not your concern!” Emma said.

If dialogue tag is in the middle of dialogue.  A comma should be used before the dialogue tag inside the closing quotation mark; Unless the dialogue tag begins with a proper noun, it is  not  capitalized. A comma is used after the dialogue tag, outside of quotation marks, to reintroduce the dialogue. End the dialogue with the appropriate punctuation followed by the closing quotation marks. 

When it is two sentences, the first sentence will end with a punctuation mark and the second begins with a capital letter.

• Examples middle: 

“Let’s run away,” she whispered, “we wont get another chance.”

“I thought you cared.” Sandy said, hoping for an explanation. “How could you walk away?”

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” Jerry whispered. “I’ll miss him.”

Questions in dialogue.  

if there is a dialogue tag, the question mark will act as a comma and you will then lowercase the first word in the dialogue tag 

• Example: What are you doing?" he asked.

if there is simply an action after the question, the question mark acts as a period and you will then capitalize the first word in the next sentence.

“Sarah, why didn't you text me back?” Jane asked.

“James, why didn’t you show up?” Carol stomped her feet in anger before slamming the door behind her.

If the question or exclamation ends the dialogue, do not use commas to separate the dialogue from dialogue tags.

• Example:  “Sarah, why didn't you text me back?” Jane asked.

If the sentence containing the dialogue is a question, then the        question mark goes outside of the quotation marks.

Did the teacher say, “The Homework is due Tomorrow”?

If you have to quote something within the dialogue.  When a character quotes someone else, use double-quotes around what your character says, then single-quotes around the speech they’re quoting.

• Example: 

"When doling out dessert, my grandmother always said, 'You may have a cookie for each hand.'"

Dashes & Ellipses:

Dashes ( — ) are used to indicate abruptly interrupted dialogue or when one character's dialogue is interrupted by another character.

Use an em dash  inside  the quotation marks to cut off the character mid-dialogue, usually with either (A) another character speaking or (B) an external action.

• Including the em dash at the end of the line of dialogue signifies that your character wasn't finished speaking.
• If the speaking character's action interrupts their own dialogue . 
• Use em dashes  outside  the quotation marks to set off a bit of action without a speech verb. 

Examples: 

• Heather ran towards Sarah with excitement. “You won’t believe what I found out—”
• "Is everything—" she started to ask, but a sharp look cut her off.
• "Look over there—" She snapped her mouth shut so she didn't give the secret away.
• "Look over there"—she pointed towards the shadow—"by the stairway."

Use ellipses (...) when a character has lost their train of thought or can't figure out what to say

• Example:  “You haven’t…” he trailed off in disbelief.

Action Beats

Action beats show what a character is doing before, during, or after their dialogue.

“This isn't right.” She squinted down at her burger. “Does this look like it is well done to you?”

She smiled. “I loved the center piece you chose.”

If you separate two complete sentences, you will simply place the action beat as its own sentence between two sets of quotes.

“I never said he could go to the concert.” Linda sighed and sat in her chair. “He lied to you again.”

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How to Write Dialogue: 7 Great Tips for Writers (With Examples)

Hannah Yang

Great dialogue serves multiple purposes. It moves your plot forward. It develops your characters and it makes the story more engaging.

It’s not easy to do all these things at once, but when you master the art of writing dialogue, readers won’t be able to put your book down.

In this article, we will teach you the rules for writing dialogue and share our top dialogue tips that will make your story sing.

Dialogue Rules

How to format dialogue, 7 tips for writing dialogue in a story or book, dialogue examples.

Before we look at tips for writing powerful dialogue, let’s start with an overview of basic dialogue rules.

• Start a new paragraph each time there’s a new speaker. Whenever a new character begins to speak, you should give them their own paragraph. This rule makes it easier for the reader to follow the conversation.
• Keep all speech between quotation marks . Everything that a character says should go between quotation marks, including the final punctuation marks. For example, periods and commas should always come before the final quotation mark, not after.
• Don’t use end quotations for paragraphs within long speeches. If a single character speaks for such a long time that you break their speech up into multiple paragraphs, you should omit the quotation marks at the end of each paragraph until they stop talking. The final quotation mark indicates that their speech is over.
• Use single quotes when a character quotes someone else. Whenever you have a quote within a quote, you should use single quotation marks (e.g. She said, “He had me at ‘hello.’”)
• Dialogue tags are optional. A dialogue tag is anything that indicates which character is speaking and how, such as “she said,” “he whispered,” or “I shouted.” You can use dialogue tags if you want to give the reader more information about who’s speaking, but you can also choose to omit them if you want the dialogue to flow more naturally. We’ll be discussing more about this rule in our tips below.

Let’s walk through some examples of how to format dialogue .

The simplest formatting option is to write a line of speech without a dialogue tag. In this case, the entire line of speech goes within the quotation marks, including the period at the end.

• Example: “I think I need a nap.”

Another common formatting option is to write a single line of speech that ends with a dialogue tag.

Here, you should separate the speech from the dialogue tag with a comma, which should go inside the quotation marks.

• Example: “I think I need a nap,” Maria said.

You can also write a line of speech that starts with a dialogue tag. Again, you separate the dialogue tag with a comma, but this time, the comma goes outside the quotation marks.

• Example: Maria said, “I think I need a nap.”

As an alternative to a simple dialogue tag, you can write a line of speech accompanied by an action beat. In this case, you should use a period rather than a comma, because the action beat is a full sentence.

• Example: Maria sat down on the bed. “I think I need a nap.”

Finally, you can choose to include an action beat while the character is talking.

In this case, you would use em-dashes to separate the action from the dialogue, to indicate that the action happens without a pause in the speech.

• Example: “I think I need”—Maria sat down on the bed—“a nap.”

Now that we’ve covered the basics, we can move on to the more nuanced aspects of writing dialogue.

Here are our seven favorite tips for writing strong, powerful dialogue that will keep your readers engaged.

Tip #1: Create Character Voices

Dialogue is a great way to reveal your characters. What your characters say, and how they say it, can tell us so much about what kind of people they are.

Some characters are witty and gregarious. Others are timid and unobtrusive.

Speech patterns vary drastically from person to person.

To make someone stop talking to them, one character might say “I would rather not talk about this right now,” while another might say, “Shut your mouth before I shut it for you.”

When you’re writing dialogue, think about your character’s education level, personality, and interests.

• What kind of slang do they use?
• Do they prefer long or short sentences?
• Do they ask questions or make assertions?

Each character should have their own voice.

Ideally, you want to write dialogue that lets your reader identify the person speaking at any point in your story just by looking at what’s between the quotation marks.

Tip #2: Write Realistic Dialogue

Good dialogue should sound natural. Listen to how people talk in real life and try to replicate it on the page when you write dialogue.

Don’t be afraid to break the rules of grammar, or to use an occasional exclamation point to punctuate dialogue.

It’s okay to use contractions , sentence fragments , and run-on sentences , even if you wouldn’t use them in other parts of the story.

This doesn’t mean that realistic dialogue should sound exactly like the way people speak in the real world.

If you’ve ever read a court transcript, you know that real-life speech is riddled with “ums” and “ahs” and repeated words and phrases. A few paragraphs of this might put your readers to sleep.

Compelling dialogue should sound like a real conversation, while still being wittier, smoother, and better worded than real speech.

Tip #3: Simplify Your Dialogue Tags

A dialogue tag is anything that tells the reader which character is talking within that same paragraph, such as “she said” or “I asked.”

When you’re writing dialogue, remember that simple dialogue tags are the most effective .

Often, you can omit dialogue tags after the conversation has started flowing, especially if only two characters are participating.

The reader will be able to keep up with who’s speaking as long as you start a new paragraph each time the speaker changes.

When you do need to use a dialogue tag, a simple “he said” or “she said” will do the trick.

Our brains generally skip over the word “said” when we’re reading, while other dialogue tags are a distraction.

A common mistake beginner writers make is to avoid using the word “said.”

Characters in amateur novels tend to mutter, whisper, declare, or chuckle at every line of dialogue. This feels overblown and distracts from the actual story.

Another common mistake is to attach an adverb to the word “said.” Characters in amateur novels rarely just say things—they have to say things loudly, quietly, cheerfully, or angrily.

If you’re writing great dialogue, readers should be able to figure out whether your character is cheerful or angry from what’s within the quotation marks.

The only exception to this rule is if the dialogue tag contradicts the dialogue itself. For example, consider this sentence:

• “You’ve ruined my life,” she said angrily.

The word “angrily” is redundant here because the words inside the quotation marks already imply that the character is speaking angrily.

In contrast, consider this sentence:

• “You’ve ruined my life,” she said thoughtfully.

Here, the word “thoughtfully” is well-placed because it contrasts with what we might otherwise assume. It adds an additional nuance to the sentence inside the quotation marks.

You can use the ProWritingAid dialogue check when you write dialogue to make sure your dialogue tags are pulling their weight and aren’t distracting readers from the main storyline.

Sign up for your free ProWritingAid account to check your dialogue tags today.

Tip #4: Balance Speech with Action

When you’re writing dialogue, you can use action beats —descriptions of body language or physical action—to show what each character is doing throughout the conversation.

Learning how to write action beats is an important component of learning how to write dialogue.

Good dialogue becomes even more interesting when the characters are doing something active at the same time.

You can watch people in real life, or even characters in movies, to see what kinds of body language they have. Some pick at their fingernails. Some pace the room. Some tap their feet on the floor.

Including physical action when writing dialogue can have multiple benefits:

• It changes the pace of your dialogue and makes the rhythm more interesting
• It prevents “white room syndrome,” which is when a scene feels like it’s happening in a white room because it’s all dialogue and no description
• It shows the reader who’s speaking without using speaker tags

You can decide how often to include physical descriptions in each scene. All dialogue has an ebb and flow to it, and you can use beats to control the pace of your dialogue scenes.

If you want a lot of tension in your scene, you can use fewer action beats to let the dialogue ping-pong back and forth.

If you want a slower scene, you can write dialogue that includes long, detailed action beats to help the reader relax.

You should start a separate sentence, or even a new paragraph, for each of these longer beats.

Tip #5: Write Conversations with Subtext

Every conversation has subtext , because we rarely say exactly what we mean. The best dialogue should include both what is said and what is not said.

I once had a roommate who cared a lot about the tidiness of our apartment, but would never say it outright. We soon figured out that whenever she said something like “I might bring some friends over tonight,” what she meant was “Please wash your dishes, because there are no clean plates left for my friends to use.”

When you’re writing dialogue, it’s important to think about what’s not being said. Even pleasant conversations can hide a lot beneath the surface.

Is one character secretly mad at the other?

Is one secretly in love with the other?

Is one thinking about tomorrow’s math test and only pretending to pay attention to what the other person is saying?

Personally, I find it really hard to use subtext when I write dialogue from scratch.

In my first drafts I let my characters say what they really mean. Then, when I’m editing, I go back and figure out how to convey the same information through subtext instead.

Tip #6: Show, Don’t Tell

When I was in high school, I once wrote a story in which the protagonist’s mother tells her: “As you know, Susan, your dad left us when you were five.”

I’ve learned a lot about the writing craft since high school, but it doesn’t take a brilliant writer to figure out that this is not something any mother would say to her daughter in real life.

The reason I wrote that line of dialogue was because I wanted to tell the reader when Susan last saw her father, but I didn’t do it in a realistic way.

Don’t shoehorn information into your characters’ conversations if they’re not likely to say it to each other.

One useful trick is to have your characters get into an argument.

You can convey a lot of information about a topic through their conflicting opinions, without making it sound like either of the characters is saying things for the reader’s benefit.

Here’s one way my high school self could have conveyed the same information in a more realistic way in just a few lines:

Susan: “Why didn’t you tell me Dad was leaving? Why didn’t you let me say goodbye?”

Mom: “You were only five. I wanted to protect you.”

Tip #7: Keep Your Dialogue Concise

Dialogue tends to flow out easily when you’re drafting your story, so in the editing process, you’ll need to be ruthless. Cut anything that doesn’t move the story forward.

Try not to write dialogue that feels like small talk.

You can eliminate most hellos and goodbyes, or summarize them instead of showing them. Readers don’t want to waste their time reading dialogue that they hear every day.

In addition, try not to write dialogue with too many trigger phrases, which are questions that trigger the next line of dialogue, such as:

• “And then what?”
• “What do you mean?”

It’s tempting to slip these in when you’re writing dialogue because they keep the conversation flowing. I still catch myself doing this from time to time.

Remember that you don’t need three lines of dialogue when one line could accomplish the same thing.

Let’s look at some dialogue examples from successful novels that follow each of our seven tips.

Dialogue Example #1: How to Create Character Voice

Let’s start with an example of a character with a distinct voice from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling.

“What happened, Harry? What happened? Is he ill? But you can cure him, can’t you?” Colin had run down from his seat and was now dancing alongside them as they left the field. Ron gave a huge heave and more slugs dribbled down his front. “Oooh,” said Colin, fascinated and raising his camera. “Can you hold him still, Harry?”

Most readers could figure out that this was Colin Creevey speaking, even if his name hadn’t been mentioned in the passage.

This is because Colin Creevey is the only character who speaks with such extreme enthusiasm, even at a time when Ron is belching slugs.

This snippet of written dialogue does a great job of showing us Colin’s personality and how much he worships his hero Harry.

Dialogue Example #2: How to Write Realistic Dialogue

Here’s an example of how to write dialogue that feels realistic from A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.

“As much as I love this land, some days I think about leaving it,” Babi said. “Where to?” “Anyplace where it’s easy to forget. Pakistan first, I suppose. For a year, maybe two. Wait for our paperwork to get processed.” “And then?” “And then, well, it is a big world. Maybe America. Somewhere near the sea. Like California.”

Notice the punctuation and grammar that these two characters use when they speak.

There are many sentence fragments in this conversation like, “Anyplace where it’s easy to forget.” and “Somewhere near the sea.”

Babi often omits the verbs from his sentences, just like people do in real life. He speaks in short fragments instead of long, flowing paragraphs.

This dialogue shows who Babi is and feels similar to the way a real person would talk, while still remaining concise.

Dialogue Example #3: How to Simplify Your Dialogue Tags

Here’s an example of effective dialogue tags in Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

In this passage, the narrator’s been caught exploring the forbidden west wing of her new husband’s house, and she’s trying to make excuses for being there.

“I lost my way,” I said, “I was trying to find my room.” “You have come to the opposite side of the house,” she said; “this is the west wing.” “Yes, I know,” I said. “Did you go into any of the rooms?” she asked me. “No,” I said. “No, I just opened a door, I did not go in. Everything was dark, covered up in dust sheets. I’m sorry. I did not mean to disturb anything. I expect you like to keep all this shut up.” “If you wish to open up the rooms I will have it done,” she said; “you have only to tell me. The rooms are all furnished, and can be used.” “Oh, no,” I said. “No. I did not mean you to think that.”

In this passage, the only dialogue tags Du Maurier uses are “I said,” “she said,” and “she asked.”

Even so, you can feel the narrator’s dread and nervousness. Her emotions are conveyed through what she actually says, rather than through the dialogue tags.

This is a splendid example of evocative speech that doesn’t need fancy dialogue tags to make it come to life.

Dialogue Example #4: How to Balance Speech with Action

Let’s look at a passage from The Princess Bride by William Goldman, where dialogue is melded with physical action.

With a smile the hunchback pushed the knife harder against Buttercup’s throat. It was about to bring blood. “If you wish her dead, by all means keep moving," Vizzini said. The man in black froze. “Better,” Vizzini nodded. No sound now beneath the moonlight. “I understand completely what you are trying to do,” the Sicilian said finally, “and I want it quite clear that I resent your behavior. You are trying to kidnap what I have rightfully stolen, and I think it quite ungentlemanly.” “Let me explain,” the man in black began, starting to edge forward. “You’re killing her!” the Sicilian screamed, shoving harder with the knife. A drop of blood appeared now at Buttercup’s throat, red against white.

In this passage, William Goldman brings our attention seamlessly from the action to the dialogue and back again.

This makes the scene twice as interesting, because we’re paying attention not just to what Vizzini and the man in black are saying, but also to what they’re doing.

This is a great way to keep tension high and move the plot forward.

Dialogue Example #5: How to Write Conversations with Subtext

This example from Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card shows how to write dialogue with subtext.

Here is the scene when Ender and his sister Valentine are reunited for the first time, after Ender’s spent most of his childhood away from home training to be a soldier.

Ender didn’t wave when she walked down the hill toward him, didn’t smile when she stepped onto the floating boat slip. But she knew that he was glad to see her, knew it because of the way his eyes never left her face. “You’re bigger than I remembered,” she said stupidly. “You too,” he said. “I also remembered that you were beautiful.” “Memory does play tricks on us.” “No. Your face is the same, but I don’t remember what beautiful means anymore. Come on. Let’s go out into the lake.”

In this scene, we can tell that Valentine missed her brother terribly, and that Ender went through a lot of trauma at Battle School, without either of them saying it outright.

The conversation could have started with Valentine saying “I missed you,” but instead, she goes for a subtler opening: “You’re bigger than I remembered.”

Similarly, Ender could say “You have no idea what I’ve been through,” but instead he says, “I don’t remember what beautiful means anymore.”

We can deduce what each of these characters is thinking and feeling from what they say and from what they leave unsaid.

Dialogue Example #6: How to Show, Not Tell

Let’s look at an example from The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. This scene is the story’s first introduction of the ancient creatures called the Chandrian.

“I didn’t know the Chandrian were demons,” the boy said. “I’d heard—” “They ain’t demons,” Jake said firmly. “They were the first six people to refuse Tehlu’s choice of the path, and he cursed them to wander the corners—” “Are you telling this story, Jacob Walker?” Cob said sharply. “Cause if you are, I’ll just let you get on with it.” The two men glared at each other for a long moment. Eventually Jake looked away, muttering something that could, conceivably, have been an apology. Cob turned back to the boy. “That’s the mystery of the Chandrian,” he explained. “Where do they come from? Where do they go after they’ve done their bloody deeds? Are they men who sold their souls? Demons? Spirits? No one knows.” Cob shot Jake a profoundly disdainful look. “Though every half-wit claims he knows...”

The three characters taking part in this conversation all know what the Chandrian are.

Imagine if Cob had said “As we all know, the Chandrian are mysterious demon-spirits.” We would feel like he was talking to us, not to the two other characters.

Instead, Rothfuss has all three characters try to explain their own understanding of what the Chandrian are, and then shoot each other’s explanations down.

When Cob reprimands Jake for interrupting him and then calls him a half-wit for claiming to know what he’s talking about, it feels like a realistic interaction.

This is a clever way for Rothfuss to introduce the Chandrian in a believable way.

Dialogue Example #7: How to Keep Your Dialogue Concise

Here’s an example of concise dialogue from The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

“Do you blame me for flunking you, boy?” he said. “No, sir! I certainly don’t,” I said. I wished to hell he’d stop calling me “boy” all the time. He tried chucking my exam paper on the bed when he was through with it. Only, he missed again, naturally. I had to get up again and pick it up and put it on top of the Atlantic Monthly. It’s boring to do that every two minutes. “What would you have done in my place?” he said. “Tell the truth, boy.” Well, you could see he really felt pretty lousy about flunking me. So I shot the bull for a while. I told him I was a real moron, and all that stuff. I told him how I would’ve done exactly the same thing if I’d been in his place, and how most people didn’t appreciate how tough it is being a teacher. That kind of stuff. The old bull.

Here, the last paragraph diverges from the prior ones. After the teacher says “Tell the truth, boy,” the rest of the conversation is summarized, rather than shown.

The summary of what the narrator says in the last paragraph—“I told him I was a real moron, and all that stuff”—serves to hammer home that this is the type of “old bull” that the narrator has fed to his teachers over and over before.

It doesn’t need to be shown because it’s not important to the narrator—it’s just “all that stuff.”

Salinger could have written out the entire conversation in dialogue, but instead he kept the dialogue concise.

Final Words

Now you know how to write clear, effective dialogue! Start with the basic rules for dialogue and try implementing the more advanced tips as you go.

What are your favorite dialogue tips? Let us know in the comments below.

Do you know how to craft memorable, compelling characters? Download this free book now:

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Hannah Yang is a speculative fiction writer who writes about all things strange and surreal. Her work has appeared in Analog Science Fiction, Apex Magazine, The Dark, and elsewhere, and two of her stories have been finalists for the Locus Award. Her favorite hobbies include watercolor painting, playing guitar, and rock climbing. You can follow her work on hannahyang.com, or subscribe to her newsletter for publication updates.

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How to Write Interesting and Effective Dialogue

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Writing verbal conversations or dialogue is often one of the trickiest parts of creative writing. Crafting effective dialogue within the context of a narrative requires much more than following one quote with another. With practice, though, you can learn how to write natural-sounding dialogue that is creative and compelling.

The Purpose of Dialogue

Put simply, dialogue is narrative conveyed through speech by two or more characters. Effective dialogue should do many things at once, not just convey information. It should set the scene, advance action, give insight into each character, and foreshadow future dramatic action.

Dialogue doesn't have to be grammatically correct; it should read like actual speech. However, there must be a balance between realistic speech and readability. Dialogue is also a tool for character development. Word choice tells a reader a lot about a person: their appearance, ethnicity, sexuality, background, even morality. It can also tell the reader how the writer feels about a certain character.

How to Write Direct Dialogue

Speech, also known as direct dialogue, can be an effective means of conveying information quickly. But most real-life conversations are not that interesting to read. An exchange between two friends may go something like this:

"Hi, Tony," said Katy.

"Hey," Tony answered.

"What's wrong?" Katy asked.

"Nothing," Tony said.

"Really? You're not acting like nothing's wrong."

Pretty tiresome dialogue, right? By including nonverbal details in your dialogue, you can articulate emotion through action. This adds dramatic tension and is more engaging to read. Consider this revision:

"Hi, Tony."

Tony looked down at his shoe, dug in his toe and pushed around a pile of dust.

"Hey," he replied.

Katy could tell something was wrong.

Sometimes saying nothing or saying the opposite of what we know a character feels is the best way to create dramatic tension. If a character wants to say "I love you," but his actions or words say "I don't care," the reader will cringe at the missed opportunity.

How to Write Indirect Dialogue

Indirect dialogue doesn't rely on speech. Instead, it uses thoughts, memories, or recollections of past conversations to reveal important narrative details. Often, a writer will combine direct and indirect dialogue to increase dramatic tension, as in this example:

Katy braced herself. Something was wrong.

Formatting and Style

To write dialogue that is effective, you must also pay attention to formatting and style. Correct use of tags, punctuation , and paragraphs can be as important as the words themselves.

Remember that punctuation goes inside quotations. This keeps the dialogue clear and separate from the rest of the narrative. For example: "I can't believe you just did that!"

Start a new paragraph each time the speaker changes. If there is action involved with a speaking character, keep the description of the action within the same paragraph as the character's dialogue.

Dialogue tags other than "said" are best used sparingly, if at all. Often a writer uses them to try to convey a certain emotion. For example:

"But I don't want to go to sleep yet," he whined.

Instead of telling the reader that the boy whined, a good writer will describe the scene in a way that conjures the image of a whining little boy:

He stood in the doorway with his hands balled into little fists at his sides. His red, tear-rimmed eyes glared up at his mother. "But I don't want to go to sleep yet."

Practice Makes Perfect

Writing dialogue is like any other skill. It requires constant practice if you want to improve as a writer. Here are a few tips to help you prepare to write effective dialogue.

• Start a dialogue diary. Practice speech patterns and vocabulary that may be foreign to you. This will give you the opportunity to really get to know your characters.
• Listen and take notes. Carry a small notebook with you and write down phrases, words, or whole conversations verbatim to help develop your ear.
• Read. Reading will hone your creative abilities. It will help familiarize you with the form and flow of narration and dialogue until it becomes more natural in your own writing.
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• Dialogue Definition, Examples and Observations
• What Are Reporting Verbs in English Grammar?
• Definition and Examples of Narratives in Writing
• Writing a Lead or Lede to an Article
• How to Write a Narrative Essay or Speech
• Constructed Dialogue in Storytelling and Conversation
• Writing the Parts of a Stage Play Script
• What Are the Parts of a Short Story? (How to Write Them)
• Reported Speech
• Foreshadowing in Narratives
• Ellipsis: Definition and Examples in Grammar
• detail (composition)
• How to Read Shakespeare Dialogue Aloud
• How to Write a Personal Narrative

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Last updated on Sep 21, 2023

How to Write Fabulous Dialogue [9 Tips + Examples]

This post is written by author, editor, and bestselling ghostwriter Tom Bromley. He is the  instructor of Reedsy's 101-day course,  How to Write a Novel .

Good dialogue isn’t about quippy lines and dramatic pauses.

Good dialogue is about propelling the story forward, pulling the reader along, and fleshing out characters and their dynamics in front of readers. Well-written dialogue can take your story to a new level — you just have to unlock it.

In this article, I’ll break down the major steps of writing great dialogue, and provide exercises for you to practice your own dialogue on.

Here's how to write great dialogue in 9 steps:

1. Use quotation marks to signal speech

2. pace dialogue lines by three , 3. use action beats , 4. use ‘said’ as a dialogue tag  , 5. write scene-based dialogue, 6. model any talk on real life , 7. differentiate character voices, 8. "show, don't tell" information in conversation , 9. delete superfluous words, which dialogue tag are you.

Find out in just a minute.

Alfred Hitchcock once said, “Drama is life with all the boring bits cut out.”

Similarly, I could say that good dialogue in a novel is a real conversation without all the fluff — and with quotation marks. 

Imagine, for instance, if every scene with dialogue in your novel started out with:

'Hey, buddy! How are you doing?"

“Great! How are you?""

'Great! Long time no see! Parking was a nightmare, wasn’t it?"

Firstly, from a technical perspective, the quotation marks are inconsistent and incorrectly formatted. To learn about the mechanics of your dialogue and how to format it, we also wrote this full post on the topic that I recommend reading.

Secondly, from a novel perspective, such lines don’t add anything to the story. And finally, from a reading perspective, your readers will not want to sit through this over and over again. Readers are smart: they can infer that all these civilities occur. Which means that you can skip the small talk (unless it’s important to the story) to get to the heart of the dialogue from the get-go.  

For a more tangible example of this technique, check out the dialogue-driven opening to Barbara Kingsolver's novel, Unsheltered .

Screenwriter Cynthia Whitcomb once proposed an idea called the “Three-Beat Rule.” What this recommends, essentially, is to introduce a maximum of three dialogue “beats” (the short phrases in speech you can say without pausing for breath) at a time. Only after these three dialogue beats should you insert a dialogue tag, action beat, or another character’s speech.

Here’s an example from Jane Gardam’s short story, “Dangers”, in which the boy Jake is shooting an imaginary gun at his grandmother:

In theory, this sounds simple enough. In practice, however, it’s a bit more complicated than that, simply because dialogue conventions continue to change over time. There’s no way to condense “good dialogue” into a formula of three this, or two that. But if you’re just starting out and need a strict rule to help you along, then the Three-Beat Rule is a good place to begin experimenting.

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Let’s take a look at another kind of “beats” now — action beats.

Action beats are the descriptions of the expressions, movements, or even internal thoughts that accompany the speaker’s words. They’re always included in the same paragraph as the dialogue, so as to indicate that the person acting is also the person speaking.

On a technical level, action beats keep your writing varied, manage the pace of a dialogue-heavy scene, and break up the long list of lines ending in ‘he said’ or ‘she said’.

But on a character level, action beats are even more important because they can go a level deeper than dialogue and illustrate a character’s body language.

When we communicate, dialogue only forms a half of how we get across what we want to say. Body language is that missing half — which is why action beats are so important in visualizing a conversation, and can help you “show” rather than “tell” in writing.

Here’s a quick exercise to practice thinking about body language in the context of dialogue: imagine a short scene, where you are witnessing a conversation between two people from the opposite side of a restaurant or café. Because it’s noisy and you can’t hear what they are saying, describe the conversation through the use of body language only.

Remember, at the end of the day, action beats and spoken dialogue are partners in crime. These beats are a commonly used technique so you can find plenty of examples —  here’s one from  Never Let Me Go  by Kazuo Ishiguro . 

If there’s one golden rule in writing dialogue, it’s this: ‘said’ is your friend.

Yes, ‘said’ is nothing new. Yes, ‘said’ is used by all other authors out there already. But you know what? There’s a reason why ‘said’ is the king of dialogue tags: it works.

Pro-tip: While we cannot stress enough the importance of "said," sometimes you do need another dialogue tag. Download this free cheatsheet of 270+ other words for said to get yourself covered!

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Upgrade your dialogue with our list of 270 alternatives to “said.”

The thinking goes that ‘said’ is so unpretentious, so unassuming that it focuses readers’ attention on what’s most important on the page: the dialogue itself. As writer Elmore Leonard puts it: 

“Never use a verb other than ‘said’ to carry dialogue. The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But ‘said’ is far less intrusive than ‘grumbled,’ ‘gasped,’ ‘cautioned,’ ‘lied.’”

It might be tempting at times to turn towards other words for ‘said’ such as ‘exclaimed,’ or ‘declared,’ but my general rule of thumb is that in 90% of scenarios, ‘said’ is going to be the most effective dialogue tag for you to use while writing dialogue.

So now that we have several guidelines in place, this is a good spot to pause, reflect, and say that there’s no wrong or right way to write dialogue. It depends on the demands of the scene, the characters, and the story. Great dialogue isn’t about following this or that rule — but rather learning what technique to use when . 

If you stick to one rule the whole time — i.e. if you only use ‘said,’ or you finish every dialogue line with an action beat — you’ll wear out readers. Let’s see how unnaturally it plays out in the example below with Sophie and Ethan: 

All of which is to say: don’t be afraid to make exceptions to the rule if the scene asks for it. The key is to know when to switch up your dialogue structure or use of dialogue tags or action beats throughout a scene — and by extension, throughout your book.

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Dialogue isn’t always about writing grammatically perfect prose. The way a person speaks reflects the way a person is — and not all people are straight-A honor students who speak in impeccable English. In real life, the way people talk is fragmented, and punctuated by pauses.

That’s something that you should also keep in mind when you’re aiming to write authentic dialogue.

It can be tempting to think to yourself, “ Oh, I’ll try and slip in some exposition into my dialogue here to reveal important background information.” But if that results in an info-dump such as this — “ I’m just going to the well, Mother — the well that my brother, your son, tragically fell down five years ago ” — then you’ll probably want to take a step back and find a more organic, timely, and digestible way to incorporate that into your story.

Kay Adams is Michael’s date at his sister’s wedding in this scene. Her interest in his family is natural enough that the expository conversation doesn’t feel shoehorned in. 

A distinctive voice for each character is perhaps the most important element to get right in dialogue. Just as no one person in the world talks the same as each other, no one person in your book should also talk similarly.

To get this part of writing dialogue down pat, you need to start out by knowing your characters inside out. How does your character talk? Do they come with verbal quirks? Non-verbal quirks?

Jay Gatsby’s “old sport,” for example, gives him a distinctive, recognizable voice. It stands out because no one else has something as memorable about their speech. But more than that, it reveals something valuable about Gatsby’s character: he’s trying to impersonates a gentleman in his speech and lifestyle.

Likewise, think carefully about your character’s voice, and use catchphrases and character quirks when they can say something about your character. 

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“Show, don’t tell” is one of the most oft-repeated rules in writing, and a conversation on the page can be a gold mine for “showing.”

Authors can use action beats and descriptions to provide clues for readers to read between the lines. Let’s revisit Sophie and Ethan in this example:

While Sophie claims she hasn’t been obsessing over this project all night, the actions in between her words indicate there’s nothing on her mind  but  work. The result is that you show , through the action beats vs. the dialogue, Sophie being hardworking—rather than telling it.

Show, Don't Tell

Master the golden rule of writing in 10 five-minute lessons.

As always when it comes to writing a novel: all roads lead back to The Edit, and the dialogue you’ve written is no exception.

So while you’re editing your novel at the end, you may find that a “less is more” mentality will be helpful. Remember to cut out the unnecessary bits of dialogue, so that you can focus on making sure the dialogue you  do  keep matters. Good writing is intentional and purposeful, always striving to keep the story going and readers engaged. The importance lies in quality rather than quantity. 

One point I haven’t addressed yet is repetition. If used well (i.e. with clear intention), repetition is a  literary device  that can help you build motifs in your writing. But when you find yourself repeating information in your dialogue, it might be a good time to revise your work. 

For instance, here’s a scene with Sophie and Ethan later on in the story: 

As I’ve mentioned before, good dialogue shows character — and dialogue itself is a playground where character dynamics play out. If you write and edit your dialogue with this in mind, then your dialogue will be sharper, cleaner, and more organic. 

I know that writing dialogue can be intimidating, especially if you don’t have much experience with it. But that should never keep you from including it in your work! Just remember that the more you practice — especially with the help of these tips — the better you’ll get.

And once you’re confident with the conversational content you can conjure up, follow along to the next part of our guide to see how you can punctuate and format your dialogue flawlessly .

As an editor and publisher, Tom has worked on several hundred titles, again including many prize-winners and international bestsellers. 

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Mentor Texts

Writing Dialogue: ‘The Missing Piece Son’

Considering the role of dialogue in a narrative, with an example from The Times’s Lives column to help.

By Katherine Schulten

Our new Mentor Text series spotlights writing from The Times that students can learn from and emulate.

This entry, like several others we are publishing, focuses on an essay from The Times’s long-running Lives column to consider skills prized in narrative writing. We are starting with this genre to help support students participating in our 2020 Personal Narrative Essay Contest .

Please note: For this contest, students are not required to include dialogue, but we suspect many will. We hope that demystifying it a bit here might encourage more students to try.

When should you include actual dialogue in a piece, and when should you simply report what was said? How can dialogue reveal character? How does it affect the pacing of a story? Does every narrative essay require dialogue?

Take a look at this mentor text, alongside a related text by the same author, to think about these questions and to experiment with dialogue in your own work.

Before Reading

Have you ever written dialogue before? Try it!

To prepare for the mentor text you are about to read, you might make it a conversation between two family members. You can work with a partner, each of you claiming one of the characters and all of his or her lines, or you can do it alone. You can write down a conversation you have actually had, or you can make one up.

Here are some possible scenarios, in case you need help getting started:

One character wants something and the other doesn’t.

The characters are in a fight.

The characters are avoiding talking about something.

The characters have just met and are getting to know each other.

The characters are experiencing something together — maybe they’re on a trip, cooking together, playing a game or at a party.

When you’re done, ask yourself, what was difficult about this task? What was easy (or even fun)? What additional questions about writing dialogue did this exercise raise for you?

Mentor Text: “ The Missing-Piece Son ” by Randa Jarrar

This essay centers on a conversation, as the opening lines tell you right away:

I don’t think anything would rattle the mother of a preteen boy quite like the words my 12-year-old uttered this spring: “Mom, we need to talk,” he said. “It’s something serious.”

There is a great deal to notice about how this writer uses dialogue, starting from this first sentence. For instance, why do you think she writes, “Mom, we need to talk,” he said. “It’s something serious.” rather than “Mom, we need to talk. It’s something serious,” he said ?

Here is the first paragraph in its entirety. Notice how the narrator tells you what her son says, but then immediately parses what it might mean:

I don’t think anything would rattle the mother of a preteen boy quite like the words my 12-year-old uttered this spring: “Mom, we need to talk,” he said. “It’s something serious.” The reversal of roles; the need for him to address me . The “serious” part. These were enough, in the very short time it took to follow him to his bedroom, to completely freak me out. He’d just returned to Michigan after visiting his father in New York. Had something catastrophic happened while he was there? Had he done drugs or had sex? I hoped he’d just left his iPod on the plane.

Read the full piece, paying close attention to who talks, what they say, and how the narrator continues this strategy of varying the spoken dialogue with her own thoughts.

For instance:

“We should think about this,” I said. “I’ve been thinking about it, Mom,” he said. “And I really want to.” Don’t go ! I thought. “Well, then you should do it,” I said. “Really, Mom? I can?” Please don’t ! “Absolutely.”

What is the effect of varying spoken conversation with thoughts about the conversation?

How does the writer help the reader keep track of who is talking? Does every line need what’s known as a dialogue tag — like “he said” and “she shouted” — after a character has spoken? What dialogue tags does this writer use? How does she help the reader understand what she’s thinking versus what is being said?

What do you learn about the son solely through what he says and how he says it? Imagine that this piece was told from the son’s point of view instead, and we had access to his thoughts as he spoke. How might this piece change? What do you imagine some of those thoughts might be?

What else do you notice about how dialogue works in this story? Does it help address any of the questions you had after you tried writing your own?

Now, take your study a bit further, and contrast what you just read with the related Lives essay, “ I Was 18 and Pregnant ,” also by Randa Jarrar.

What do you notice about how dialogue is used here? Why do you think the writer might have made different choices about its use in this piece? (Hint: How is “talk” — or lack thereof — a theme?)

What can you take away from the two essays together about when and how to include dialogue in a piece and when not to? Why?

Now Try This:

Take a fresh look at a narrative you’re working on, and see what you might borrow from this writer.

Are there places where you could tell your story more effectively through dialogue? Why? What can dialogue do in your piece that narration alone might not?

Are there places where a conversation is best simply described, or where only a line or two is needed? Why? How can you make the dialogue you add have the most impact?

Are there places where it might be useful to borrow the technique in “The Missing-Piece Son” and vary dialogue with the thoughts of a narrator? What could that add to the story?

Other Mentor Texts for Writing Dialogue

Below each title is an excerpt from the piece.

“ The Other Talk ,” a 2019 essay from the Rites of Passage column , by Shaquille Heath

In an earnest voice, he looked at me and said, “You’re black.” He said it so sternly that I thought that this remark may have been the end of the talk. “I’m sure you’ve already had encounters in life that tell you what this means,” he said, “but I want to talk to you about it.”

“ Arguing With God ,” a 2006 essay from a Times Magazine column called True-Life Tales, by Samantha M. Shapiro

“Forget about going to Boston next month,” my mother called to report. “The rabbi canceled Michael’s bar mitzvah.” “How is that possible?” I asked. “You know Michael’s a wild kid,” my mother said.

“ We Found Our Son in the Subway ,” a 2013 essay from the Opinion section’s Townies column, by Peter Mercurio

Danny called me that day, frantic. “I found a baby!” he shouted. “I called 911, but I don’t think they believed me. No one’s coming. I don’t want to leave the baby alone. Get down here and flag down a police car or something.”

“ The Man on Death Row Who Changed Me ,” a 2014 essay from the Lives column, by Bryan Stevenson

“I’m very sorry,” I blurted out. “I’m really sorry, I’m really sorry, uh, O.K., I don’t really know, uh, I’m just a law student, I’m not a real lawyer.”

“ When a Dating Dare Leads to Months of Soul Searching ,” a 2019 essay from the Modern Love column, by Andrew Lee

“If things don’t work out,” she said, “would it hurt your confidence?” “Hey, don’t worry about it,” I said. “I’ve got enough confidence for both of us. When my friends ask what happened, I’ll say, ‘She had everything going for her, but sometimes things get between people.’” I smiled. “‘Like racism.’”

Questions for Any Narrative Essay on Dialogue:

Where is dialogue used in this piece? Where is dialogue implied but not actually written out? (For example, “They talked about what happened in class that day and decided ...”) Who speaks and who doesn’t?

What do you notice about the places where the writer chooses to use dialogue? How does it advance the plot, deepen your understanding of a character, or emphasize a theme or idea? What do you learn through it? How would it be different if the writer did not use dialogue here, but just described a conversation instead?

Do the voices of each character sound distinct? How so? What do they tell you about those characters?

What else do you notice or admire about this essay? What lessons might it have for your own writing?

Writing Dialogue [20 Best Examples + Formatting Guide]

Have you ever found yourself cringing at clunky dialogue while reading a book or watching a movie? I know I have.

It’s like nails on a chalkboard, completely ruining the experience. But on the flip side, well-written dialogue can transform a story. It’s the magic that makes characters leap off the page, immersing us in their world.

As a writer, I’m fascinated by the mechanics of great dialogue.

So here are 20 of the best examples of writing dialogue that brings your story to life.

Example 1: Dialogue that Reveals Character

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One of the most powerful functions of dialogue is to shed light on your characters’ personalities.

The way they speak – their word choice, tone, even their hesitations – can tell us so much about who they are. Check out this example:

“Look, I ain’t gonna sugarcoat this,” the detective growled, his knuckles whitening as he gripped the chair. “You were spotted leaving the scene, and the murder weapon’s got your prints all over it.”

Without any lengthy description, we get a sense of this detective as a no-nonsense, direct type of guy.

Example 2: Dialogue that Builds Tension

Dialogue can become this amazing tool to ratchet up the tension in a scene.

Short, clipped exchanges and carefully placed silences can leave the reader on the edge of their seat.

Here’s how it might play out:

“Do you hear that?” Sarah whispered. “Hear what?” A scratching noise echoed from the attic. Sarah’s eyes widened. “It’s coming back.”

The suspense is killing me just writing that!

Example 3: Dialogue that Drives the Plot

Conversations aren’t just about characters sitting around and chatting.

Great dialogue should actively push the story forward. It can set up a conflict, reveal key information, or change the course of events.

Take a look at this:

“I’ve made my decision,” the king declared, the crown heavy on his brow. “We go to war.”

A single line, and the whole trajectory of the story shifts.

Formatting Tips: The Basics

Now, before we get carried away, let’s cover some essential dialogue formatting rules.

Think of these as the grammar of a good conversation.

• Quotation Marks:  Yep, those little squiggles are your best friend. They signal to the reader: “Hey! Someone’s talking!”
• New Speaker, New Paragraph:  Whenever a different character starts talking, give them a new paragraph. It’s all about keeping things easy to follow.
• Dialogue Tags:  These are the little phrases like “he said” or “she replied.” Use them, but try not to overuse them. A well-placed action beat can often do a better job of showing who’s speaking.

Example 4: Dialogue that Creates Humor

Dialogue can be ridiculously funny when done well.

The key? Snappy exchanges, playful misunderstandings, and just a dash of absurdity. Consider this:

“I saw the weirdest thing at the grocery store today,” Tom said, “A woman arguing with a head of lettuce.” “Was she winning?” Lily asked, a grin playing on her lips.

You can almost hear the deadpan delivery, can’t you?

Example 5: Dialogue that Shows Relationships

The way characters speak to each other says a ton about the dynamics between them.

Is there warmth, hostility, an underlying power struggle? Dialogue can paint a crystal-clear picture. Imagine this exchange:

“You didn’t do the dishes again?” Sarah sighed, hands planted on her hips. “Aw, c’mon babe. I was busy,” Mike whined, avoiding her gaze.

We instantly sense the long-suffering tone from Sarah and the playful guilt from Mike.

Example 6: Dialogue with Subtext

The most interesting dialogue often has layers. What the characters say might not be exactly what they mean.

This is where subtext comes in – the unspoken thoughts and feelings bubbling beneath the surface.

Take this snippet:

“It’s a nice ring,” Emily said, her voice flat. “You don’t like it?” Mark’s brow furrowed. Emily shrugged. “It’s fine.”

Is Emily truly indifferent? Or is she masking disappointment, perhaps a sense of something not being quite right? Subtext makes us read between the lines.

Formatting Tips: Getting Fancy

Now, let’s spice things up with a few more advanced formatting tricks:

• Ellipses (…):  These little dots are perfect for showing a character trailing off, hesitating, or searching for words. Example: “I…I don’t know what to say.”
• Em Dashes (—):  These guys can interrupt a thought or indicate a sudden change in direction. Example: “I was going to apologize, but then — well, you’re still being a jerk.”
• Internal Dialogue:  Instead of quotation marks, sometimes you’ll want to italicize a character’s inner thoughts. Example:  Why did I say that? I’m such an idiot.

Cautionary Note

It’s important to remember: dialogue shouldn’t feel like an interrogation. Avoid rigid “question-answer, question-answer” patterns. Real conversations flow and meander naturally.

Example 7: Dialogue with Dialects and Accents

Regional dialects and accents can bring so much flavor to your characters, but it’s a delicate balance.

You want to add authenticity without it becoming a caricature or making it hard to understand.

Here’s a subtle example:

“Well, I’ll be darned,” drawled the farmer, squinting at the sky. “Looks like a storm’s brewin’.”

Notice how just a few word choices and a slight change in pronunciation hint at the speaker’s background.

Example 8: Dialogue in Groups

Writing conversations with more than two people can get chaotic fast. The key is clarity.

Here are a few tips:

• Strong Dialogue Tags:  Sometimes, you need to be more specific than just “he said” or “she said”. Example: “Don’t be ridiculous,” scoffed Sarah.
• Action Beats:  Break up chunks of dialogue with actions that show who’s speaking. Example: Tom slammed his fist on the table. “I won’t stand for this!”

Example 9: Dialogue Over the Phone (or Other Technology)

Conversations where characters aren’t physically together pose unique challenges.

You can’t rely on body language cues. Instead, focus on conveying tone and potential misunderstandings.

For instance:

“Hello?” Sarah’s voice crackled through the phone. A long pause. “Sarah, is that you?” “Mom? Why are you whispering?”

Instantly there’s a sense of distance and something not being quite right.

Example 10: Inner Monologue with a Twist

We often think of internal dialogue as a single character reflecting, but sometimes our inner voices can argue.

This can be a powerful way to showcase internal conflict.

Here’s how it might look:

You should just tell him how you feel, one voice chimed. Are you crazy? the other shrieked back. He’ll never feel the same way .

This creates a vivid picture of a character torn between opposing desires.

Example 11: Dialogue With a Manipulative Character

Manipulative characters often use language as a weapon.

They might use guilt trips, flattery, or veiled threats to get what they want.

Consider this:

“After everything I’ve done for you…” The old woman sighed, a flicker of disappointment in her eyes. “Well, I guess I shouldn’t expect gratitude.”

Notice how she doesn’t directly ask for anything, instead hinting at a debt, leaving the listener feeling uneasy and obligated.

Example 12: Dialogue Across Time Periods

If you’re writing historical fiction or anything with time travel elements, you’ll need to capture the distinct speech patterns of different eras.

Imagine this exchange:

“Gadzooks! What manner of contraption is this?” The Victorian gentleman exclaimed, staring in bewilderment at the smartphone. “It’s a phone,” the teenager replied, barely suppressing a laugh. “Let me show you.”

This little snippet highlights the potential for both humor and linguistic challenges when worlds collide.

Formatting Tip: Dialogue Without Tags

Sometimes, for a rapid-fire or dreamlike effect, you might want to ditch the “he said” or “she asked” altogether.

It’s a bold move, but it can be effective if done sparingly.

Check this out:

“Where are you going?” “Away.” “When will you be back?” “I don’t know.” “Please don’t leave me.”

This creates a sense of urgency, the raw exchange forcing us to focus solely on the words themselves.

Example 13: Dialogue that Shows Transformation

A great way to showcase how a character develops is through shifts in how they speak.

Maybe they become bolder, quieter, or their vocabulary changes.

Let’s see an example:

Scene 1: “I-I don’t know,” Emily whimpered, cowering in the corner. Scene 2 (Later in the story): “That’s it. I’m not taking this anymore!” Emily declared, her chin held high.

The dialogue itself reflects her transformation from victim to someone ready to stand up for herself.

Example 14: Dialogue that’s Just Plain Weird

It’s okay to get strange sometimes.

Absurdist humor or unsettling conversations can add a unique flavor to your story. Just be sure it fits the overall tone.

“Do you believe in cucumbers?” the man asked, his eyes wide and unblinking. “Excuse me?” “Cucumbers, my dear. Agents of the underground vegetable kingdom.”

This immediately creates a sense of oddness and perhaps a touch of unease. Is this guy crazy, or is there something more going on?

Example 15: Dialogue with a Purpose

Remember, good dialogue isn’t just about being entertaining.

It should move your story along. Here are some functions dialogue can serve:

• Providing Exposition:  Sometimes, you need to inform the reader of backstory or world-building details. Trickle information through natural conversation rather than an information dump.
• Foreshadowing:  Subtle hints within a conversation can foreshadow future events or create a sense of unease for the reader.
• Revealing a Twist:  A single line of dialogue can completely flip the script and reframe everything that came before.

Example 16: Dialogue with Non-Verbal Elements

So much of communication happens beyond just words.

Sighs, laughs, and gestures can add richness to dialogue on the page.

“I’m fine,” she said, crossing her arms and looking away.

Notice how the body language contradicts her words, hinting at inner turmoil.

Example 17: Silence as Dialogue

Sometimes, what isn’t said is the most powerful thing of all.

A pregnant pause or a character refusing to speak can convey volumes.

Imagine this:

“So, will you help me or not?” Tom pleaded. Sarah stared at him, her lips a thin line. Finally, she turned and walked away.

The lack of a verbal response speaks louder than any words could.

Example 18: Dialogue With Humorous Effect

A well-timed O.S. voice can deliver a funny remark or punchline, undercutting the seriousness of a scene or taking a moment in an unexpected comedic direction.

INT. CLASSROOM – DAY The teacher drones on about the causes of the American Revolution, his voice as dull as the worn textbook in front of him. KEVIN tries to stifle his yawns, failing miserably. STUDENT (O.S.) Is he ever going to stop talking? My brain just turned to mush. Snickers ripple through the class. The teacher pauses, a look of annoyance flickering across his face. Kevin shoots a desperate look towards the source of the O.S. voice.

• Timing is everything. The best comedic O.S. lines act as a witty reaction to something else happening in a scene. The student’s comment comes right as Kevin’s boredom peaks.
• Subverting expectations is funny. The audience expects the scene to continue with a stern reprimand for speaking out of turn, but the script doesn’t give us that. This leaves room for further humor.
• Consider the tone of the voice – sarcastic, matter-of-fact, or outright whiny? This adds to the comedic effect.

Example 19: Dialogue With Unexpected Reveals

Think of this as a surprise twist using O.S. dialogue.

The audience (and maybe even some characters) are led to believe one thing, only for an O.S. voice to reveal something completely unexpected, shifting the scene’s dynamic.

INT. POLICE INTERROGATION ROOM – NIGHTDETECTIVE HARRIS paces in front of a nervous SUSPECT. Photos of the crime scene are scattered on the table. HARRIS Don’t lie to me! We’ve got witnesses who saw you at the scene. SUSPECT I – I swear, I had nothing to do with it! I was… I was with my girlfriend. Harris leans in, a triumphant glint in her eyes. She claps her hands sharply, startling the suspect. WOMAN (O.S.) That’s a lie! He was nowhere near me last night! The suspect whips around. His face pales as we hear the sound of the interrogation room door swinging open…

• The power lies in the build-up. The initial dialogue and the characters’ reactions should lead the audience to believe one outcome, making the O.S. interruption all the more impactful.
• Consider who speaks the O.S. line. Is it someone the audience recognizes, or a totally new character whose identity becomes a new mystery?
• Play with the proximity of the voice. Is it right outside the room, adding to the dramatic reveal as the door opens, or is it more distant – perhaps a voice over an intercom – for an even more unsettling effect?

Example 20: Dialogue With a “Haunted” Feeling

Explanation: O.S. can be used to create an eerie or unsettling atmosphere, particularly in horror or psychological thrillers. This could be unexplained voices, creepy whispers, or sounds that hint at a supernatural (or simply unnerving) presence.

INT. OLD MANSION – NIGHTSARAH explores the abandoned mansion, flashlight cutting through the thick dust. Cobwebs cling to every surface. A faint WHISPER drifts through the air, seeming to come from everywhere at once. Sarah freezes. VOICE (O.S.) Get out… leave this place… Sarah’s breath catches in her throat. She hesitantly follows the direction of the voice, her flashlight beam trembling.

• Less is more. The vaguer and more inexplicable the O.S. voice, the more chilling it becomes.
• Layer sounds for a full creepy effect. Combine whispers with unexpected bangs, creaks, or the faint sound of footsteps following behind Sarah.
• Play with audience expectations. If the script initially leads the audience to think the house is merely abandoned, the O.S. voices become that much more terrifying.

Here is a good video about writing dialogue:

Additional Dialogue Tips & Tricks

• Read Your Dialogue Aloud:  This is the best way to catch awkward phrasing or unnatural rhythms. Our ears often pick up on what our eyes might miss.
• Less is More:  Don’t feel the need to have every single interaction be profound. Sometimes a simple “Hey” or “Thanks” can do the job just fine.
• Eavesdrop:  Paying attention to real-life conversations is fantastic research. Note the pauses, the filler words, the way people interrupt each other.

Final Thoughts: Writing Dialogue

Phew! We did it!

Does that feel like a solid collection of dialogue examples? We haven’t covered absolutely every scenario, but I hope these illustrate the vast potential within dialogue to bring your stories to life.

Read This Next:

• How To Use Action Tags in Dialogue: Ultimate Guide
• How Do Writers Fill a Natural Pause in Dialogue? [7 Crazy Effective Ways]
• Can You Start a Novel with Dialogue?
• How To Write A Southern Accent (17 Tips + Examples)
• How to Write a French Accent (13 Best Tips with Examples)

• How-To Guides

How To Write Dialogue In A Story (With Examples)

One of the biggest mistakes made by writers is how they use dialogue in their stories. Today, we are going to teach you how to write dialogue in a story using some easy and effective techniques. So, get ready to learn some of the best techniques and tips for writing dialogue!

There are two main reasons why good dialogue is so important in works of fiction. First, good dialogue helps keep the reader interested and engaged in the story. Second, it makes your work easier to write, read and understand. So, if you want to write dialogue that is interesting, engaging and easy to read, keep on reading. We will be teaching you the best techniques and tips for writing dialogue in a story.

Internal vs External Dialogue

Direct vs indirect dialogue, 20 tips for formatting dialogue in stories, step 1: use a dialogue outline, step 2: write down a script, step 3: edit & review your script, step 4: sprinkle in some narrative, step 5: format your dialogue, what is dialogue .

Dialogue is the spoken words that are spoken between the characters of a story. It is also known as the conversation between the characters. Dialogue is a vital part of a story. It is the vehicle of the characters’ thoughts and emotions. Good dialogue helps show the reader how the characters think and feel. It also helps the reader better understand what is happening in the story. Good dialogue should be interesting, informative and natural. 

In a story, dialogue can be expressed internally as thoughts, or externally through conversations between characters. A character thinking to themself would be considered internal dialogue. Here there is no one else, just one character thinking or speaking to themselves:

Mary thought to herself, “what if I can do better…”

While two or more characters talking to each other in a scene would be an external dialogue:

“Watch out!” cried Sam. “What’s wrong with you?” laughed Kate.

In most cases, the words spoken by your character will be inside quotation marks. This is called direct dialogue. And then everything outside the quotation marks is called narrative:

“What do you want?” shrieked Penelope as she grabbed her notebooks. “Oh, nothing… Just checking if you needed anything,” sneered Peter as he tried to peek over at her notes.

Indirect dialogue is a summary of your dialogue. It lets the reader know that a conversation happened without repeating it exactly. For example:

She was still fuming from last night’s argument. After being called a liar and a thief, she had no choice but to leave home for good.

Direct dialogue is useful for quick conversations, while indirect dialogue is useful for summarising long pieces of dialogue. Which otherwise can get boring for the reader. Writers can combine both types of dialogue to increase tension and add drama to their stories.

Now you know some of the different types of dialogue in stories, let’s learn how to write dialogue in a story.

Here are the main tips to remember when formatting dialogue in stories or works of fiction:

• Always use quotation marks: All direct dialogue is written inside quotation marks, along with any punctuation relating to that dialogue.

• Don’t forget about dialogue tags: Dialogue tags are used to explain how a character said something.  Each tag has at least one noun or pronoun, and one verb indicating how the dialogue is spoken. For example, he said, she cried, they laughed and so on.

• Dialogue before tags: Dialogue before the dialogue tags should start with an uppercase. The dialogue tag itself begins with a lowercase.

• Dialogue after tags: Both the dialogue and dialogue tags start with an uppercase to signify the start of a conversation. The dialogue tags also have a comma afterwards, before the first set of quotation marks.

• Lowercase for continued dialogue: If the same character continues to speak after the dialogue tags or action, then this dialogue continues with a lowercase.

• Action after complete dialogue: Any action or narrative text after completed dialogue starts with an uppercase as a new sentence.

• Action interrupting dialogue: If the same character pauses their dialogue to do an action, then this action starts with a lowercase.

• Interruptions by other characters: If another character Interrupts a character’s dialogue, then their action starts with an uppercase on a new line. And an em dash (-) is used inside the quotation marks of the dialogue that was interrupted. 

• Use single quotes correctly: Single quotes mean that a character is quoting someone else.

• New paragraphs equal new speaker: When a new character starts speaking, it should be written in a new paragraph. 

• Use question marks correctly: If the dialogue ends with a question mark, then the part after the dialogue should begin with a lowercase.

• Exclamation marks: Similar to question marks, the next sentence should begin with a lowercase. 

• Em dashes equal being cut off: When a character has been interrupted or cut off in the middle of their speech, use an em dash (-).

• Ellipses mean trailing speech: When a character is trailing off in their speech or going on and on about something use ellipses (…). This is also good to use when a character does not know what to say.

• Spilt long dialogue into paragraphs: If a character is giving a long speech, then you can split this dialogue into multiple paragraphs. 

• Use commas appropriately: If it is not the end of the sentence then end the dialogue with a comma.

• Full stops to end dialogue: Dialogue ending with a full stop means it is the end of the entire sentence. 

• Avoid fancy dialogue tags: For example, ‘he moderated’ or ‘she articulated’. As this can distract the reader from what your characters are actually saying and the content of your story. It’s better to keep things simple, such as using he said or she said.
• No need for names: Avoid repeating your character’s name too many times. You could use pronouns or even nicknames. 
• Keep it informal: Think about how real conversations happen. Do people use technical or fancy language when speaking? Think about your character’s tone of voice and personality, what would they say in a given situation? 

Remember these rules, and you’ll be able to master dialogue writing in no time!

How to Write Dialogue in 5 Steps

Dialogue is tricky. Follow these easy steps to write effective dialogue in your stories or works of fiction:

A dialogue outline is a draft of what your characters will say before you actually write the dialogue down. This draft can be in the form of notes or any scribblings about your planned dialogue. Using your overall book outline , you can pinpoint the areas where you expect to see the most dialogue used in your story. You can then plan out the conversation between characters in these areas. 

A good thing about using a dialogue outline is that you can avoid your characters saying the same thing over and over again. You can also skim out any unnecessary dialogue scenes if you think they are unnecessary or pointless. 

Here is an example of a dialogue outline for a story:

You even use a spreadsheet to outline your story’s dialogue scenes.

In this step, you will just write down what the characters are saying in full. Don’t worry too much about punctuation and the correct formatting of dialogue. The purpose of this step is to determine what the characters will actually say in the scene and whether this provides any interesting information to your readers.

Start by writing down the full script of your character’s conversations for each major dialogue scene in your story. Here is an example of a dialogue script for a story:

Review your script from the previous step, and think about how it can be shortened or made more interesting. You might think about changing a few words that the characters use to make it sound more natural. Normally the use of slang words and informal language is a great way to make dialogue between characters sound more natural. You might also think about replacing any names with nicknames that characters in a close relationship would use. 

The script might also be too long with plenty of unnecessary details that can be removed or summarised as part of the narration in your story (or as indirect dialogue). Remember the purpose of dialogue is to give your story emotion and make your characters more realistic. At this point you might also want to refer back to your character profiles , to see if the script of each character matches their personality. 

Once your script has been perfected, you can add some actions to make your dialogue feel more believable to readers. Action or narrative is the stuff that your characters are actually doing throughout or in between dialogue. For example, a character might be packing up their suitcase, as they are talking about their holiday plans. This ‘narrative’ is a great way to break up a long piece of dialogue which otherwise could become boring and tedious for readers. 

You have now planned your dialogue for your story. The final step is to incorporate these dialogue scenes into your story. Remember to follow our formatting dialogue formatting rules explained above to create effective dialogue for your stories!

That’s all for today! We hope this post has taught you how to write dialogue in a story effectively. If you have any questions, please let us know in the comments below!

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

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Dialogue Definition

What is dialogue? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

Dialogue is the exchange of spoken words between two or more characters in a book, play, or other written work. In prose writing, lines of dialogue are typically identified by the use of quotation marks and a dialogue tag, such as "she said." In plays, lines of dialogue are preceded by the name of the person speaking. Here's a bit of dialogue from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland : "Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad." "How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice. "You must be,' said the Cat, 'or you wouldn't have come here."

Some additional key details about dialogue:

• Dialogue is defined in contrast to monologue , when only one person is speaking.
• Dialogue is often critical for moving the plot of a story forward, and can be a great way of conveying key information about characters and the plot.
• Dialogue is also a specific and ancient genre of writing, which often takes the form of a philosophical investigation carried out by two people in conversation, as in the works of Plato. This entry, however, deals with dialogue as a narrative element, not as a genre.

How to Pronounce Dialogue

Here's how to pronounce dialogue: dye -uh-log

Dialogue in Depth

Dialogue is used in all forms of writing, from novels to news articles to plays—and even in some poetry. It's a useful tool for exposition (i.e., conveying the key details and background information of a story) as well as characterization (i.e., fleshing out characters to make them seem lifelike and unique).

Dialogue as an Expository Tool

Dialogue is often a crucial expository tool for writers—which is just another way of saying that dialogue can help convey important information to the reader about the characters or the plot without requiring the narrator to state the information directly. For instance:

• In a book with a first person narrator, the narrator might identify themselves outright (as in Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go , which begins "My name is Kathy H. I am thirty-one years old, and I've been a carer now for over eleven years.").
• Tom Buchanan, who had been hovering restlessly about the room, stopped and rested his hand on my shoulder. "What you doing, Nick?”

The above example is just one scenario in which important information might be conveyed indirectly through dialogue, allowing writers to show rather than tell their readers the most important details of the plot.

Expository Dialogue in Plays and Films

Dialogue is an especially important tool for playwrights and screenwriters, because most plays and films rely primarily on a combination of visual storytelling and dialogue to introduce the world of the story and its characters. In plays especially, the most basic information (like time of day) often needs to be conveyed through dialogue, as in the following exchange from Romeo and Juliet :

BENVOLIO Good-morrow, cousin. ROMEO Is the day so young? BENVOLIO But new struck nine. ROMEO Ay me! sad hours seem long.

Here you can see that what in prose writing might have been conveyed with a simple introductory clause like "Early the next morning..." instead has to be conveyed through dialogue.

Dialogue as a Tool for Characterization

In all forms of writing, dialogue can help writers flesh out their characters to make them more lifelike, and give readers a stronger sense of who each character is and where they come from. This can be achieved using a combination of:

• Colloquialisms and slang: Colloquialism is the use of informal words or phrases in writing or speech. This can be used in dialogue to establish that a character is from a particular time, place, or class background. Similarly, slang can be used to associate a character with a particular social group or age group.
• The form the dialogue takes: for instance, multiple books have now been written in the form of text messages between characters—a form which immediately gives readers some hint as to the demographic of the characters in the "dialogue."
• The subject matter: This is the obvious one. What characters talk about can tell readers more about them than how the characters speak. What characters talk about reveals their fears and desires, their virtues and vices, their strengths and their flaws.

For example, in Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's narrator uses dialogue to introduce Mrs. and Mr. Bennet, their relationship, and their differing attitudes towards arranging marriages for their daughters:

"A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!” “How so? How can it affect them?” “My dear Mr. Bennet,” replied his wife, “how can you be so tiresome! You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them.” “Is that his design in settling here?” “Design! Nonsense, how can you talk so! But it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes.”

This conversation is an example of the use of dialogue as a tool of characterization , showing readers—without explaining it directly—that Mrs. Bennet is preoccupied with arranging marriages for her daughters, and that Mr. Bennet has a deadpan sense of humor and enjoys teasing his wife.

Recognizing Dialogue in Different Types of Writing

It's important to note that how a writer uses dialogue changes depending on the form in which they're writing, so it's useful to have a basic understanding of the form dialogue takes in prose writing (i.e., fiction and nonfiction) versus the form it takes in plays and screenplays—as well as the different functions it can serve in each. We'll cover that in greater depth in the sections that follow.

Dialogue in Prose

In prose writing, which includes fiction and nonfiction, there are certain grammatical and stylistic conventions governing the use of dialogue within a text. We won't cover all of them in detail here (we'll skip over the placement of commas and such), but here are some of the basic rules for organizing dialogue in prose:

• Punctuation : Generally speaking, lines of dialogue are encased in double quotation marks "such as this," but they may also be encased in single quotation marks, 'such as this.' However, single quotation marks are generally reserved for quotations within a quotation, e.g., "Even when I dared him he said 'No way,' so I dropped the subject."
• "Where did you go?" she asked .
• I said , "Leave me alone."
• "Answer my question," said Monica , "or I'm leaving."
• Line breaks : Lines of dialogue spoken by different speakers are generally separated by line breaks. This is helpful for determining who is speaking when dialogue tags have been omitted.

Of course, some writers ignore these conventions entirely, choosing instead to italicize lines of dialogue, for example, or not to use quotation marks, leaving lines of dialogue undifferentiated from other text except for the occasional use of a dialogue tag. Writers that use nonstandard ways of conveying dialogue, however, usually do so in a consistent way, so it's not hard to figure out when someone is speaking, even if it doesn't look like normal dialogue.

Indirect vs. Direct Dialogue

In prose, there are two main ways for writers to convey the content of a conversation between two characters: directly, and indirectly. Here's an overview of the difference between direct and indirect dialogue:

• This type of dialogue can often help lend credibility or verisimilitude to dialogue in a story narrated in the first-person, since it's unlikely that a real person would remember every line of dialogue that they had overheard or spoken.
• Direct Dialogue: This is what most people are referring to when they talk about dialogue. In contrast to indirect dialogue, direct dialogue is when two people are speaking and their words are in quotations.

Of these two types of dialogue, direct dialogue is the only one that counts as dialogue strictly speaking. Indirect dialogue, by contrast, is technically considered to be part of a story's narration.

A Note on Dialogue Tags and "Said Bookisms"

It is pretty common for writers to use verbs other than "said" and "asked"  to attribute a line of dialogue to a speaker in a text. For instance, it's perfectly acceptable for someone to write:

• Robert was beginning to get worried. "Hurry!" he shouted.
• "I am hurrying," Nick replied.

However, depending on how it's done, substituting different verbs for "said" can be quite distracting, since it shifts the reader's attention away from the dialogue and onto the dialogue tag itself. Here's an example where the use of  non-standard dialogue tags begins to feel a bit clumsy:

• Helen was thrilled. "Nice to meet you," she beamed .
• "Nice to meet you, too," Wendy chimed .

Dialogue tags that use verbs other than the standard set (which is generally thought to include "said," "asked," "replied," and "shouted") are known as "said bookisms," and are generally ill-advised. But these "bookisms" can be easily avoided by using adverbs or simple descriptions in conjunction with one of the more standard dialogue tags, as in:

• Helen was thrilled. "Nice to meet you," she said, beaming.
• "Nice to meet you, too," Wendy replied brightly.

In the earlier version, the irregular verbs (or "said bookisms") draw attention to themselves, distracting the reader from the dialogue. By comparison, this second version reads much more smoothly.

Dialogue in Plays

Dialogue in plays (and screenplays) is easy to identify because, aside from the stage directions, dialogue is the only thing a play is made of. Here's a quick rundown of the basic rules governing dialogue in plays:

• Names: Every line of dialogue is preceded by the name of the person speaking.
• Mama (outraged)  : What kind of way is that to talk about your brother?
• Line breaks: Each time someone new begins speaking, just as in prose, the new line of dialogue is separated from the previous one by a line break.

Rolling all that together, here's an example of what dialogue looks like in plays, from Edward Albee's Zoo Story:

JERRY: And what is that cross street there; that one, to the right? PETER: That? Oh, that's Seventy-fourth Street. JERRY: And the zoo is around Sixty-5th Street; so, I've been walking north. PETER: [anxious to get back to his reading] Yes; it would seem so. JERRY: Good old north. PETER: [lightly, by reflex] Ha, ha.

Dialogue Examples

The following examples are taken from all types of literature, from ancient philosophical texts to contemporary novels, showing that dialogue has always been an integral feature of many different types of writing.

Dialogue in Shakespeare's Othello

In this scene from Othello , the dialogue serves an expository purpose, as the messenger enters to deliver news about the unfolding military campaign by the Ottomites against the city of Rhodes.

First Officer Here is more news. Enter a Messenger Messenger The Ottomites, reverend and gracious, Steering with due course towards the isle of Rhodes, Have there injointed them with an after fleet. First Senator Ay, so I thought. How many, as you guess? Messenger Of thirty sail: and now they do restem Their backward course, bearing with frank appearance Their purposes toward Cyprus. Signior Montano, Your trusty and most valiant servitor, With his free duty recommends you thus, And prays you to believe him.

Dialogue in Madeleine L'Engel's A Wrinkle in Time

From the classic children's book  A Wrinkle in Time , here's a good example of dialogue that uses a description of a character's tone of voice instead of using unconventional verbiage to tag the line of dialogue. In other words, L'Engel doesn't follow Calvin's line of dialogue with a distracting tag like "Calvin barked." Rather, she simply states that his voice was unnaturally loud.

"I'm different, and I like being different." Calvin's voice was unnaturally loud. "Maybe I don't like being different," Meg said, "but I don't want to be like everybody else, either."

It's also worth noting that this dialogue helps characterize Calvin as a misfit who embraces his difference from others, and Meg as someone who is concerned with fitting in.

Dialogue in A Visit From the Good Squad

This passage from Jennifer Egan's A Visit From the Good Squad doesn't use dialogue tags at all. In this exchange between Alex and the unnamed woman, it's always clear who's speaking even though most of the lines of dialogue are not explicitly attributed to a speaker using tags like "he said."

Alex turns to the woman. “Where did this happen?” “In the ladies’ room. I think.” “Who else was there?” “No one.” “It was empty?” “There might have been someone, but I didn’t see her.” Alex swung around to Sasha. “You were just in the bathroom,” he said. “Did you see anyone?”

Elsewhere in the book, Egan peppers her dialogue with colloquialisms and slang to help with characterization . Here, the washed-up, alcoholic rock star Bosco says:

"I want interviews, features, you name it," Bosco went on. "Fill up my life with that shit. Let's document every fucking humiliation. This is reality, right? You don't look good anymore twenty years later, especially when you've had half your guts removed. Time's a goon, right? Isn't that the expression?"

In this passage, Bosco's speech is littered with colloquialisms, including profanity and his use of the word "guts" to describe his liver, establishing him as a character with a unique way of speaking.

Dialogue in Plato's Meno

The following passage is excerpted from a dialogue by Plato titled Meno.  This text is one of the more well-known Socratic dialogues. The two characters speaking are Socrates (abbreviated, "Soc.") and Meno (abbreviated, "Men."). They're exploring the subject of virtue together.

Soc. Now, if there be any sort-of good which is distinct from knowledge, virtue may be that good; but if knowledge embraces all good, then we shall be right in think in that virtue is knowledge? Men. True. Soc. And virtue makes us good? Men. Yes. Soc. And if we are good, then we are profitable; for all good things are profitable? Men. Yes. Soc. Then virtue is profitable? Men. That is the only inference.

Indirect Dialogue in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried

This passage from O'Brien's The Things They Carried exemplifies the use of indirect dialogue to summarize a conversation. Here, the third-person narrator tells how Kiowa recounts the death of a soldier named Ted Lavender. Notice how the summary of the dialogue is interwoven with the rest of the narrative.

They marched until dusk, then dug their holes, and that night Kiowa kept explaining how you had to be there, how fast it was, how the poor guy just dropped like so much concrete. Boom-down, he said. Like cement.

O'Brien takes liberties in his use of quotation marks and dialogue tags, making it difficult at times to distinguish between the voices of different speakers and the voice of the narrator. In the following passage, for instance, it's unclear who is the speaker of the final sentence:

The cheekbone was gone. Oh shit, Rat Kiley said, the guy's dead. The guy's dead, he kept saying, which seemed profound—the guy's dead. I mean really.

Why Do Writers Use Dialogue in Literature?

Most writers use dialogue simply because there is more than one character in their story, and dialogue is a major part of how the plot progresses and characters interact. But in addition to the fact that dialogue is virtually a necessary component of fiction, theater, and film, writers use dialogue in their work because:

• It aids in characterization , helping to flesh out the various characters and make them feel lifelike and individual.
• It is a useful tool of exposition , since it can help convey key information abut the world of the story and its characters.
• It moves the plot along. Whether it takes the form of an argument, an admission of love, or the delivery of an important piece of news, the information conveyed through dialogue is often essential not only to readers' understanding of what's going on, but to generating the action that furthers the story's plot line.

Other Helpful Dialogue Resources

• The Wikipedia Page on Dialogue: A bare-bones explanation of dialogue in writing, with one or two examples.
• The Dictionary Definition of Dialogue: A basic definition, with a bit on the etymology of the word (it comes from the Greek meaning "through discourse."
• Cinefix's video with their take on the 14 best dialogues of all time : A smart overview of what dialogue can accomplish in film.

• PDFs for all 136 Lit Terms we cover
• Downloads of 1929 LitCharts Lit Guides
• Teacher Editions for every Lit Guide
• Explanations and citation info for 40,694 quotes across 1929 books
• Downloadable (PDF) line-by-line translations of every Shakespeare play
• Characterization
• Colloquialism
• Dynamic Character
• Protagonist
• Pathetic Fallacy
• Climax (Plot)
• Tragic Hero

What is the Purpose of Dialogue in a Narrative Essay?

In a narrative essay, the writer conveys the story using first-person narration and often emphasizes particular personal experiences of life. Such essays and stories are non-fiction but it encompasses some fictional elements. However, one of the most significant elements in a narrative essay is dialogue through which the message deliverance takes place.

Dialogues are considered a crucial tool in an essay. It not only allows characters to do conversations but is also useful regarding other aspects. Anyhow, let’s explore what is the purpose of dialogue in a narrative essay and how to write them effectively.

What is a Dialogue?

From an existing writing stance, dialogue is the means of communication between two or more characters, which is generally spoken loud. Usually, within an essay or a story, a dialogue is denoted by quotation marks or dialogue tags.

Anyhow, there are two types of dialogues:

Direct Dialogue

Direct dialogue is the speech using the exact words of the speaker or the character. In this case, quotation marks are placed around the direct dialogues.

For instance,

Katherine asked Maria, “Why do you look sad?”

Indirect Dialogue

Indirect dialogue is someone’s speech that is conveyed by a third person or something which is not said or written in the exact words.

For example,

Katherine asked Maria why she looked sad.

How Dialogue Matters in a Narrative Essay?

Let’s discover some important roles of dialogue within an essay or a story.

It Gives the Character Life

Dialogue can help characters grow. In fact, at least one of the characters should shift expression in every successful discussion. Also, dialogues within an essay are explicitly helpful in driving the plot and generating connections and relationships between numerous characters. It directly reveals the events that may not be deceptive by the description. Through dialogue, characters experience a variety of feelings that may be lost if they were narrated by a narrator.

It Outlines the Character

Character qualities can also be revealed through dialogue. Since the writer is the protagonist in a personal narrative, the author’s interaction with others is equally significant. To give the essay reality, the language serves to convey each character’s true personality and voice. At the same time, the author allows the characters to speak for themselves without interfering too much. The conversation also expresses the feelings of the characters and demonstrates how they connect with one another.

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It Shows, Not Tells

You must have been hearing this old piece of advice by your instructor while writing a descriptive essay: “Show, don’t tell.” Dialogue may be utilized to add authenticity to a personal narrative and to make the story more realistic by demonstrating rather than telling the reader what is going on. It reveals emotion and information through sensory aspects like seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, and tasting.

For example, consider the following sentence: “William was enraged after Oscar deceived him.” Rather, if the author preferred dialogue, he or she may write, “William walked around the room stomping his feet. ‘Ah! What right does he have to say that? How could he betray me like that?'” Without mentioning the word “angry,” the latter conveys fury through conversation.

It Moves the Essay Ahead

The purpose of dialogue in a narrative essay is to assist the plot’s progress by recreating people’s discussions and ideas. External conversation refers to spoken words, whereas internal dialogue refers to notions and ideas. One or both of these sorts of dialogues can be found in a personal narrative essay. The pace of the story can also be accelerated by using dialogue, while the narration slows it down. It can also be used to break up extended paragraphs of narrative.

How to Write Dialogue in a Narrative Essay?

Although composing dialogue might be difficult, proficient writing requires consistency and knowledge of convention. To organize your discussion on the page, follow these formatting principles.

Place Quotation Marks

Quotation marks are usually placed around direct dialogues when you write the exact words of someone within the content. However, make sure to place the period within the quotation marks.

Mark said, “let’s go shopping.”

Put Dialogue Tags Outside the Quotations

Dialogue tags assign a line of dialogue to one of the characters, that enables the reader to figure out who is delivering the dialogue. The dialogue tags should be placed outside the quotation marks, whereas the punctuation should be placed within.

“I’m starving,” Karen said.

However, if the dialogue tag comes in first, then the comma would be placed outside the quotation marks.

Karen said, “I’m starving.”

On the other hand, if there is an exclamation or question mark at the end of the dialogue, then it would be placed inside the quotation marks.

“I’m starving!” Karen said.

John asked, “Would you like to eat pizza?”

Begin Dialogue in a Separate Sentence

If an event takes place before or after the dialogue, make sure to begin it with a new sentence. Or, in other words, when you start a new dialogue after the description, start it from a separate sentence.

Adam immediately went out of the room and saw Carol.

“What are you doing here?” asked Carol.

Use Single Quote Marks When There is Dialogue within the Dialogue

If the character is saying something and delivering someone else’s dialogue within their dialogue, then you would use two quotation marks. One would be the inverted commas around the main dialogue and single quotation marks (apostrophe) around the internal dialogue.

Olivia suggested, “When you asked, ‘Which profession should I choose?’ the medical field instantly came to my mind.”

Use Lowercase When the Dialogue Interrupts

If an action or dialogue tag comes between a single dialogue and it is broken down into two segments, then the first letter of the second segment would be in lowercase.

“After tomorrow,” said James, “she will never come back.”

Avoid Adding Extra Punctuation Marks

If the dialogue ends with an ellipsis, you should not place any comma or other punctuation mark, instead of the three periods. Usually, ellipses are used to indicate faltering speech.

Jasmine was trying to recall the event, “I… I don’t remember what happened last night…”

So, we hope this article has answered a few questions. What is the purpose of dialogue in a narrative essay? How to write a dialogue in a narrative essay? Although we’ve all spent our lives reading, it’s not until we have to create a conversation that we comprehend the complexities involved. How do you decide where a dialogue tag should go? This is frequently an aesthetic decision rather than a clear and fast law. I frequently use the tag where it appears to be the least obtrusive. When a speaker tag is required, it should be as “transparent” as possible to avoid interfering with fluent reading.

For assistance with narrative essay writing , you can hire one of our writing experts by placing an order now. For more inquiries, you can contact us through WhatsApp or Live Chat!

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Narrative Essays

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What is a narrative essay?

When writing a narrative essay, one might think of it as telling a story. These essays are often anecdotal, experiential, and personal—allowing students to express themselves in a creative and, quite often, moving ways.

Here are some guidelines for writing a narrative essay.

• If written as a story, the essay should include all the parts of a story.

This means that you must include an introduction, plot, characters, setting, climax, and conclusion.

• When would a narrative essay not be written as a story?

A good example of this is when an instructor asks a student to write a book report. Obviously, this would not necessarily follow the pattern of a story and would focus on providing an informative narrative for the reader.

• The essay should have a purpose.

Make a point! Think of this as the thesis of your story. If there is no point to what you are narrating, why narrate it at all?

• The essay should be written from a clear point of view.

It is quite common for narrative essays to be written from the standpoint of the author; however, this is not the sole perspective to be considered. Creativity in narrative essays oftentimes manifests itself in the form of authorial perspective.

• Use clear and concise language throughout the essay.

Much like the descriptive essay, narrative essays are effective when the language is carefully, particularly, and artfully chosen. Use specific language to evoke specific emotions and senses in the reader.

• The use of the first person pronoun ‘I’ is welcomed.

Do not abuse this guideline! Though it is welcomed it is not necessary—nor should it be overused for lack of clearer diction.

• As always, be organized!

Have a clear introduction that sets the tone for the remainder of the essay. Do not leave the reader guessing about the purpose of your narrative. Remember, you are in control of the essay, so guide it where you desire (just make sure your audience can follow your lead).

• How It Works
• Essay Examples

How to Write Dialogue in an Essay

Knowing how to insert source materials into an essay is a central theme of academic writing. Sources can be cited to support your argument, expand it or even to be used to dissect a counter-argument and examine its validity.

This skill is so essential the rules of using quotation marks of when quoting texts are pounded into the student’s head. So much so you know when to quote a textual source and the reason to do so.

One of the areas many students struggle with is when or how they should use dialogue in an essay. A high number of essay writers don’t even know the difference between dialogue and quotes, let alone the correct punctuation surrounding it. The main reason it happens is because a large number of academic subjects focus solely on claim-based essays where dialogue is not used. This article will look at why dialogue can be so effective within a narrative essay and why. The topics discussed will be:

What is dialogue?

When do you use dialogue?

Why use dialogue?

How to write dialogue?

And Where you can find more information on this subject.

Dialogue: A definition

Dialogue is defined as a literary technique that writers use to depict a conversation between two or more people. Dialogue is a device that is employed in all kinds of fiction – movie, plays, books and can even be used in essays. It's important not to confuse dialogue with quotations from an outside source. Dialogue is largely made up to create a more visual, dramatic effect. Whereas direct quotes can be verified through citations.

Quotation marks are used with quoting from source as well as to mark dialogue in an essay but the conventions around the two change. As such, it is important to know the difference between the two.

Here is a small table that documents the main differences.

One of the biggest mistakes an essay writer makes is when they use dialogue as a direct quote. This mistake occurs as we are trained to use speech as direct quotes in claim-based essays. As we are trained to do this in the majority of our subjects, we don't know that we can use crafted narration and create dialogue in narrative essays to give them more weight. Due to this, we do not understand the conventions around its use or why to use it.

Dialogue: When to Use it.

Dialogue is a big part of the movies, television, novels, and plays. It is important to keep in mind that when it comes to essay writing, a dialogue only really appears in one type of essay – the narrative essay.

A narrative essay differs from most kinds of essay writing. Other types of essays often aim to make a claim about something. If we look at an argumentative essay , for example, it makes a claim that one point of view is right. And an expository essay will make claims about how a model or idea works. A narrative essay doesn't make claims like this. It is an essay that is used to relate stories and experience to the reader, and as such, it is much more story like in nature. These experiences include conversations the writer has had with other people.

Presenting conversations you had with friends as dialogue in an argumentative essay or expository piece wouldn’t do much to strengthen your argument and would undermine your creditability. It is better to use direct quotes from the source – even if it is spoken material. Direct quotes will be seen as the conventional norm as these types of essay expect the writer to be objective and scientific in their discussion.

Dialogue: Why do you use dialogue

Narrative essays use dialogue as a device – much like written fiction. They add depth, tension and character development to nonfiction writing. It also helps move the story along. As it is reported speech, you would be unlikely to remember all the details; so, you will have to recreate them from memory – remember to use the words, tones, and emotions that report it in the correct flavor. Readers will trust realistic dialogue that captures the situation.

Dialogue: How to format

This section will demonstrate the correct formatting conventions to use when inserting your dialogue into a narrative essay. This section will look at the correct usage of the quotation marks, and where to put other punctuation marks. This will be looking at the U.S rules of grammar – the formations and convention in other variants of English might differ.

Quotations Marks

There are three main rules that surround the usage of quotation marks:

Double quotation marks are used to signify that a person is using speech.

Example: - When I was young, my father warned me, “Look in both direction before you cross the road.”

Single quotation marks are used to mark quotes in quotes.

Example: - “I remember read Oscar Wilde’s quote ‘I can resist everything except temptation’ and feeling so inspired,” the creative writer coach said.

When dialogue extends across several paragraphs, use quotation marks at the start of each paragraph, but only use the closing quotation make when the speech ends.

Example: - Rupert nodded and said, "Yeah I think you're correct. If we lay the carpet before painting the ceiling, we'll need dust sheets.

But if we do the ceiling before laying the new carpet it should be fine.”

If the quote is at the end of a sentence, always put the full stop inside the quotation marks.

Incorrect: - The bus driver said, “This is your stop”.

Correct: - The bus driver said, “This is your stop.”

Question marks and exclamation should be placed inside the quotation mark if they apply to the person's speech.

Incorrect: - The boy screamed, “Watched out the ceiling is falling”!

Correct: - The boy screamed, “Watched out the ceiling is falling!”

When the quote is simply embedded in a larger sentence that is a question or exclamation the punctuation should be placed outside the speech marks.

Incorrect : -How did you feel when the newscaster said, “JFK had been shot?”

Correct: - How did you feel when the newscaster said, “JFK had been shot”?

If a speech tags fall before the quote use a comma before the quotation marks to separate them.

Incorrect: - My brother said “I’m telling mom that you stole the cookies from the jar.”

Correct: - My brother said, “I’m telling mom that you stole the cookies from the jar.”

If the speech tag comes after the quotation marks, then the coma should be placed in the speech marks

Incorrect: - “Just be back in time for tea” My mum warned me before I went to play.

Correct: - “Just be back in time for tea,” My mum warned me before I went to play.

When a sentence is interrupted with a speech tag, a comma should be placed after the first segment of speech and at the end of the speech tag.

Incorrect: - “No” Karen said wrinkling her nose in disgust “That’s just all kinds of wrong.”

Correct: - “No,” Karen said wrinkling her nose in disgust, “That’s just all kinds of wrong.”

It is important to learn how to use quotation marks and punctuation correctly. These rules act as a convention between reader and writer, and as such, using them will make your work easier to read and understand. Without following these rules, your dialogue might be confusing and messy to the reader, which means it will not convey the message you want it to.

Dialogue: Where to find more resources

Here is a collection of some great links that will aid you in crafting the perfect narrative essay , and making sure you get your dialogue quotation spot on. You’ll be writing an amazing narrative essay in no time at all.

• What Response Essays Are and How to Tackle Them
• Writing your Dissertation Results Section
• Proposal Essay Topics: How To Choose Them And How To Make Them Work In Your Paper
• How to Write an ApplyTexas Essay
• Synthesis Essay Topics

The Ultimate Narrative Essay Guide for Beginners

A narrative essay tells a story in chronological order, with an introduction that introduces the characters and sets the scene. Then a series of events leads to a climax or turning point, and finally a resolution or reflection on the experience.

Speaking of which, are you in sixes and sevens about narrative essays? Don’t worry this ultimate expert guide will wipe out all your doubts. So let’s get started.

Table of Contents

Everything You Need to Know About Narrative Essay

What is a narrative essay.

When you go through a narrative essay definition, you would know that a narrative essay purpose is to tell a story. It’s all about sharing an experience or event and is different from other types of essays because it’s more focused on how the event made you feel or what you learned from it, rather than just presenting facts or an argument. Let’s explore more details on this interesting write-up and get to know how to write a narrative essay.

Elements of a Narrative Essay

Here’s a breakdown of the key elements of a narrative essay:

A narrative essay has a beginning, middle, and end. It builds up tension and excitement and then wraps things up in a neat package.

Real people, including the writer, often feature in personal narratives. Details of the characters and their thoughts, feelings, and actions can help readers to relate to the tale.

It’s really important to know when and where something happened so we can get a good idea of the context. Going into detail about what it looks like helps the reader to really feel like they’re part of the story.

Conflict or Challenge 

A story in a narrative essay usually involves some kind of conflict or challenge that moves the plot along. It could be something inside the character, like a personal battle, or something from outside, like an issue they have to face in the world.

Theme or Message

A narrative essay isn’t just about recounting an event – it’s about showing the impact it had on you and what you took away from it. It’s an opportunity to share your thoughts and feelings about the experience, and how it changed your outlook.

Emotional Impact

The author is trying to make the story they’re telling relatable, engaging, and memorable by using language and storytelling to evoke feelings in whoever’s reading it.

Narrative essays let writers have a blast telling stories about their own lives. It’s an opportunity to share insights and impart wisdom, or just have some fun with the reader. Descriptive language, sensory details, dialogue, and a great narrative voice are all essentials for making the story come alive.

The Purpose of a Narrative Essay

A narrative essay is more than just a story – it’s a way to share a meaningful, engaging, and relatable experience with the reader. Includes:

Sharing Personal Experience

Narrative essays are a great way for writers to share their personal experiences, feelings, thoughts, and reflections. It’s an opportunity to connect with readers and make them feel something.

Entertainment and Engagement

The essay attempts to keep the reader interested by using descriptive language, storytelling elements, and a powerful voice. It attempts to pull them in and make them feel involved by creating suspense, mystery, or an emotional connection.

Conveying a Message or Insight

Narrative essays are more than just a story – they aim to teach you something. They usually have a moral lesson, a new understanding, or a realization about life that the author gained from the experience.

Building Empathy and Understanding

By telling their stories, people can give others insight into different perspectives, feelings, and situations. Sharing these tales can create compassion in the reader and help broaden their knowledge of different life experiences.

Inspiration and Motivation

Stories about personal struggles, successes, and transformations can be really encouraging to people who are going through similar situations. It can provide them with hope and guidance, and let them know that they’re not alone.

Reflecting on Life’s Significance

These essays usually make you think about the importance of certain moments in life or the impact of certain experiences. They make you look deep within yourself and ponder on the things you learned or how you changed because of those events.

Demonstrating Writing Skills

Coming up with a gripping narrative essay takes serious writing chops, like vivid descriptions, powerful language, timing, and organization. It’s an opportunity for writers to show off their story-telling abilities.

Preserving Personal History

Sometimes narrative essays are used to record experiences and special moments that have an emotional resonance. They can be used to preserve individual memories or for future generations to look back on.

Cultural and Societal Exploration

Personal stories can look at cultural or social aspects, giving us an insight into customs, opinions, or social interactions seen through someone’s own experience.

Format of a Narrative Essay

Narrative essays are quite flexible in terms of format, which allows the writer to tell a story in a creative and compelling way. Here’s a quick breakdown of the narrative essay format, along with some examples:

Introduction

Set the scene and introduce the story.

Engage the reader and establish the tone of the narrative.

Hook: Start with a captivating opening line to grab the reader’s attention. For instance:

Example:  “The scorching sun beat down on us as we trekked through the desert, our water supply dwindling.”

Background Information: Provide necessary context or background without giving away the entire story.

Example:  “It was the summer of 2015 when I embarked on a life-changing journey to…”

Thesis Statement or Narrative Purpose

Present the main idea or the central message of the essay.

Offer a glimpse of what the reader can expect from the narrative.

Thesis Statement: This isn’t as rigid as in other essays but can be a sentence summarizing the essence of the story.

Example:  “Little did I know, that seemingly ordinary hike would teach me invaluable lessons about resilience and friendship.”

Body Paragraphs

Present the sequence of events in chronological order.

Develop characters, setting, conflict, and resolution.

Story Progression : Describe events in the order they occurred, focusing on details that evoke emotions and create vivid imagery.

Example : Detail the trek through the desert, the challenges faced, interactions with fellow hikers, and the pivotal moments.

Character Development : Introduce characters and their roles in the story. Show their emotions, thoughts, and actions.

Example : Describe how each character reacted to the dwindling water supply and supported each other through adversity.

Dialogue and Interactions : Use dialogue to bring the story to life and reveal character personalities.

Example : “Sarah handed me her last bottle of water, saying, ‘We’re in this together.'”

Reach the peak of the story, the moment of highest tension or significance.

Turning Point: Highlight the most crucial moment or realization in the narrative.

Example:  “As the sun dipped below the horizon and hope seemed lost, a distant sound caught our attention—the rescue team’s helicopters.”

Provide closure to the story.

Reflect on the significance of the experience and its impact.

Reflection : Summarize the key lessons learned or insights gained from the experience.

Example : “That hike taught me the true meaning of resilience and the invaluable support of friendship in challenging times.”

Closing Thought : End with a memorable line that reinforces the narrative’s message or leaves a lasting impression.

Example : “As we boarded the helicopters, I knew this adventure would forever be etched in my heart.”

Example Summary:

Imagine a narrative about surviving a challenging hike through the desert, emphasizing the bonds formed and lessons learned. The narrative essay structure might look like starting with an engaging scene, narrating the hardships faced, showcasing the characters’ resilience, and culminating in a powerful realization about friendship and endurance.

Different Types of Narrative Essays

There are a bunch of different types of narrative essays – each one focuses on different elements of storytelling and has its own purpose. Here’s a breakdown of the narrative essay types and what they mean.

Personal Narrative

Description : Tells a personal story or experience from the writer’s life.

Purpose: Reflects on personal growth, lessons learned, or significant moments.

Example of Narrative Essay Types:

Topic : “The Day I Conquered My Fear of Public Speaking”

Focus: Details the experience, emotions, and eventual triumph over a fear of public speaking during a pivotal event.

Descriptive Narrative

Description : Emphasizes vivid details and sensory imagery.

Purpose : Creates a sensory experience, painting a vivid picture for the reader.

Topic : “A Walk Through the Enchanted Forest”

Focus : Paints a detailed picture of the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings experienced during a walk through a mystical forest.

Autobiographical Narrative

Description: Chronicles significant events or moments from the writer’s life.

Purpose: Provides insights into the writer’s life, experiences, and growth.

Topic: “Lessons from My Childhood: How My Grandmother Shaped Who I Am”

Focus: Explores pivotal moments and lessons learned from interactions with a significant family member.

Experiential Narrative

Description: Relays experiences beyond the writer’s personal life.

Purpose: Shares experiences, travels, or events from a broader perspective.

Topic: “Volunteering in a Remote Village: A Journey of Empathy”

Focus: Chronicles the writer’s volunteering experience, highlighting interactions with a community and personal growth.

Literary Narrative

Description: Incorporates literary elements like symbolism, allegory, or thematic explorations.

Purpose: Uses storytelling for deeper explorations of themes or concepts.

Topic: “The Symbolism of the Red Door: A Journey Through Change”

Focus: Uses a red door as a symbol, exploring its significance in the narrator’s life and the theme of transition.

Historical Narrative

Description: Recounts historical events or periods through a personal lens.

Purpose: Presents history through personal experiences or perspectives.

Topic: “A Grandfather’s Tales: Living Through the Great Depression”

Focus: Shares personal stories from a family member who lived through a historical era, offering insights into that period.

Digital or Multimedia Narrative

Description: Incorporates multimedia elements like images, videos, or audio to tell a story.

Purpose: Explores storytelling through various digital platforms or formats.

Topic: “A Travel Diary: Exploring Europe Through Vlogs”

Focus: Combines video clips, photos, and personal narration to document a travel experience.

How to Choose a Topic for Your Narrative Essay?

Selecting a compelling topic for your narrative essay is crucial as it sets the stage for your storytelling. Choosing a boring topic is one of the narrative essay mistakes to avoid . Here’s a detailed guide on how to choose the right topic:

Reflect on Personal Experiences

• Significant Moments:

Moments that had a profound impact on your life or shaped your perspective.

Example: A moment of triumph, overcoming a fear, a life-changing decision, or an unforgettable experience.

• Emotional Resonance:

Events that evoke strong emotions or feelings.

Example: Joy, fear, sadness, excitement, or moments of realization.

• Lessons Learned:

Experiences that taught you valuable lessons or brought about personal growth.

Example: Challenges that led to personal development, shifts in mindset, or newfound insights.

Explore Unique Perspectives

• Uncommon Experiences:

Unique or unconventional experiences that might captivate the reader’s interest.

Example: Unusual travels, interactions with different cultures, or uncommon hobbies.

• Different Points of View:

Stories from others’ perspectives that impacted you deeply.

Example: A family member’s story, a friend’s experience, or a historical event from a personal lens.

Focus on Specific Themes or Concepts

• Themes or Concepts of Interest:

Themes or ideas you want to explore through storytelling.

Example: Friendship, resilience, identity, cultural diversity, or personal transformation.

• Symbolism or Metaphor:

Using symbols or metaphors as the core of your narrative.

Example: Exploring the symbolism of an object or a place in relation to a broader theme.

Consider Your Audience and Purpose

• Relevance to Your Audience:

Topics that resonate with your audience’s interests or experiences.

Example: Choose a relatable theme or experience that your readers might connect with emotionally.

• Impact or Message:

What message or insight do you want to convey through your story?

Example: Choose a topic that aligns with the message or lesson you aim to impart to your readers.

Brainstorm and Evaluate Ideas

• Free Writing or Mind Mapping:

Process: Write down all potential ideas without filtering. Mind maps or free-writing exercises can help generate diverse ideas.

• Evaluate Feasibility:

The depth of the story, the availability of vivid details, and your personal connection to the topic.

Imagine you’re considering topics for a narrative essay. You reflect on your experiences and decide to explore the topic of “Overcoming Stage Fright: How a School Play Changed My Perspective.” This topic resonates because it involves a significant challenge you faced and the personal growth it brought about.

Narrative Essay Topics

50 easy narrative essay topics.

• Learning to Ride a Bike
• My First Day of School
• A Surprise Birthday Party
• The Day I Got Lost
• Visiting a Haunted House
• An Encounter with a Wild Animal
• My Favorite Childhood Toy
• The Best Vacation I Ever Had
• An Unforgettable Family Gathering
• Conquering a Fear of Heights
• A Special Gift I Received
• Moving to a New City
• The Most Memorable Meal
• Getting Caught in a Rainstorm
• An Act of Kindness I Witnessed
• The First Time I Cooked a Meal
• My Experience with a New Hobby
• The Day I Met My Best Friend
• A Hike in the Mountains
• Learning a New Language
• An Embarrassing Moment
• Dealing with a Bully
• My First Job Interview
• A Sporting Event I Attended
• The Scariest Dream I Had
• Helping a Stranger
• The Joy of Achieving a Goal
• A Road Trip Adventure
• Overcoming a Personal Challenge
• The Significance of a Family Tradition
• An Unusual Pet I Owned
• A Misunderstanding with a Friend
• Exploring an Abandoned Building
• My Favorite Book and Why
• The Impact of a Role Model
• A Cultural Celebration I Participated In
• A Valuable Lesson from a Teacher
• A Trip to the Zoo
• An Unplanned Adventure
• Volunteering Experience
• A Moment of Forgiveness
• A Decision I Regretted
• A Special Talent I Have
• The Importance of Family Traditions
• The Thrill of Performing on Stage
• A Moment of Sudden Inspiration
• The Meaning of Home
• Learning to Play a Musical Instrument
• A Childhood Memory at the Park
• Witnessing a Beautiful Sunset

Narrative Essay Topics for College Students

• Discovering a New Passion
• Overcoming Academic Challenges
• Navigating Cultural Differences
• Embracing Independence: Moving Away from Home
• Exploring Career Aspirations
• Coping with Stress in College
• The Impact of a Mentor in My Life
• Balancing Work and Studies
• Facing a Fear of Public Speaking
• Exploring a Semester Abroad
• The Evolution of My Study Habits
• Volunteering Experience That Changed My Perspective
• The Role of Technology in Education
• Finding Balance: Social Life vs. Academics
• Learning a New Skill Outside the Classroom
• Reflecting on Freshman Year Challenges
• The Joys and Struggles of Group Projects
• My Experience with Internship or Work Placement
• Challenges of Time Management in College
• Redefining Success Beyond Grades
• The Influence of Literature on My Thinking
• The Impact of Social Media on College Life
• Overcoming Procrastination
• Lessons from a Leadership Role
• Exploring Diversity on Campus
• Exploring Passion for Environmental Conservation
• An Eye-Opening Course That Changed My Perspective
• Living with Roommates: Challenges and Lessons
• The Significance of Extracurricular Activities
• The Influence of a Professor on My Academic Journey
• Discussing Mental Health in College
• The Evolution of My Career Goals
• Confronting Personal Biases Through Education
• The Experience of Attending a Conference or Symposium
• Challenges Faced by Non-Native English Speakers in College
• The Impact of Traveling During Breaks
• Exploring Identity: Cultural or Personal
• The Impact of Music or Art on My Life
• Addressing Diversity in the Classroom
• Exploring Entrepreneurial Ambitions
• My Experience with Research Projects
• Overcoming Impostor Syndrome in College
• The Importance of Networking in College
• Finding Resilience During Tough Times
• The Impact of Global Issues on Local Perspectives
• The Influence of Family Expectations on Education
• Lessons from a Part-Time Job
• Exploring the College Sports Culture
• The Role of Technology in Modern Education
• The Journey of Self-Discovery Through Education

Narrative Essay Comparison

Narrative essay vs. descriptive essay.

Here’s our first narrative essay comparison! While both narrative and descriptive essays focus on vividly portraying a subject or an event, they differ in their primary objectives and approaches. Now, let’s delve into the nuances of comparison on narrative essays.

Narrative Essay:

Storytelling: Focuses on narrating a personal experience or event.

Chronological Order: Follows a structured timeline of events to tell a story.

Message or Lesson: Often includes a central message, moral, or lesson learned from the experience.

Engagement: Aims to captivate the reader through a compelling storyline and character development.

First-Person Perspective: Typically narrated from the writer’s point of view, using “I” and expressing personal emotions and thoughts.

Plot Development: Emphasizes a plot with a beginning, middle, climax, and resolution.

Character Development: Focuses on describing characters, their interactions, emotions, and growth.

Conflict or Challenge: Usually involves a central conflict or challenge that drives the narrative forward.

Dialogue: Incorporates conversations to bring characters and their interactions to life.

Reflection: Concludes with reflection or insight gained from the experience.

Descriptive Essay:

Vivid Description: Aims to vividly depict a person, place, object, or event.

Imagery and Details: Focuses on sensory details to create a vivid image in the reader’s mind.

Emotion through Description: Uses descriptive language to evoke emotions and engage the reader’s senses.

Painting a Picture: Creates a sensory-rich description allowing the reader to visualize the subject.

Imagery and Sensory Details: Focuses on providing rich sensory descriptions, using vivid language and adjectives.

Point of Focus: Concentrates on describing a specific subject or scene in detail.

Spatial Organization: Often employs spatial organization to describe from one area or aspect to another.

Objective Observations: Typically avoids the use of personal opinions or emotions; instead, the focus remains on providing a detailed and objective description.

Comparison:

Focus: Narrative essays emphasize storytelling, while descriptive essays focus on vividly describing a subject or scene.

Perspective: Narrative essays are often written from a first-person perspective, while descriptive essays may use a more objective viewpoint.

Purpose: Narrative essays aim to convey a message or lesson through a story, while descriptive essays aim to paint a detailed picture for the reader without necessarily conveying a specific message.

Narrative Essay vs. Argumentative Essay

The narrative essay and the argumentative essay serve distinct purposes and employ different approaches:

Engagement and Emotion: Aims to captivate the reader through a compelling story.

Reflective: Often includes reflection on the significance of the experience or lessons learned.

First-Person Perspective: Typically narrated from the writer’s point of view, sharing personal emotions and thoughts.

Plot Development: Emphasizes a storyline with a beginning, middle, climax, and resolution.

Message or Lesson: Conveys a central message, moral, or insight derived from the experience.

Argumentative Essay:

Persuasion and Argumentation: Aims to persuade the reader to adopt the writer’s viewpoint on a specific topic.

Logical Reasoning: Presents evidence, facts, and reasoning to support a particular argument or stance.

Debate and Counterarguments: Acknowledge opposing views and counter them with evidence and reasoning.

Thesis Statement: Includes a clear thesis statement that outlines the writer’s position on the topic.

Thesis and Evidence: Starts with a strong thesis statement and supports it with factual evidence, statistics, expert opinions, or logical reasoning.

Counterarguments: Addresses opposing viewpoints and provides rebuttals with evidence.

Logical Structure: Follows a logical structure with an introduction, body paragraphs presenting arguments and evidence, and a conclusion reaffirming the thesis.

Formal Language: Uses formal language and avoids personal anecdotes or emotional appeals.

Objective: Argumentative essays focus on presenting a logical argument supported by evidence, while narrative essays prioritize storytelling and personal reflection.

Purpose: Argumentative essays aim to persuade and convince the reader of a particular viewpoint, while narrative essays aim to engage, entertain, and share personal experiences.

Structure: Narrative essays follow a storytelling structure with character development and plot, while argumentative essays follow a more formal, structured approach with logical arguments and evidence.

In essence, while both essays involve writing and presenting information, the narrative essay focuses on sharing a personal experience, whereas the argumentative essay aims to persuade the audience by presenting a well-supported argument.

Narrative Essay vs. Personal Essay

While there can be an overlap between narrative and personal essays, they have distinctive characteristics:

Storytelling: Emphasizes recounting a specific experience or event in a structured narrative form.

Engagement through Story: Aims to engage the reader through a compelling story with characters, plot, and a central theme or message.

Reflective: Often includes reflection on the significance of the experience and the lessons learned.

First-Person Perspective: Typically narrated from the writer’s viewpoint, expressing personal emotions and thoughts.

Plot Development: Focuses on developing a storyline with a clear beginning, middle, climax, and resolution.

Character Development: Includes descriptions of characters, their interactions, emotions, and growth.

Central Message: Conveys a central message, moral, or insight derived from the experience.

Personal Essay:

Exploration of Ideas or Themes: Explores personal ideas, opinions, or reflections on a particular topic or subject.

Expression of Thoughts and Opinions: Expresses the writer’s thoughts, feelings, and perspectives on a specific subject matter.

Reflection and Introspection: Often involves self-reflection and introspection on personal experiences, beliefs, or values.

Varied Structure and Content: Can encompass various forms, including memoirs, personal anecdotes, or reflections on life experiences.

Flexibility in Structure: Allows for diverse structures and forms based on the writer’s intent, which could be narrative-like or more reflective.

Theme-Centric Writing: Focuses on exploring a central theme or idea, with personal anecdotes or experiences supporting and illustrating the theme.

Expressive Language: Utilizes descriptive and expressive language to convey personal perspectives, emotions, and opinions.

Focus: Narrative essays primarily focus on storytelling through a structured narrative, while personal essays encompass a broader range of personal expression, which can include storytelling but isn’t limited to it.

Structure: Narrative essays have a more structured plot development with characters and a clear sequence of events, while personal essays might adopt various structures, focusing more on personal reflection, ideas, or themes.

Intent: While both involve personal experiences, narrative essays emphasize telling a story with a message or lesson learned, while personal essays aim to explore personal thoughts, feelings, or opinions on a broader range of topics or themes.

A narrative essay is more than just telling a story. It’s also meant to engage the reader, get them thinking, and leave a lasting impact. Whether it’s to amuse, motivate, teach, or reflect, these essays are a great way to communicate with your audience. This interesting narrative essay guide was all about letting you understand the narrative essay, its importance, and how can you write one.

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Narrative Writing: A Complete Guide for Teachers and Students

MASTERING THE CRAFT OF NARRATIVE WRITING

Narratives build on and encourage the development of the fundamentals of writing. They also require developing an additional skill set: the ability to tell a good yarn, and storytelling is as old as humanity.

We see and hear stories everywhere and daily, from having good gossip on the doorstep with a neighbor in the morning to the dramas that fill our screens in the evening.

Good narrative writing skills are hard-won by students even though it is an area of writing that most enjoy due to the creativity and freedom it offers.

Here we will explore some of the main elements of a good story: plot, setting, characters, conflict, climax, and resolution . And we will look too at how best we can help our students understand these elements, both in isolation and how they mesh together as a whole.

WHAT IS A NARRATIVE?

A narrative is a story that shares a sequence of events , characters, and themes. It expresses experiences, ideas, and perspectives that should aspire to engage and inspire an audience.

A narrative can spark emotion, encourage reflection, and convey meaning when done well.

Narratives are a popular genre for students and teachers as they allow the writer to share their imagination, creativity, skill, and understanding of nearly all elements of writing.  We occasionally refer to a narrative as ‘creative writing’ or story writing.

The purpose of a narrative is simple, to tell the audience a story.  It can be written to motivate, educate, or entertain and can be fact or fiction.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON TEACHING NARRATIVE WRITING

Teach your students to become skilled story writers with this HUGE   NARRATIVE & CREATIVE STORY WRITING UNIT . Offering a  COMPLETE SOLUTION  to teaching students how to craft  CREATIVE CHARACTERS, SUPERB SETTINGS, and PERFECT PLOTS .

Over 192 PAGES of materials, including:

TYPES OF NARRATIVE WRITING

There are many narrative writing genres and sub-genres such as these.

We have a complete guide to writing a personal narrative that differs from the traditional story-based narrative covered in this guide. It includes personal narrative writing prompts, resources, and examples and can be found here.

As we can see, narratives are an open-ended form of writing that allows you to showcase creativity in many directions. However, all narratives share a common set of features and structure known as “Story Elements”, which are briefly covered in this guide.

Don’t overlook the importance of understanding story elements and the value this adds to you as a writer who can dissect and create grand narratives. We also have an in-depth guide to understanding story elements here .

CHARACTERISTICS OF NARRATIVE WRITING

Narrative structure.

ORIENTATION (BEGINNING) Set the scene by introducing your characters, setting and time of the story. Establish your who, when and where in this part of your narrative

COMPLICATION AND EVENTS (MIDDLE) In this section activities and events involving your main characters are expanded upon. These events are written in a cohesive and fluent sequence.

RESOLUTION (ENDING) Your complication is resolved in this section. It does not have to be a happy outcome, however.

EXTRAS: Whilst orientation, complication and resolution are the agreed norms for a narrative, there are numerous examples of popular texts that did not explicitly follow this path exactly.

NARRATIVE FEATURES

LANGUAGE: Use descriptive and figurative language to paint images inside your audience’s minds as they read.

PERSPECTIVE Narratives can be written from any perspective but are most commonly written in first or third person.

DIALOGUE Narratives frequently switch from narrator to first-person dialogue. Always use speech marks when writing dialogue.

TENSE If you change tense, make it perfectly clear to your audience what is happening. Flashbacks might work well in your mind but make sure they translate to your audience.

THE PLOT MAP

This graphic is known as a plot map, and nearly all narratives fit this structure in one way or another, whether romance novels, science fiction or otherwise.

It is a simple tool that helps you understand and organise a story’s events. Think of it as a roadmap that outlines the journey of your characters and the events that unfold. It outlines the different stops along the way, such as the introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, that help you to see how the story builds and develops.

Using a plot map, you can see how each event fits into the larger picture and how the different parts of the story work together to create meaning. It’s a great way to visualize and analyze a story.

Be sure to refer to a plot map when planning a story, as it has all the essential elements of a great story.

THE 5 KEY STORY ELEMENTS OF A GREAT NARRATIVE (6-MINUTE TUTORIAL VIDEO)

This video we created provides an excellent overview of these elements and demonstrates them in action in stories we all know and love.

HOW TO WRITE A NARRATIVE

Now that we understand the story elements and how they come together to form stories, it’s time to start planning and writing your narrative.

In many cases, the template and guide below will provide enough details on how to craft a great story. However, if you still need assistance with the fundamentals of writing, such as sentence structure, paragraphs and using correct grammar, we have some excellent guides on those here.

USE YOUR WRITING TIME EFFECTIVELY: Maximize your narrative writing sessions by spending approximately 20 per cent of your time planning and preparing.  This ensures greater productivity during your writing time and keeps you focused and on task.

Use tools such as graphic organizers to logically sequence your narrative if you are not a confident story writer.  If you are working with reluctant writers, try using narrative writing prompts to get their creative juices flowing.

Spend most of your writing hour on the task at hand, don’t get too side-tracked editing during this time and leave some time for editing. When editing a  narrative, examine it for these three elements.

• Spelling and grammar ( Is it readable?)
• Story structure and continuity ( Does it make sense, and does it flow? )
• Character and plot analysis. (Are your characters engaging? Does your problem/resolution work? )

1. SETTING THE SCENE: THE WHERE AND THE WHEN

The story’s setting often answers two of the central questions in the story, namely, the where and the when. The answers to these two crucial questions will often be informed by the type of story the student is writing.

The story’s setting can be chosen to quickly orient the reader to the type of story they are reading. For example, a fictional narrative writing piece such as a horror story will often begin with a description of a haunted house on a hill or an abandoned asylum in the middle of the woods. If we start our story on a rocket ship hurtling through the cosmos on its space voyage to the Alpha Centauri star system, we can be reasonably sure that the story we are embarking on is a work of science fiction.

Such conventions are well-worn clichés true, but they can be helpful starting points for our novice novelists to make a start.

Having students choose an appropriate setting for the type of story they wish to write is an excellent exercise for our younger students. It leads naturally onto the next stage of story writing, which is creating suitable characters to populate this fictional world they have created. However, older or more advanced students may wish to play with the expectations of appropriate settings for their story. They may wish to do this for comic effect or in the interest of creating a more original story. For example, opening a story with a children’s birthday party does not usually set up the expectation of a horror story. Indeed, it may even lure the reader into a happy reverie as they remember their own happy birthday parties. This leaves them more vulnerable to the surprise element of the shocking action that lies ahead.

Once the students have chosen a setting for their story, they need to start writing. Little can be more terrifying to English students than the blank page and its bare whiteness stretching before them on the table like a merciless desert they must cross. Give them the kick-start they need by offering support through word banks or writing prompts. If the class is all writing a story based on the same theme, you may wish to compile a common word bank on the whiteboard as a prewriting activity. Write the central theme or genre in the middle of the board. Have students suggest words or phrases related to the theme and list them on the board.

You may wish to provide students with a copy of various writing prompts to get them started. While this may mean that many students’ stories will have the same beginning, they will most likely arrive at dramatically different endings via dramatically different routes.

A bargain is at the centre of the relationship between the writer and the reader. That bargain is that the reader promises to suspend their disbelief as long as the writer creates a consistent and convincing fictional reality. Creating a believable world for the fictional characters to inhabit requires the student to draw on convincing details. The best way of doing this is through writing that appeals to the senses. Have your student reflect deeply on the world that they are creating. What does it look like? Sound like? What does the food taste like there? How does it feel like to walk those imaginary streets, and what aromas beguile the nose as the main character winds their way through that conjured market?

Also, Consider the when; or the time period. Is it a future world where things are cleaner and more antiseptic? Or is it an overcrowded 16th-century London with human waste stinking up the streets? If students can create a multi-sensory installation in the reader’s mind, then they have done this part of their job well.

Popular Settings from Children’s Literature and Storytelling

• Fairytale Kingdom
• Magical Forest
• Village/town
• Underwater world
• Space/Alien planet

2. CASTING THE CHARACTERS: THE WHO

Now that your student has created a believable world, it is time to populate it with believable characters.

In short stories, these worlds mustn’t be overpopulated beyond what the student’s skill level can manage. Short stories usually only require one main character and a few secondary ones. Think of the short story more as a small-scale dramatic production in an intimate local theater than a Hollywood blockbuster on a grand scale. Too many characters will only confuse and become unwieldy with a canvas this size. Keep it simple!

Creating believable characters is often one of the most challenging aspects of narrative writing for students. Fortunately, we can do a few things to help students here. Sometimes it is helpful for students to model their characters on actual people they know. This can make things a little less daunting and taxing on the imagination. However, whether or not this is the case, writing brief background bios or descriptions of characters’ physical personality characteristics can be a beneficial prewriting activity. Students should give some in-depth consideration to the details of who their character is: How do they walk? What do they look like? Do they have any distinguishing features? A crooked nose? A limp? Bad breath? Small details such as these bring life and, therefore, believability to characters. Students can even cut pictures from magazines to put a face to their character and allow their imaginations to fill in the rest of the details.

Younger students will often dictate to the reader the nature of their characters. To improve their writing craft, students must know when to switch from story-telling mode to story-showing mode. This is particularly true when it comes to character. Encourage students to reveal their character’s personality through what they do rather than merely by lecturing the reader on the faults and virtues of the character’s personality. It might be a small relayed detail in the way they walk that reveals a core characteristic. For example, a character who walks with their head hanging low and shoulders hunched while avoiding eye contact has been revealed to be timid without the word once being mentioned. This is a much more artistic and well-crafted way of doing things and is less irritating for the reader. A character who sits down at the family dinner table immediately snatches up his fork and starts stuffing roast potatoes into his mouth before anyone else has even managed to sit down has revealed a tendency towards greed or gluttony.

Understanding Character Traits

Again, there is room here for some fun and profitable prewriting activities. Give students a list of character traits and have them describe a character doing something that reveals that trait without ever employing the word itself.

It is also essential to avoid adjective stuffing here. When looking at students’ early drafts, adjective stuffing is often apparent. To train the student out of this habit, choose an adjective and have the student rewrite the sentence to express this adjective through action rather than telling.

When writing a story, it is vital to consider the character’s traits and how they will impact the story’s events. For example, a character with a strong trait of determination may be more likely to overcome obstacles and persevere. In contrast, a character with a tendency towards laziness may struggle to achieve their goals. In short, character traits add realism, depth, and meaning to a story, making it more engaging and memorable for the reader.

Popular Character Traits in Children’s Stories

• Determination
• Imagination
• Perseverance
• Responsibility

We have an in-depth guide to creating great characters here , but most students should be fine to move on to planning their conflict and resolution.

3. NO PROBLEM? NO STORY! HOW CONFLICT DRIVES A NARRATIVE

This is often the area apprentice writers have the most difficulty with. Students must understand that without a problem or conflict, there is no story. The problem is the driving force of the action. Usually, in a short story, the problem will center around what the primary character wants to happen or, indeed, wants not to happen. It is the hurdle that must be overcome. It is in the struggle to overcome this hurdle that events happen.

Often when a student understands the need for a problem in a story, their completed work will still not be successful. This is because, often in life, problems remain unsolved. Hurdles are not always successfully overcome. Students pick up on this.

We often discuss problems with friends that will never be satisfactorily resolved one way or the other, and we accept this as a part of life. This is not usually the case with writing a story. Whether a character successfully overcomes his or her problem or is decidedly crushed in the process of trying is not as important as the fact that it will finally be resolved one way or the other.

A good practical exercise for students to get to grips with this is to provide copies of stories and have them identify the central problem or conflict in each through discussion. Familiar fables or fairy tales such as Three Little Pigs, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, Cinderella, etc., are great for this.

While it is true that stories often have more than one problem or that the hero or heroine is unsuccessful in their first attempt to solve a central problem, for beginning students and intermediate students, it is best to focus on a single problem, especially given the scope of story writing at this level. Over time students will develop their abilities to handle more complex plots and write accordingly.

Popular Conflicts found in Children’s Storytelling.

• Good vs evil
• Individual vs society
• Nature vs nurture
• Self vs others
• Man vs self
• Man vs nature
• Man vs technology
• Individual vs fate
• Self vs destiny

Conflict is the heart and soul of any good story. It’s what makes a story compelling and drives the plot forward. Without conflict, there is no story. Every great story has a struggle or a problem that needs to be solved, and that’s where conflict comes in. Conflict is what makes a story exciting and keeps the reader engaged. It creates tension and suspense and makes the reader care about the outcome.

Like in real life, conflict in a story is an opportunity for a character’s growth and transformation. It’s a chance for them to learn and evolve, making a story great. So next time stories are written in the classroom, remember that conflict is an essential ingredient, and without it, your story will lack the energy, excitement, and meaning that makes it truly memorable.

4. THE NARRATIVE CLIMAX: HOW THINGS COME TO A HEAD!

The climax of the story is the dramatic high point of the action. It is also when the struggles kicked off by the problem come to a head. The climax will ultimately decide whether the story will have a happy or tragic ending. In the climax, two opposing forces duke things out until the bitter (or sweet!) end. One force ultimately emerges triumphant. As the action builds throughout the story, suspense increases as the reader wonders which of these forces will win out. The climax is the release of this suspense.

Much of the success of the climax depends on how well the other elements of the story have been achieved. If the student has created a well-drawn and believable character that the reader can identify with and feel for, then the climax will be more powerful.

The nature of the problem is also essential as it determines what’s at stake in the climax. The problem must matter dearly to the main character if it matters at all to the reader.

Have students engage in discussions about their favorite movies and books. Have them think about the storyline and decide the most exciting parts. What was at stake at these moments? What happened in your body as you read or watched? Did you breathe faster? Or grip the cushion hard? Did your heart rate increase, or did you start to sweat? This is what a good climax does and what our students should strive to do in their stories.

The climax puts it all on the line and rolls the dice. Let the chips fall where the writer may…

Popular Climax themes in Children’s Stories

• A battle between good and evil
• The character’s bravery saves the day
• Character faces their fears and overcomes them
• The character solves a mystery or puzzle.
• The character stands up for what is right.
• Character reaches their goal or dream.
• The character learns a valuable lesson.
• The character makes a selfless sacrifice.
• The character makes a difficult decision.
• The character reunites with loved ones or finds true friendship.

5. RESOLUTION: TYING UP LOOSE ENDS

After the climactic action, a few questions will often remain unresolved for the reader, even if all the conflict has been resolved. The resolution is where those lingering questions will be answered. The resolution in a short story may only be a brief paragraph or two. But, in most cases, it will still be necessary to include an ending immediately after the climax can feel too abrupt and leave the reader feeling unfulfilled.

An easy way to explain resolution to students struggling to grasp the concept is to point to the traditional resolution of fairy tales, the “And they all lived happily ever after” ending. This weather forecast for the future allows the reader to take their leave. Have the student consider the emotions they want to leave the reader with when crafting their resolution.

While the action is usually complete by the end of the climax, it is in the resolution that if there is a twist to be found, it will appear – think of movies such as The Usual Suspects. Pulling this off convincingly usually requires considerable skill from a student writer. Still, it may well form a challenging extension exercise for those more gifted storytellers among your students.

Popular Resolutions in Children’s Stories

• Our hero achieves their goal
• The character learns a valuable lesson
• A character finds happiness or inner peace.
• The character reunites with loved ones.
• Character restores balance to the world.
• The character discovers their true identity.
• Character changes for the better.
• The character gains wisdom or understanding.
• Character makes amends with others.
• The character learns to appreciate what they have.

Once students have completed their story, they can edit for grammar, vocabulary choice, spelling, etc., but not before!

As mentioned, there is a craft to storytelling, as well as an art. When accurate grammar, perfect spelling, and immaculate sentence structures are pushed at the outset, they can cause storytelling paralysis. For this reason, it is essential that when we encourage the students to write a story, we give them license to make mechanical mistakes in their use of language that they can work on and fix later.

Good narrative writing is a very complex skill to develop and will take the student years to become competent. It challenges not only the student’s technical abilities with language but also her creative faculties. Writing frames, word banks, mind maps, and visual prompts can all give valuable support as students develop the wide-ranging and challenging skills required to produce a successful narrative writing piece. But, at the end of it all, as with any craft, practice and more practice is at the heart of the matter.

TIPS FOR WRITING A GREAT NARRATIVE

• Start your story with a clear purpose: If you can determine the theme or message you want to convey in your narrative before starting it will make the writing process so much simpler.
• Choose a compelling storyline and sell it through great characters, setting and plot: Consider a unique or interesting story that captures the reader’s attention, then build the world and characters around it.
• Develop vivid characters that are not all the same: Make your characters relatable and memorable by giving them distinct personalities and traits you can draw upon in the plot.
• Use descriptive language to hook your audience into your story: Use sensory language to paint vivid images and sequences in the reader’s mind.
• Show, don’t tell your audience: Use actions, thoughts, and dialogue to reveal character motivations and emotions through storytelling.
• Create a vivid setting that is clear to your audience before getting too far into the plot: Describe the time and place of your story to immerse the reader fully.
• Build tension: Refer to the story map earlier in this article and use conflict, obstacles, and suspense to keep the audience engaged and invested in your narrative.
• Use figurative language such as metaphors, similes, and other literary devices to add depth and meaning to your narrative.
• Edit, revise, and refine: Take the time to refine and polish your writing for clarity and impact.
• Stay true to your voice: Maintain your unique perspective and style in your writing to make it your own.

NARRATIVE WRITING EXAMPLES (Student Writing Samples)

Below are a collection of student writing samples of narratives.  Click on the image to enlarge and explore them in greater detail.  Please take a moment to read these creative stories in detail and the teacher and student guides which highlight some of the critical elements of narratives to consider before writing.

Please understand these student writing samples are not intended to be perfect examples for each age or grade level but a piece of writing for students and teachers to explore together to critically analyze to improve student writing skills and deepen their understanding of story writing.

We recommend reading the example either a year above or below, as well as the grade you are currently working with, to gain a broader appreciation of this text type.

NARRATIVE WRITING PROMPTS (Journal Prompts)

When students have a great journal prompt, it can help them focus on the task at hand, so be sure to view our vast collection of visual writing prompts for various text types here or use some of these.

• On a recent European trip, you find your travel group booked into the stunning and mysterious Castle Frankenfurter for a single night…  As night falls, the massive castle of over one hundred rooms seems to creak and groan as a series of unexplained events begin to make you wonder who or what else is spending the evening with you. Write a narrative that tells the story of your evening.
• You are a famous adventurer who has discovered new lands; keep a travel log over a period of time in which you encounter new and exciting adventures and challenges to overcome.  Ensure your travel journal tells a story and has a definite introduction, conflict and resolution.
• You create an incredible piece of technology that has the capacity to change the world.  As you sit back and marvel at your innovation and the endless possibilities ahead of you, it becomes apparent there are a few problems you didn’t really consider. You might not even be able to control them.  Write a narrative in which you ride the highs and lows of your world-changing creation with a clear introduction, conflict and resolution.
• As the final door shuts on the Megamall, you realise you have done it…  You and your best friend have managed to sneak into the largest shopping centre in town and have the entire place to yourselves until 7 am tomorrow.  There is literally everything and anything a child would dream of entertaining themselves for the next 12 hours.  What amazing adventures await you?  What might go wrong?  And how will you get out of there scot-free?
• A stranger walks into town…  Whilst appearing similar to almost all those around you, you get a sense that this person is from another time, space or dimension… Are they friends or foes?  What makes you sense something very strange is going on?   Suddenly they stand up and walk toward you with purpose extending their hand… It’s almost as if they were reading your mind.

NARRATIVE WRITING VIDEO TUTORIAL

Teaching Resources

Use our resources and tools to improve your student’s writing skills through proven teaching strategies.

When teaching narrative writing, it is essential that you have a range of tools, strategies and resources at your disposal to ensure you get the most out of your writing time.  You can find some examples below, which are free and paid premium resources you can use instantly without any preparation.

FREE Narrative Graphic Organizer

THE STORY TELLERS BUNDLE OF TEACHING RESOURCES

A MASSIVE COLLECTION of resources for narratives and story writing in the classroom covering all elements of crafting amazing stories. MONTHS WORTH OF WRITING LESSONS AND RESOURCES, including:

NARRATIVE WRITING CHECKLIST BUNDLE

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (92 Reviews)

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How to Start a Narrative Essay: Engaging Techniques for a Strong Opening

By: Author Paul Jenkins

Posted on May 27, 2024

Categories Education , Writing

Crafting the beginning of a narrative essay sets the stage for the story you’re about to tell.

It requires choosing an engaging topic, which can be personal, fictional, or even autobiographical, and embedding a tone that captures and holds your reader’s attention.

An impactful introduction plays the crucial role of providing a glimpse into the setting, characters, and the overarching theme without giving away the entire plot.

Establishing the right narrative structure is fundamental, as a clear sequence of events maintains reader interest and drives the essay forward.

Incorporating dialogue and various literary devices enhances the vividness of a narrative essay, allowing characters to come to life.

Writing a narrative essay is about telling a story that is compelling, coherent, and leaves a lasting impression on its audience.

Key Takeaways

• The introduction of a narrative essay must captivate and set the premise for the story.
• Effective storytelling in essays involves clarity, engagement, and a thorough narrative structure.
• Revision and proofreading are essential processes in ensuring a polished final essay.

Introduction

When embarking on the crafting of a narrative essay , the introduction serves as the pivotal gateway for the reader .

It is the part of the essay where a writer has the opportunity to seize the reader’s attention and set the tone for the narrative that unfolds.

This section should encompass the beginning of the story arc while introducing the central theme in a manner that is both engaging and informative.

To captivate the reader , employ a hook —an intriguing opening line or an evocative question.

This hook could take the form of a striking statement, a vivid description, or a compelling anecdote. The goal is to pique curiosity and encourage further reading.

Structure of the Introduction:

• Example : Start with a dialogue or a pivotal moment.
• Example : Introduce the main characters and setting briefly.
• Example : Foreshadow the core conflict or challenge.

The introduction should not only hook but also smoothly transition to the middle of the essay where the main events take place.

It must ensure a coherent flow towards the eventual end of the narrative, completing the story arc in a satisfying manner.

The art of beginning a narrative essay lies in striking a balance— capturing attention and laying the groundwork for the story to come.

The author is the architect of this delicate opening, designing it to be both alluring and informative, setting the stage for the narrative adventure.

Selecting a Topic and Setting the Tone

Before starting a narrative essay, one must select a topic that resonates with their personal experiences and decide upon the tone that will carry the narrative forward. These aspects set the foundation for a compelling essay.

Brainstorming Ideas

Brainstorming is a critical step for unlocking creative themes and potential essay topics .

Using methods such as mind maps or lists can help one to visually organize their thoughts and find connections between them.

Writers should consider prompts that inspire them and reflect on personal experiences for authentic and engaging stories.

• List past experiences related to the essay’s purpose
• Utilize prompt guidelines to steer the brainstorming process
• Develop a mind map to explore different angles of a potential topic

Deciding on the Narrative’s Tone

The tone of a narrative essay shapes the reader’s perception and can vary from humorous to solemn. It should align with the theme and the writer’s intent.

When a writer has selected a topic , they must consider the emotional atmosphere they wish to create.

They ought to ask themselves what response they want to evoke in the reader.

Crafting a Compelling Opening

The beginning of a narrative essay sets the trajectory for the reader’s journey. It’s crucial to engage your audience with a powerful hook and a vivid setting.

Using a Hook

A narrative essay benefits from a hook that grabs the reader’s attention from the first sentence.

This could be a provocative question , a surprising fact , or an intriguing quote from a character.

For instance, opening with a rhetorical question invites the reader to ponder and engage directly with the essay’s theme.

Alternatively, a shocking statement can create immediate intrigue or conflict that compels the reader to continue.

• Question : “Have you ever wondered where fear comes from?”
• Quote : She whispered, “Dreams have a way of making a heart speak.”
• Shocking Statement : They never told him that the price of his dreams would be his nightmares.

Setting the Scene

Establishing the scene is about more than just describing a location. It involves introducing the characters, the ambiance, and the time frame, which provides context and grounds the narrative.

Utilizing a first-person perspective can create intimacy, which can be a powerful way to immerse readers in the essay’s universe.

Detailed descriptions enable the audience to visualize the setting and form a connection with the characters.

Developing the Narrative Structure

When creating a narrative essay, it’s crucial to construct a clear and coherent narrative structure . This ensures that the plot unfolds in a deliberate manner, maintains the reader’s interest through controlled pace and suspense, and delivers a satisfying resolution.

Outlining the Plot

An effective narrative essay begins with a detailed outline .

This provides a framework to organize events in a logical sequence while addressing essential elements of the narrative such as conflict , climax , and resolution .

The plot should be outlined as follows:

• Exposition : Introduce characters, setting, and background.
• Rising Action : Develop the conflict or challenges that propel the story.
• Climax : Bring the story to a turning point with the highest level of tension.
• Falling Action : Resolve the tensions and lead toward the closure.
• Resolution : Provide a satisfying conclusion to the story.

Carefully planning these elements enables the writer to maintain chronological order or apply a non-linear storytelling technique effectively.

Establishing Pace and Building Suspense

Manipulating the pace of a narrative essay is key to building suspense . Key strategies include:

• Vary sentence length : Short, sharp sentences can accelerate pace, while longer ones can slow it down.
• Timing of revelations : Disclose information at strategic points to keep readers intrigued.
• Use of details : Descriptive details can create an atmosphere that heightens anticipation or foreboding.

By considering how each event impacts the tension of the narrative, writers can deftly control pace to emphasize the suspense leading up to the climax .

The writer’s goal should be to guide the reader through a roller coaster of emotions, culminating in a memorable impact.

Describing Characters and Setting

To captivate readers from the start, a narrative essay needs to paint a picture of its characters and setting in vivid detail. This section will cover how to craft characters that feel alive and create a setting that immerses readers in your story’s world.

Crafting Vivid Characters

Character creation begins with descriptive language that outlines key traits and qualities.

First, consider their physical appearance, incorporating details like hair color, posture, and clothing, which can imply personality without stating it directly.

For example, a character with scruffy clothes and untamed hair might suggest a carefree or rugged lifestyle.

It’s also essential to include dialogue that reflects their unique voice, which can reveal their education level, background, and temperament.

Writers often use first-person or third-person perspectives to provide insight into thoughts and motivations, enriching the reader’s understanding of characters’ complexities.

Utilize personal anecdotes and figurative language , such as similes or subtle metaphors, to create memorable impressions of characters.

Creating an Immersive Setting

An immersive setting draws readers into the world where the narrative unfolds.

Begin by pinpointing the time period and location , whether it’s a modern city or a historical backdrop.

Use descriptive language to highlight sensory details like sounds, smells, and textures.

For instance, describing an urban setting might include the cacophony of city traffic and the aroma of street food .

Integrate vivid details that evoke the atmosphere, perhaps contrasting the warmth of a soft blanket against the chill of a dimly lit room.

Employing figurative language aids in connecting readers emotionally to the space, whether it’s through a simile describing the oppressive heat of a room as “like being wrapped in a thick blanket” or a metaphor likening the forest’s silence to a deserted cathedral.

Incorporating dialogue can also reveal the setting, such as characters commenting on their environment or reacting to changes around them.

Conveying the Theme and Message

When composing a narrative essay, the theme should serve as the compass guiding every paragraph. An effective theme is both universal and personal, resonating with the reader while offering insight into the writer’s unique perspective. It is essentially the main idea or moral of the story.

Message in narrative essays translates the writer’s personal statement and central argument into the fabric of the narrative.

As one constructs the narrative, it’s crucial to interweave the message subtly yet consistently to keep the reader engaged and impart the intended lesson.

To effectively communicate the message and theme, an author can employ various literary devices with symbolism being particularly potent. For example:

• A character’s journey may represent life’s challenges.
• Objects can hold significant meaning, enlightening the reader about the narrative’s deeper layers.

Literature is ripe with examples where authors seamlessly blend theme and message, making both an inseparable part of the reader’s experience. Writers should aspire to this balance, ensuring that neither overwhelms the other, but instead, they complement each other to enhance the story.

Writers should consider the following points:

• Identify the core: What is the heart of the story?
• Consistency is key: The theme should be evident throughout the narrative.
• Subtlety in delivery: Overstating the theme can be jarring.

Writing Body Paragraphs

When constructing the body paragraphs of a narrative essay, the writer must focus on advancing the story while ensuring emotional resonance and factual accuracy.

The narrative should unfold from one paragraph to the next with a clear purpose in support of the central theme.

Building the Narrative

The body paragraphs serve as the building blocks of the narrative essay. They should each contribute a unique scene or idea, while still connecting smoothly to form a cohesive story.

A reliable technique is to provide compelling facts and details that breathe life into the narrative.

This can be achieved by implementing a first-person point of view that adds personal depth, making the narrative more immersive.

For example, if the paragraph describes an event, the writer should include sensory details:

• Sight : “As the sunrise painted the sky in hues of gold and pink…”
• Sound : “The rustling leaves whispered secrets of the forest…”

Creating Emotional Impact

Emotion is the heartbeat of a narrative essay, and body paragraphs should evoke feelings that are fitting for the story’s events.

The writer’s choice of words and the rhythm of sentences can significantly influence the reader’s emotional experience.

For instance, short, abrupt sentences can create tension or surprise, while longer, flowing sentences may establish a serene or nostalgic mood.

A sentence like “She watched the last train leave, a heavyweight of loss settling on her shoulders,” can encapsulate a profound emotional moment within a paragraph.

Incorporating Dialogue and Literary Devices

In narrative essays, dialogue serves as a powerful tool to enhance storytelling. Not only does it develop characters and move the plot, but it also grants readers access to the characters’ thoughts and emotions.

Effective dialogue should mirror authentic speech yet remain concise and purposeful.

Literary devices deepen the reader’s experience. For instance, metaphors create vivid imagery by making indirect comparisons, which enrich the narrative and offer deeper insights.

A metaphor, such as “life is a journey,” symbolizes the comparison without using “like” or “as,” as one would with a simile.

A descriptive essay utilizes a variety of literary devices.

One such device, the anecdote , grounds the reader in a specific moment, often used at the beginning of the essay to hook the reader’s interest. An anecdote might describe a brief, impactful moment that sets the stage for the main narrative.

Additionally, comparisons —such as analogies and similes—help to clarify and relate experiences to the reader, often leading to a better understanding and connection with the essay’s themes.

Fostering Engagement and Empathy

When starting a narrative essay, the writer’s goal is to engage the audience by creating an emotional connection. To achieve this, they should consider integrating elements of empathy that resonate with readers.

• Personal Stories : These are powerful tools. A relatable personal story can immediately draw readers in, making them invested in the outcomes and challenges faced by the characters.
• Hardships and Resilience : Describing obstacles and the character’s resilience encourages readers to empathize. They should see the struggles as part of a shared human experience.

Writers can cultivate empathy by allowing their audience to walk in the shoes of the protagonist. This connection is deepened when they:

• Use descriptive language to paint a vivid picture of the character’s situation.
• Share inner thoughts and emotions to showcase the character’s humanity and vulnerability.

Finally, it is crucial to maintain a neutral and clear voice. Over-dramatization can alienate readers, while a well-crafted narrative stirs genuine emotion.

Concluding the Narrative Essay

In completing a narrative essay, one must ensure that the conclusion reaffirms the essay’s core theme and leaves the reader with a sense of resolution and reflection.

Bringing Closure to the Story

A successful conclusion serves as the final piece of the narrative puzzle. It should not introduce new information but instead, connect back to the essay’s main message or theme.

This can be achieved with:

• Summarization of Key Points : Briefly recap the primary events to remind the reader of the journey.
• Reiteration of the Theme : Clearly express how the events reinforce the central theme of the narrative.

When one wraps up their story, clarity and consistency with the established narrative are crucial to avoid confusing their audience.

Reflecting on the Journey

The conclusion is where one can offer reflection, illuminating how the narrative journey has influenced characters or the writer themselves.

Reflection should focus on:

Growth or Change :

• Discuss how characters have evolved or what lessons they may have learned.
• Illustrate the success or transformation to underscore the narrative’s impact.

Personal or Broader Implications :

• Share insights on how the story’s events extend beyond the narrative to resonate with a larger truth or societal message.

Revising and Proofreading

Revising and proofreading are critical final steps in the essay writing process. They fine-tune one’s writing skills and ensure that the narrative essay conveys its message effectively and clearly.

Revising involves evaluating the overall structure, content, and flow of the essay.

Writers should check if the story is complete, engaging, and makes a point.

They should consider the following aspects:

• Organization : Does the essay follow a logical order?
• Clarity : Are the ideas clear and well-explained?
• Consistency : Are the characters and settings consistent throughout?

Proofreading is the last step and focuses on correcting grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors.

It’s essential to carefully comb through every line to catch and rectify mistakes that could detract from the essay’s professionalism.

Tips for effective proofreading:

• Take a break after revising to approach the essay with fresh eyes.
• Read aloud to identify awkward phrasing or errors that might be missed when reading silently.
• Use digital tools, but still do a manual check, as tools may not catch everything.

Incorporating feedback from peers can be invaluable for both revising and proofreading.

Fresh perspectives can help identify areas for improvement that the writer might overlook.

Revising and proofreading should not be rushed.

They require time and attention to detail to elevate the quality of the narrative essay.

Remember, these steps may seem demanding, but they are crucial in refining writing skills and producing a polished, publishable narrative essay.

Differences from Other Essay Types

When writing an essay, it’s important to understand how the goal and structure differ among various types. A narrative essay’s primary purpose is to tell a story, in contrast to other types which aim to describe, argue, or explain.

Narrative vs. Descriptive Essays

Narrative Essays :

• Purpose : To tell a chronological story with a clear point.
• Structure : Includes characters, a setting, a climax, and a resolution.

Descriptive Essays :

• Purpose : To create a vivid image of a person, place, thing, or event.
• Structure : Focuses on sensory details without necessarily following a chronological order.

In narrative essays, the chronological flow is central, while descriptive essays do not require a story’s progression but rather elaborate on details to paint a picture.

Narrative vs. Argumentative Essays

• Focus : Shares a personal experience or story.
• Perspective : Can be subjective, offering a personal viewpoint.

Argumentative Essays :

• Focus : Presents a position on an issue with supporting arguments.
• Evidence : Utilizes facts, data, and logical reasoning to persuade.

Unlike narrative essays, argumentative essays advance a thesis through well-substantiated arguments, aiming to convince the reader of a particular stance.

Narrative vs. Expository Essays

• Approach : Utilizes storytelling elements to convey a narrative.
• Connection : Engages emotions and personal connections.

Expository Essays :

• Approach : Provides information or explains a topic in a structured manner.
• Connection : Focused on delivering facts and logical explanations.

Expository essays are informational and rely less on an emotional connection with the audience, as opposed to the more personal and emotionally driven narratives.

Adhering to Essay Requirements

When a student begins a narrative essay, understanding and following the specific requirements is crucial. Whether for high school assignments or college essays , including those for the Common App , the format and guidelines are the foundation for a well-structured essay.

High School Requirements:

• Narrative essays typically adhere to a standard five-paragraph format , consisting of an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
• The emphasis is usually on creative writing and storytelling.

College Essay Considerations:

• College applications may have more specific prompts and a focus on personal reflection.
• Colleges often require adherence to style guides such as APA, MLA, or Chicago.

Common App Instructions:

• Essays should recount a student’s personal experiences, detailing how they have grown or overcome obstacles.
• The narrative must fit within the stated word count, typically 250-650 words.

Formatting Tips:

• Use clear, legible fonts like Times New Roman or Arial, sized to 12 pt.
• Double-space text to improve readability.

Students should always review the essay prompt thoroughly and consider any provided rubrics or examples, which outline the expected criteria for the narrative.

One should never underestimate the importance of editing and proofreading; even minor formatting errors can detract from the content’s impact.

Tips for First-Time Writers

When first-time writers approach a narrative essay, they should focus on cultivating a habit that encourages writing exercises to strengthen their creative muscles .

• Begin with Brainstorming : Allocate time to ponder different life experiences, which can be employed as the backbone of a narrative essay. These reflections assist in finding a meaningful topic.
• Outline Your Story : Constructing an outline helps in organizing thoughts methodically. It serves as a roadmap and ensures the narrative includes a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Persistence is Key : Novice writers must remember that perseverance in the face of challenges is crucial.

• Seek Feedback : Whether from peers or an instructor , constructive criticism can be invaluable. They offer fresh perspectives that can enhance the essay’s clarity and impact.
• Read and Analyze : Studying well-crafted narrative essays can serve as a great educational tool. One can learn a lot about pacing, character development, and dialogue.

Incorporating these tips, first-time writers can navigate the nuances of a narrative essay more effectively, creating engaging and clear stories imbued with personal flair and authenticity.

Advanced Techniques in Narrative Essays

In the crafting of narrative essays, writers can employ a repertoire of advanced techniques to enhance the storytelling experience.

One of the key elements is the strategic use of literary devices .

Metaphors, similes, and personification add depth to the narrative, allowing readers to connect on a more emotional level.

Writers may also integrate dialogue, carefully punctuated with action, to bring characters to life.

An effective narrative essay outline includes a climax , the pinnacle of tension or conflict upon which the story turns.

Building up to this zenith with escalating events not only hooks the reader but also paves the way for a satisfying resolution.

In the realm of details , specificity is crucial.

Rather than broad brushstrokes, successful narratives zoom in on the small, peculiarities that render scenes vivid.

The smell of rain on pavement, the stutter in a character’s speech, and the particular shade of twilight are the types of details that create authenticity.

Leveraging Personal Challenges

Leveraging personal challenges in a narrative essay can powerfully showcase resilience and personal growth. A writer may choose to share insights on how they’ve navigated through a difficult time, providing a rich backdrop for a compelling story.

Selecting the Right Challenge: It is crucial to pick a personal hurdle that has significantly impacted one’s life.

This could be a setback , failure , injury , or a difficult situation where a passion was put to the test.

The chosen challenge should serve as a catalyst for growth or change, revealing the individual’s capacity to adapt and persevere.

• Setbacks can demonstrate tenacity.
• Failures offer a path to introspection and improvement.
• Injuries might highlight physical and mental recovery and determination.
• A stifled passion can illustrate the process of overcoming barriers to pursue a dream.

Incorporating the Challenge: When writing about personal challenges, the essay should start with a clear depiction of the issue.

He or she should employ vivid descriptions that paint a picture of the circumstances surrounding the challenge. This creates empathy and allows the reader to understand the gravity of the situation.

For example:

• The exact moment an injury occurred during a pivotal game.
• The intense emotions felt after a significant failure or setback .

Transition to Overcoming: The narrative should smoothly transition from the challenge itself to the actions taken to overcome it.

This includes the steps the individual took, the resources they capitalized on, and the support systems they leaned on. Throughout this journey, the internal transformation should become evident.

Reflection on Growth: Finally, reflecting on how the challenge was pivotal in shaping one’s character is essential.

It should illustrate what was learned, how the individual changed, and how they have since applied that knowledge or strength in other areas of life. This reflection conveys the resilience and adaptability that personal challenges can foster.

Incorporating Historical Narratives

Incorporating historical narratives into a narrative essay enriches the content, offering readers a bridge to the past through vivid storytelling.

To effectively integrate historical narratives, an essay writer must follow several key steps:

Choose Relevant History : Select a historical period or event that aligns with the essay’s theme. It should enhance the story, not detract from the narrative’s primary focus.

Research Thoroughly : Gather accurate details from reliable sources, such as historical archives, to lend authenticity to the narrative.

Create a Connection : Clearly draw lines between the historical context and the personal story. Explain the chosen history’s impact on the events or the individual experience being described.

Balance Story and Fact : Ensure the historical narrative does not overshadow the personal narrative. Use historical elements to support the story rather than overwhelm it.

Depict with Sensitivity : When handling delicate historical subjects, one must approach them with sensitivity and respect for the people and cultures involved.

Crafting Compelling Sentences: 21 Narrative Sentence Examples from Stories, Poems, and Novels

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As writers and teachers of writing, we’re well acquainted with the four types of sentences: declarative, imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory. But what about narrative sentences? Where do they fit into this catalog of options? In this post, we’ll look at the definition of narrative sentences and discuss the many places you’ll find them. We’ll also dig into some epic narrative poems, short stories and novels to highlight 21 narrative sentence examples. 

Please note: This article contains spoilers for the following books and stories:

• Lessons in Chemistry , Bonnie Garmus
• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader , C.S. Lewis 
• Jane Eyre , Charlotte Brontë
• A Rose for Emily , William Faulkner
• Don Quixote , Miguel de Cervantes
• The Story of an Hour , Kate Chopin
• ​ The Destructors , Graham Greene
• The Maltese Falcon , Dashiell Hammett
• The Last Thing He Told Me , Laura Dave

Definition of Narrative Sentences

Importance of narrative sentences in storytelling, types of narratives, narrative structure, descriptive narrative sentence examples, examples of action-oriented narrative sentences, examples of dialogue-based narrative sentences.

The word narrative comes from the French narratif/narrative, which in turn is derived from the late Latin word narrativus:  telling a story . Fittingly, a narrative is an account of a connected series of events, that is, what we typically think of as a story. Whether the account is documented in prose or poetry or passed down through oral storytelling, it is still a narrative. 

Narrative writing is any writing that tells a story, whether it’s fictional or true. Unlike expository and argumentative writing, which aim to explain and persuade, narrative writing seeks to entertain, engage, and inspire readers (among other objectives). While descriptive writing stands on its own as a rhetorical mode, it is also usually included in narrative writing as a way of helping readers visualize the people, places, and events of the narrative. 

A narrative sentence, then, is broadly defined as any sentence that makes up part of a story. 

In particular, we will focus in this post on narrative sentences that contribute to the development of the basic narrative elements such as plot, characters, conflict, theme, and setting through description, action, and dialogue. 

How authors form their narrative sentences has a substantial impact on the overall effect of the story. Engagement, tension, organization, and interest all depend on the narrative choices writers make. Here are a few ways in which narrative sentences improve storytelling. 

Plot:  The flow and quality of a story’s sentences are instrumental in capturing the readers’ interest in the story’s plot and maintaining a high engagement level. Across all the different genres, tenses, and perspectives, writers depend on the efficacy of their sentences to develop emotional connections and attract the audience’s investment in the story. The structure of the plot also helps readers buy into the story and keep track of what’s happening. Well-crafted sentences propel tension, suspense, and excitement.

Characters:  Authors reveal characters through their words, thoughts, and actions as well as through the eyes of other characters. In a first-person narrative, readers primarily rely on the narrator to make themselves known, but we can also learn about the first-person narrator through the reactions and dialogue of the people they encounter. Thoughtful writers use creative strategies to paint detailed pictures of well-rounded characters rather than simply laying out a list of character traits. 

Conflict:  Obstacles and challenges standing between a main character and their goal make for great storytelling. If it were easy for people to get what they wanted, books would be quite boring indeed. Authors include internal and external obstacles that elevate conflict and tension, driving readers to root for their favorite characters and see the story through to the end. 

Theme:  Powerful storytelling succeeds not only in entertaining readers but also in imparting universal themes or moral lessons that make us think more deeply, help us make sense of the world, or increase our capacity for empathy.

Setting:  Descriptive narrative sentences transport readers to different worlds, periods, and settings. Whether we’re exploring Middle Earth or delving into the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, a story’s setting comes alive through sparkling descriptive sentences. 

Understanding Narrative Types and Structures

Narrative sentences exist in all types of narratives. They are not limited to novels and short stories , even though that’s often what we think of when we hear the word narrative. Not only are they prevalent in fiction, but they’re also used widely in non-fiction writing such as essays and biographies. Stories are memorable and meaningful and are therefore incorporated into most types of creative writing. 

A narrative story can take many forms. Some types of narratives include:

• Memoirs:  True stories narrated by the people who experienced them. Memoirists describe a personal experience in their lives, holding as much to the truth as possible, but they also have creative license to fill in minor details as needed for the sake of the story. Some level of reflection and/or universal truth is usually included. (Example: Henry David Thoreau’s  Walden ).
• Novels:  Fictional, book-length, prose narratives. As  Britannica  defines them, novels possess “a certain complexity that deals imaginatively with human experience.” (Example: Louisa May Alcott’s  Little Women ) . 
• Short fiction:  A fictional narrative work that is of shorter length and lesser complexity than the novel. Fairy tales would fall into this category. (Example: Kate Chopin’s  The Story of an Hour ) . 
• Poems:  Narrative poems relate stories. They usually have a narrator and may contain other characters. Narrative poetry can be of any length and does not necessarily need to rhyme. (Example:  Beowulf ).  
• Songs:  Songs are simply poems set to music. Like all narratives, a narrative song tells a story. (Example: Harry Chapin’s  Cat in the Cradle ). 
• Plays:  A dramatic work created for the stage, in which the narrative is usually conveyed through dialogue, actions, props, and sets. There may also be a narrator who helps fill in the important details of the narrative. In a musical, songs are instrumental in moving the plot forward. (Examples: Shakespeare’s  Romeo and Juliet ; Lin-Manuel Miranda’s  Hamilton ). 
• Folklore:  The traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community, perpetuated through oral narration. (Example: King Arthur). 
• History:  The stories of the past, written in either entirely factual formats (such as biographies) or with fictionalized elements that render it historical fiction. Historical narratives can also include diaries, letters, and journals . (Example: Markus Zusak’s  The Book Thief ).
• Biography/autobiography:  Biographies and autobiographies tell the stories of people’s lives as factually as possible. Details are ideally verified. Unlike memoirs, which recount specific events or circumstances, biographies focus on the whole life. (Example: Rebecca Skloot’s  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks ). 
• Allegories:  Symbolic fictional narratives that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically moral, political, ethical, or philosophical in nature. (Example: Shel Silverstein’s  The Giving Tree ).

The examples of narrative sentences offered in this post primarily come from novels and short stories, though we’ve included some from other sources as well. 

Narrative structure refers to how the story is organized and how the narrative elements mentioned earlier are conveyed. It determines, among other things, the order in which the events of the story unfold. While chronological order (following a chronological sequence of events) is typical for many narratives, some writers prefer to change the sequence by jumping back and forth in time, especially through flashbacks or multiple timelines. When done well, this nonlinear narrative style makes for a compelling read. 

Although there are many ways to organize a narrative structure, certain narrative milestones are essentially universal. In a linear narrative, we generally expect to see sections dedicated to exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. The percentage of space dedicated to each of these will differ greatly from story to story, but ultimately we should be able to identify these narrative shifts regardless of the narrative technique used.

(This structure, known as Freytag’s pyramid, was inspired by classic Greek tragedies and is often what we teach in school to beginning writers . Other popular narrative structures include more, fewer, or different structural elements. For example, the Save the Cat beat sheet method uses 15 plot points or sections a narrative must hit while the Hero’s Journey structure contains 12 stages.)

At a minimum, a complete story structure should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. 

Authors carefully select each narrative sentence—and, by extension, each narrative paragraph—to best develop the elements of their particular narrative within the structure they’ve chosen. In a series of often grueling decisions, writers shape and reshape sentences within a piece of writing until each one sits perfectly in its place, contributing to an ultimately enjoyable—or thought-provoking, inspiring, or otherwise meaningful—experience for the reader. 

Narrative Sentence Examples

Choosing narrative sentence examples is a bit of an overwhelming task. Any novel or memoir one opens is likely to contain thousands of narrative sentences to choose from. The problem is not that there aren’t enough examples or that few worthy examples exist. Rather, the challenge lies in figuring out what makes a good example. How does one present a useful and varied selection of sentences that won’t take years to read?

For this post, I selected a cross-section of examples that attempt to represent a variety of sentence types, genres, time periods, and story elements. Specifically, I looked for examples that include:

• Both classical and contemporary literature
• A selection of sentence types including descriptive, action-oriented, and dialogue
• Development of story elements including plot, character, conflict, theme, and setting
• Diverse points in the overall story structure (e.g. expository sentences, inciting incidents, rising action, etc.)
• Diverse types of narratives (novels, short stories, essays, poems, fairy tales)

A final note: though the title of this post promises 21 sentence examples, you will notice that almost all of the excerpts contain more than one sentence. This is because many great sentences don’t stand on their own but benefit from the structure of the surrounding sentences.

This is particularly true in modern writing, in which the trend toward shorter sentences is prevailing. The marvelously long, winding sentences of Austen and Tolkien have been replaced with short, quick phrases and sentence fragments. While these can also be effective and are better suited to today’s shorter attention spans, they do require more sentences in order to convey the same amount of information. 

1. The Fellowship of the Ring

J.R.R. Tolkien does not dedicate much space to describing settings in his second Middle-Earth Book,  The Fellowship of the Ring.  He is much more inclined toward action and dialogue, pausing only briefly to describe the physical surroundings. He leaves much of the visual filling-in to readers’ imaginations but ensures we know the essential information about each new setting. Here he shows us Frodo’s introduction to Rivendell.

Frodo was now safe in the Last Homely House east of the Sea. That house was, as Bilbo had long ago reported, ‘a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all’. Merely to be there was a cure for weariness, fear, and sadness… Sam led him along several passages and down many steps and out into a high garden above the steep bank of the river. He found his friends sitting in a porch on the side of the house looking east. Shadows had fallen in the valey below, but there was still a light on the faces of the mountains far above. The air was warm. The sound of running and falling water was loud, and the evening was filled with a faint scent of trees and flowers, as if summer still lingered in Elrond’s gardens.”

2. The Bluest Eye

Toni Morrison, too, wastes no time in her exposition in  The Bluest Eye . The first two descriptive sentences manage to allude to the plot, setting, characters, and conflict of the novel while also immediately hooking the reader with their jarring statement. 

Quiet as it’s kept, there were no marigolds in the fall of 1941. We thought, at the time, that it was because Pecola was having her father’s baby that the marigolds did not grow.

3. Moby Dick

Herman Melville paints a clear and vivid picture of his narrator’s state of mind and motivation to join an impending sea expedition in the opening sentences of  Moby Dick . 

Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.

4. Fish Cheeks

In her first published essay , Amy Tan wrote of being a fourteen-year-old desperate for two things: the love of Robert, her non-Chinese minister’s son, and a slim, American nose. This vignette from her teenage life as the American-born daughter of Chinese immigrants depicts her horror at the visually unappealing meal her mother serves after inviting the minister’s family for Christmas Eve dinner. It’s not until years later that Tan realizes the symbolism of the meal: her mother’s desire for her to remain true to herself and her heritage. 

On Christmas Eve I saw that my mother had outdone herself in creating a strange menu. She was pulling black veins out of the backs of fleshy prawns. The kitchen was littered with appalling mounds of raw food: A slimy rock cod with bulging eyes that pleaded not to be thrown into a pan of hot oil. Tofu, which looked like stacked wedges of rubbery white sponges. A bowl soaking dried fungus back to life. A plate of squid, their backs crisscrossed with knife markings so they resembled bicycle tires.

5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Not all literary characters need go to such extreme lengths as Eustace Scrubb in C.S. Lewis’ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader to experience their requisite growth. However, the impurity of Eustace’s heart prompted the author to give him special treatment, which, while uncomfortable for Eustace, is extremely entertaining for readers. 

He had turned into a dragon while he was asleep. Sleeping on a dragon’s hoard with greedy, dragonish thoughts in his heart, he had become a dragon himself…In spite of the pain, his first feeling was one of relief. There was nothing to be afraid of any more. He was a terror himself now and nothing in the world but a knight (and not all of those) would dare to attack him. He could get even with Caspian and Edmund now. But the moment he thought this he realized that he didn’t want to. He wanted to be friends. He wanted to get back among humans and talk and laugh and share things. He realized that he was a monster cut off from the whole human race. An appalling loneliness came over him. He began to see that the others had not really been friends at all. He began to wonder if he himself had been such a nice person as he had always supposed. He longed for their voices. 

When Eustace reunites with his friends, they are quick to note the change in his personality:

It was, however, clear to everyone that Eustace’s character had been rather improved by becoming a dragon.

6. The Lottery

Shirley Jackson’s  The Lottery  is rife with irony. From the misleading title to the villagers’ festive attitudes, very little of the story’s exposition prepares the reader for the gruesome outcome of the titular event. One such example is the description of the man who runs the affair, whose very name—Mr. Summers—is in contrast to the dark and barbaric tradition he intends to uphold. 

The lottery was conducted—as were the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program—by Mr. Summers. who had time and energy to devote to civic activities. He was a round-faced, jovial man and he ran the coal business, and people were sorry for him. because he had no children and his wife was a scold.

7. The Last Thing He Told Me

In Laura Dave’s novel, The Last Thing He Told Me , Hannah Hall and her stepdaughter Bailey Michaels are on a manhunt for Hannah’s husband Owen after he disappears amidst the news of a financial scandal within his company. Their search takes them to Texas where they try to track down information based on fragments of memories Bailey has from a childhood visit to Austin. Dave shows us the setting through Hannah’s eyes as she glances around a church administrator’s office, searching for clues that will help her convince the woman to help them with their unusual request. 

I look around the office, for clues about her—clues that may help me win her over. Christmas cards and bumper stickers cover her desk; photographs of Elenor’s family are lined up on the fireplace mantel; a large bulletin board is brimming over with photographs and notes from parishioners. The office reveals forty years of building relationships right in this room, in this church. She knows everything about this place. We just need to know one small piece of it. 

8. A Rose for Emily

When Emily Grierson, the protagonist in William Faulkner’s 1930 short story, A Rose for Emily , passes away, the townspeople can’t wait to get inside the house she has refused to let anyone enter in over a decade. Upon entering an upper room that has been blocked off for more than forty years, they discover a startling scene: the perfectly preserved preparations for a wedding day, covered in dust and pungent with an acrid smell; it’s a sight reminiscent of Mrs. Havisham’s house in Great Expectations. The poignant description of the setting likens it to a tomb, which turns out to be a little too on the nose. 

A thin, acrid pall as of the tomb seemed to lie everywhere upon this room decked and furnished as for a bridal: upon the valance curtains of faded rose color, upon the rose-shaded lights, upon the dressing table, upon the delicate array of crystal and the man’s toilet things backed with tarnished silver, silver so tarnished that the monogram was obscured. Among them lay a collar and tie, as if they had just been removed, which, lifted, left upon the surface a pale crescent in the dust. Upon a chair hung the suit, carefully folded; beneath it the two mute shoes and the discarded socks.

9. The Waste Land

T.S. Eliot’s poem, The Waste Land , written in the aftermath of World War I, contains themes of brokenness, loss, death, decay, and post-war disillusionment, among others. Eliot was also struggling, at the time of the poem’s writing, with a failing marriage and mental health issues. He jumps directly into these themes from the opening stanza with a depiction of spring, not as the restorative, live-giving season it is normally thought to be but as a cruel month making vain attempts to resuscitate a desolate landscape.  

April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain.

10. Don Quixote

Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote is infamous for taking action. Not satisfied to sit around reading books from his extensive library, he’s anxious to experience the adventurous lives of the knights of which he’s read. His foolhardy choices constantly get him in trouble and invoke people to attempt stoning him. Such is the outcome when he impulsively decides to free a hang of galley slaves he encounters

“’Tis you that are the cat, rat, and rascal,” replied Don Quixote, and acting on the word he fell upon him so suddenly that without giving him time to defend himself he brought him to the ground sorely wounded with a lance-thrust; and lucky it was for him that it was the one that had the musket. The other guards stood thunderstruck and amazed at this unexpected event, but recovering presence of mind, those on horseback seized their swords, and those on foot their javelins, and attacked Don Quixote, who was waiting for them with great calmness; and no doubt it would have gone badly with him if the galley slaves, seeing the chance before them of liberating themselves, had not effected it by contriving to break the chain on which they were strung. Such was the confusion, that the guards, now rushing at the galley slaves who were breaking loose, now to attack Don Quixote who was waiting for them, did nothing at all that was of any use. Sancho, on his part, gave a helping hand to release Gines de Pasamonte, who was the first to leap forth upon the plain free and unfettered, and who, attacking the prostrate commissary, took from him his sword and the musket, with which, aiming at one and levelling at another, he, without ever discharging it, drove every one of the guards off the field, for they took to flight, as well to escape Pasamonte’s musket, as the showers of stones the now released galley slaves were raining upon them. 

11. The Story of an Hour

Kate Chopin’s brief short story, The Story of an Hour , published in 1894, tells the story of a woman who—upon hearing the news of her husband’s sudden death—locks herself in her room while her mind runs wild with the thoughts of freedom this news has provoked. Although the ‘actions’ in this story are hardly active (they mostly consist of mental sprinting and leaping), there is a frenzied, energetic quality to the scene. The action here—a simple prayer followed by an ironic realization—speaks deeply to the state of her character as well as to the central theme of marital captivity.

Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.

12. The Emperor’s New Clothes

In the beloved fairy tale,  The Emperor’s New Clothes,  Hans Christen Andersen explores themes of vanity and pride. The emperor, who is obsessed with having a fashionable wardrobe, falls prey to two swindlers well aware of his vulnerability. They come up with a ruse certain to ensnare him by making it inconceivable for anyone to tell him the truth. Their deceptive action sets up both the plot and the conflict of the story. 

One day, two rogues, calling themselves weavers, made their appearance. They gave out that they knew how to weave stuffs of the most beautiful colors and elaborate patterns, the clothes manufactured from which should have the wonderful property of remaining invisible to everyone who was unfit for the office he held, or who was extraordinarily simple in character.

13. The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini is a masterful developer of all aspects of story: plot, characters, setting, theme, conflict. His emotion-wrenching novels capture the deep complexities of relationships set against historical events, political upheaval, and the realities of class hierarchies. In The Kite Runner , he foreshadows the principal conflict through an action-oriented paragraph that also touches on some of the themes of the book such as Hassan and Amir’s friendship, Hassan’s bravery, and the shifting power dynamics in Afghanistan in the wake of the 1973 Afghan coup led by Daoud Khan. 

Hassan was trying to tuck the slingshot in his waist with a pair of trembling hands. His mouth curled up into something that was supposed to be a reassuring smile. It took him five tries to tie the string of his trousers. Neither one of us said much of anything as we walked home in trepidation, certain that Assef and his friends would ambush us every time we turned a corner. They didn’t and that should have comforted us a little. But it didn’t. Not at all. 

14. The Forest of Vanishing Stars

Literary works with third-person narratives revealing more than one character’s perspective allow us, as readers, to know things that the protagonist does not (yet) know. The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel tells the story of a Rapunzel-esque young lady named Yona, raised in the wilderness of Eastern Europe by an elderly recluse named Jerusza who believes Yona has a higher purpose. Just before she passes, Jerusza shares Yona’s origin story with her, though the significance of it is not known until much later. 

However, because the story is written in the third person and the initial narrative voice is that of Jerusza, we have already gotten a glimpse into this seemingly tragic event. Harmel writes,

The old woman knew, too, that the baby conceived on that autumn-scented Bavarian night, a girl the Jüttners had named Inge, had a birthmark in the shape of a dove on the inside of her left wrist. She also knew that the girl’s second birthday was the following day, the sixth of July, 1922. And she knew, as surely as she knew that the bell-shaped buds of lily of the valley and the twilight petals of aconite could kill a man, that the girl must not be allowed to remain with the Jüttners…That was why she had come…The old woman, who was called Jerusza, had always known things other people didn’t… “ Ikh bin gekimen dir tzu nemen,”  Jerusza whispered in Yiddish, a language the girl would not yet know.  I have come for you.  She said something soft, something that a lesser person would have dismissed as the meaningless babble of a little girl, but to Jerusza, it was unmistakeable. “ Dus zent ir, “   said the girl in Yiddish.  It is you.

Whether or not Jerusza is a deranged and unreliable narrator or an altruistic clairvoyant, we do not yet know. But this early insight shows us that Yona’s life in the forest is more than just happenstance. It was planned, deliberate, and perhaps even prophetic.

15. Pride and Prejudice

In opening scenes, we often find one or more narrative sentences that touch on the overall theme or takeaway of the story. This is what the Save The Cat method refers to as the Theme Stated. It’s typically written as dialogue spoken by someone the protagonist is unlikely to give much heed to. In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice , Lizzy’s younger sister Mary responds to the discussion of Mr. Darcy’s pride by pointing out the difference between pride and vanity to suggest that pride is human nature and not necessarily a bad thing. 

“Pride,” observed Mary, who piqued herself upon the solidity of her reflections, “is a very common failing, I believe. By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed; that human nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or other, real or imaginary. Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves; vanity to what we would have others think of us.”

16. Lessons in Chemistry

In Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons in Chemistry , it’s 1955 and protagonist Elizabeth Zott is mourning the sudden, tragic loss of her common-law partner Calvin Evans, who, like her, was a brilliant chemist employed by Hastings Research Institute. The key difference between the two is that he, as a man, was revered for his contributions to science while she, as a woman, was denigrated. While alive, Evans was able—against Zott’s wishes—to use his influence to protect her research’s funding. 

After his death, her employers and colleagues are chomping at the bit to not only defund her work but to get rid of her as quickly as possible, especially once they find out that she’s carrying Evans’ child. In her debilitating grief, she struggles to make sense of the inequity between the rules for women and those for men. Her boss, Donatti—who has unsuccessfully tried for months to demoralize Zott so he could seduce her—becomes characteristically irate when he presents her with the termination letter that catalyzes her toward the career change that forms the premise of the story. Garmus uses an omniscient narrator to flesh out the private thoughts of each character and succinctly develop her characters, conflict, and plot.

“This pregnancy is a failure of contraception, not morality. It’s also none of your business.” “You’ve made it our business!” Donatti suddenly shouted. “And in case you weren’t aware, there is a surefire way  not  to get pregnant and it starts with an ‘A’! We have rules, Miss Zott! Rules!” “Not on this you don’t,” Elizabeth said calmly. “I’ve read the employee manual front to back.” “It’s an unwritten rule!” “And thus not legally binding.” Donatti glowered at her. “Evans would be very, very ashamed of you.” “No,” Elizabeth said simply, her voice empty but calm. “He would not.” The room fell silent. It was the way she kept disagreeing—without embarrassment, without melodrama—as if she would have the last say, as if she knew she’d win in the end. This is  exactly  the kind of attitude her coworkers had complained of. And the way she implied that hers and Calvin’s relationship was at some higher level—as if it had been crafted from nondissolvable material that survived everything, even his death. Annoying. 

17. The Bluest Eye

Through snippets of dialogue, Toni Morrison masterfully paints a heartbreaking and ominous picture of the children in The Bluest Eye who, through no fault of their own, do not yet know what it means to be loved. 

“After a long while she spoke very softly. “Is it true that I can have a baby now?” “Sure,” said Frieda drowsily. “Sure you can.” “But…how?” Her voice was hollow with wonder. “Oh,” said Frieda, “somebody has to love you.” “Oh.” There was a long pause in which Pecola and I thought this over. It would involve, I supposed, “my man,” who, before leaving me, would love me. But there weren’t any babies in the songs my mother sang. Maybe that’s why the women were sad: the men left before they could make a baby.  Then Pecola asked a question that had never entered my mind. “How do you do that? I mean, how do you get somebody to love you?” But Frieda was asleep. And I didn’t know.

18. Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre’s passionate, confident personality is on full display when she reacts to Mr. Rochester’s news that he intends to marry Blanche Ingram. To convey Jane’s fiery state, Charlotte Brontë uses shorter sentences and sentence fragments to give the sense that Jane’s rapid-fire speech is spewing forth in a vain attempt to keep pace with her racing thoughts. 

“I tell you I must go!” I retorted, roused to something like passion. “Do you think I can stay to become nothing to you? Do you think I am an automaton?—a machine without feelings? and can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!—I have as much soul as you,—and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh;—it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God’s feet, equal,—as we are!”

19. The Spider and the Fly

In the 1829 narrative poem, The Spider and the Fly , poet Mary Howitt uses a dialogue between the titular characters to relate a high-tension scene in which the spider tries to lure the fly into its web while the fly does its best to resist. Each of the first four stanzas is comprised almost exclusively of dialogue and follows this back-and-forth pattern between the spider’s entreaties and the fly’s retorts. As the poem progresses, the tension rises as the spider’s tactics become increasingly cunning.  

“I’m sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high; Will you rest upon my little bed?” said the Spider to the Fly. “There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin, And if you like to rest awhile, I’ll snugly tuck you in!” “Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “for I’ve often heard it said, They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!”

20. The Destructors

Though not common, setting can sometimes be articulated through dialogue. One benefit of an author relying on characters to describe a setting is that the reader sees it through their ideas and perspective; only the details that matter most to the speaker are conveyed. In Graham Greene’s The Destructors, T., the new unofficial leader of the Wormsley Common gang, relays pertinent details of the history and architecture of a home belonging to Mr. Thomas (Old Misery) to the rest of the gang. 

The specific details he shares not only help us picture the setting for the story’s main action, but they are also pivotal to the central plot: the children’s decision to destroy Old Misery’s house. 

The gang had gathered round: It was as though an impromptu court were about to form and to try some case of deviation. T. said, “It’s a beautiful house,” and still watching the ground, meeting no one’s eyes, he licked his lips first one way, then the other. “What do you mean, a beautiful house?” Blackie asked with scorn. “It’s got a staircase two hundred years old like a corkscrew. Nothing holds it up.” “What do you mean, nothing holds it up. Does it float?” “It’s to do with opposite forces, Old Misery said.” “What else?” “There’s paneling.” “Like in the Blue Boar?” “Two hundred years old.” “Is Old Misery two hundred years old?” Mike laughed suddenly and then was quiet again.

21. The Maltese Falcon

Dashiell Hammett’s detective novels are full of snappy dialogue rich with slang words informed by his time working for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. His fast-paced mysteries, such as The Maltese Falcon , move at a break-neck speed, partially because so much of the plot is progressed through dialogue. In the following exchange, having just learned that everything Ms. Wonderbly has told him is a lie, Detective Sam Spade presses her for more information while hinting at his suspicion of her involvement in two murders and decides to continue working with her anyway. 

“Out there a flock of policemen and assistant district attorneys and reporters are running around with their noses to the ground. What do you want to do?” “I want you to save me from—from it all,” she replied in a thin tremulous voice. She put a timid hand on his sleeve. “Mr. Spade, do they know about me?” “Not yet. I wanted to see you first.” “What—what would they think if they knew about the way I came to you—with those lies?” “It would make them suspicious. That’s why I’ve been stalling them till I could see you. I thought maybe we wouldn’t have to let them know all of it. We ought to be able to fake a story that will rock them to sleep, if necessary.” “You don’t think I had anything to do with the—the murders—do you?” Spade grinned at her and said: “I forgot to ask you that. Did you?” “No.” “That’s good. Now what are we going to tell the police?” She squirmed on her end of the settee and her eyes wavered between heavy lashes, as if trying and failing to free their gaze from his. She seemed smaller, and very young and oppressed. “Must they know about me at all?” she asked. “I think I’d rather die than that, Mr. Spade. I can’t explain now, but can’t you somehow manage so that you can shield me from them, so I won’t have to answer their questions? I don’t think I could stand being questioned now. I think I would rather die. Can’t you, Mr. Spade?” “Maybe,” he said, “but I’ll have to know what it’s all about.”

Whether through dialogue, action, or description, narrative sentences have the power to propel a story to more satisfying plots, develop more interesting characters and settings, and spur readers to deeper levels of thinking, enjoyment, and inspiration. Which of these narrative sentence examples did you enjoy the most? Do you have other favorites that you would add? Let us know in the comments.

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Kiel Alvoki Humoron en Skribo?

• Redakcia Teamo de Smodin
• Eldonita: Eble 27, 2024

Ĉu vi luktas por transdoni emociojn en viaj kreivaj eseoj? Ĉu vi trovas malfacila helpi vian instruiston identigi kun la sentoj de via karaktero? Vi ne estas sola. Krei emocian skribon en kreaj eseoj estas defio alfrontata de ĉiuj studentoj (kaj eĉ kelkaj spertaj fikciaj verkistoj).

Sed ne zorgu! Ĉi tiu gvidilo estas ĉi tie por helpi. Ĝi kovros kiel alvoki humoron skribe, uzante teknikojn kiel priskriba lingvo, allogaj karakteroj kaj potenca simboleco.

Fidu nin, kun ĉi tiuj konsiletoj, vi skribos rakontojn, kiuj metos vian instruiston aŭ profesorojn ĝuste en la dikon.

6 Manieroj Alvoki Humoron en Skribo

Jes, skribe alvoki humoron povas esti malfacile. Sed ĝi ne devas esti! Uzu iun aŭ ĉiujn jenajn teknikojn por lasi viajn legantojn en larmoj de ĝojo en neniu tempo. Ankaŭ gravas noti, ke ĉi tio ne nur validas por kreiva skribo.

Zorge krei la taŭgan tonon de via esplora papero ankaŭ estas esenca por transdoni vian celitan mesaĝon.

1. Uzu Artefaritan inteligentecon

Artefarita inteligenteco (AI) ne estas nur iu roboto, kiu donos al vi ĝeneralajn respondojn. Reformas kiel ambaŭ fikciverkistoj kaj studentoj aliras emocian skribon. AI-iloj povas helpi verkistojn efike elvoki intensajn emociojn, kiel koleron kaj malĝojon. Ekzemple, AI povas analizi ŝablonojn en rakontado kaj sugesti priskribajn vortojn, kiuj kongruas kun la dezirata humoro aŭ tono.

AI ankaŭ povas identigi emociajn taktojn en via rakonto kaj sugesti ŝanĝojn por plivivigi la sentojn de rolulo.

Alia avantaĝo estas retrosciigo pri la emociaj respondoj de leganto. Kiam verkistoj scias kiel legantoj identiĝas kun roluloj, ili povas alĝustigi scenojn por transdoni emocion pli forte. Ankaŭ AI povas doni informojn pri vortelekto, konservante vian skribon konsekvenca ĉie. Enigi AI en vian krean skriban procezon helpas rafini viajn rakontteknikojn.

2. Uzu priskriban lingvon

Priskriba lingvo ludas ŝlosilan rolon por helpi legantojn empati kaj mergi sin en rakonto. Uzi vivecajn bildojn kaj sensajn detalojn estas ŝlosilo. Ĉi tiuj permesas al legantoj pli bone kompreni la emociajn taktojn de ĉiu karaktero. Vi povas optimumigi vian vort-elekton per la jenaj:

• Sensaj detaloj : Priskribu kion la rolulo vidas, aŭdas, gustumas, tuŝas kaj flaras. Ĉi tio povas krei mondon, kiu sentiĝas reala al legantoj.
• Metaforoj kaj similoj : Komparu emociojn al konataj spertoj. Ekzemple, "ŝia malĝojo estis kiel pluva nubo." Ĉi tio povas vivigi abstraktajn sentojn.
• Specifa vortprovizo : Elektu vortojn zorge por kongrui kun la emocia tono de ĉiu momento.
• Korpa lingvo kaj esprimoj : Montru kion rolulo sentas per sia korpa lingvo. Ĉi tio povus esti aferoj kiel "premitaj pugnoj" aŭ "tremantaj lipoj".

3. Kreu allogajn karakterojn kaj agordojn

Se vi volas, ke viaj legantoj identiĝu kun via rakonto, vi devas krei allogajn karakterojn kaj mergajn agordojn. Komencu esplorante la emociojn kaj internajn luktojn de ĉiu karaktero. Iliaj personecoj, timoj kaj ambicioj devus esti klaraj por elvoki emocion de la leganto. Anstataŭ simple rakonti, uzu dialogon kaj agojn por malkaŝi sentojn.

Same gravas starigi la scenejon por viglaj priskriboj kiuj reflektas la emociojn de la karaktero. Ĉu vigla urbo aldonas eksciton kaj antaŭĝojon, aŭ ĉu malgaja arbaro pliigas la malgajon de la rolulo? Viaj agordoj devas plifortigi la humoron, kiun vi celas komuniki.

Miksu karakterojn kaj agordojn por ke iliaj emociaj ritmoj aliĝu. Vi ankaŭ devus lasi la medion speguli la altajn kaj malaltaĵojn de la protagonisto, lasante lokon por ke ili kresku.

4. Uzu rakontajn teknikojn

Rakontaj teknikoj estas gravaj por elvoki intensajn emociojn kaj konservi la emocian efikon tra via rakonto.

Unu efika tekniko estas vidpunkto . Unupersona perspektivo donas pli intiman rigardon al la pensoj kaj emocioj de karaktero. Ĉi tio faciligas al legantoj rilati al siaj internaj luktoj. Alternative, triapersona vidpunkto povas riveli la sentojn de multobla karaktero kaj profundigi la emocion.

Antaŭsignado estas alia valora ilo. Ĝi subtile sugestas estontajn eventojn por konstrui antaŭĝojon kaj pliigi eksciton. Legantoj iĝas emocie investitaj dum ili sentas baldaŭan ĝojon aŭ timon, depende de viaj sugestoj.

Kaj tiam estas ritmo , kiu ludas rolon en humorkreado. Mallongaj, rapidaj frazoj eligas eksciton aŭ urĝecon. Longaj frazoj peras reflektajn aŭ sombrajn emociojn. Balanci rapidajn kaj malrapidajn momentojn faras la rakonton pli dinamika.

laste, flashbacks malkaŝi pasintajn emociajn spertojn, lumigante kial roluloj kondutas kiel ili faras.

5. Uzu simbolecon kaj temojn

Ĉi tio povas helpi vin elvoki emocion en subtila sed potenca maniero. Simboleco helpas limigi la interspacon inter abstraktaj emocioj kaj palpeblaj spertoj. Ekzemple, ŝtormo povus reprezenti tumulton ene de karaktero aŭ simboli renovigon post aflikto.

Temoj kiel espero, perdo aŭ elaĉeto gvidas la emociajn taktojn de la rakonto. Ili agas kiel fadeno kiu ligas la pensojn kaj spertojn de la karaktero kune. Kiam vi ankras vian rakonton al centra temo, vi ligas rolulojn al rilataj emociaj spertoj. Ĉi tio igas ilin sentiĝi pli aŭtentaj.

En emocia skribo, nevortaj signalvortoj kiel korpa lingvo ankaŭ funkcias kiel simboloj. Ili rivelas kion karaktero sentas antaŭ ol iu dialogo faras tion. Kunpremita makzelo povus signifi koleron aŭ tremanta mano povus sugesti timon.

Ankaŭ, ĉerpi el viaj propraj emociaj spertoj povas profundigi vian komprenon pri ĉi tiuj simboloj. Ĉi tio ebligas al vi konstrui emocian rakonton, kiu vere parolas al legantoj.

6. Redaktu por humora konsistenco

Redaktado estas ŝlosila kaj ofte preteratentata aspekto de emocia skribo. Post kiam via skizo estas farita, tralegu ĉiun scenon zorge, notante kiel rolulo sentas kaj kiel tio influas la tonon de la rakonto. Se emocioj en unu sceno ne kongruas kun la ĝenerala rakonto, reviziu ĝin por ke la humoro restu konsekvenca.

Atentu detalojn kiel vortelekto, korpa lingvo kaj dialogo. Pensu pri tio jene: Se via ĉeffiguro estas korŝirita, iliaj vortoj kaj agoj devus montri tion. Ununura devaga frazo aŭ eksterloka reago povus provoki malsaman emocian respondon en legantoj.

Ankaŭ, certigu, ke la emocioj de la roluloj progresas laŭ natura maniero. Dum ili venkas defiojn aŭ alfrontas novajn problemojn, certigu, ke iliaj emocioj evoluas logike. Revizu ĉiun emocian baton kaj redaktu por konservi fluon kaj klarecon.

Alvoku Humoron en Via Skribo kun Smodin

Skribi emociojn, kiuj resonas, signifas kapti profundajn emociojn ene de vi mem kaj viaj karakteroj. Ĉu temas pri novelo, kiun vi skribas aŭ pri esplora artikolo, transdoni viajn proprajn emociojn helpas legantojn konekti. Kun praktiko, studentoj povas elvoki emociajn respondojn kiuj faras daŭrajn memorojn.

Kelkfoje, ne doloras havi iom da helpo por transdoni intensan emocion en via laboro. Smodin ofertas valorajn ilojn por AI, kiuj povas transformi vian rakontan procezon. Ĉi tiuj iloj rajtigas verkistojn transdoni humoron konstante tra sia verkado.

Ŝlosilaj proponoj inkluzivas:

• AI-Verkisto : Generu altkvalitan tekston kun referencoj. Certigas, ke via skribo kongruas precize kun la humoro, kiun vi volas.
• AI Babilejo : Uzu AI-babilejon por cerbumi aŭ klarigi ideojn. Provizas tujan religon pri emociaj taktoj kaj rakonta strukturo.
• AI Hejmtasko Solvilo : Solvu kreivajn defiojn per rapide generado de ideoj por intrigo, roluloj kaj agordoj.

Smodin ankaŭ provizas detalajn rimarkojn pri vortelekto kaj strukturo, helpante vin transdoni vian mesaĝon efike. Sed ĉio ĉi estas nur la pinto de la glacimonto laŭ tio, kion ĝi devas oferti.

Kaj nur por ke vi ne forgesu: Por fidinda ilo, kiu rafinas vian rakontadon kaj liberigas vian kreemon, Smodin estas via sekreta armilo!

Narrative Writing- Dialogue

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Get your students to clearly understand the concepts of dialouge and why it's crucial to narrative writing. Packet comes with a story example and activity to get students to write their own dialogue.

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The Visionary Behind Titanic: James Cameron’s Masterpiece

This essay about the film “Titanic” focuses on the visionary work of its director, James Cameron. It explores how Cameron, known for his ambitious and groundbreaking projects, brought “Titanic” to life with meticulous attention to detail and technical innovation. The essay highlights Cameron’s use of advanced visual effects, his commitment to authenticity, and his ability to craft a compelling narrative through the love story of Jack and Rose. It also touches on the challenges faced during production and the film’s critical and commercial success, emphasizing Cameron’s lasting impact on the film industry.

How it works

When discussing the epic romance-disaster film “Titanic,” it’s impossible to overlook the genius behind its creation: James Cameron. The film, which premiered in 1997, became a monumental success, captivating audiences worldwide and earning its place in cinematic history. James Cameron, an acclaimed director known for his ambitious and groundbreaking projects, helmed this massive undertaking with a blend of technical expertise and storytelling prowess that set new standards in the film industry.

James Cameron was born on August 16, 1954, in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada.

His journey to becoming one of Hollywood’s most revered directors began with a fascination for science fiction and the underwater world. Cameron’s early works, such as “The Terminator” (1984) and “Aliens” (1986), showcased his talent for creating thrilling narratives with cutting-edge special effects. By the time he took on “Titanic,” Cameron had already established himself as a filmmaker unafraid to push the boundaries of what was possible in cinema.

“Titanic” was a project of unprecedented scale and ambition. Cameron’s vision was to create a film that not only depicted the historical tragedy of the RMS Titanic but also told a compelling love story set against the backdrop of the ill-fated voyage. The director’s attention to detail was meticulous, from the recreation of the ship’s interiors to the historically accurate portrayal of the events leading up to its sinking. This dedication to authenticity extended to the film’s production, which involved extensive research and the use of advanced technology to bring the Titanic to life on screen.

One of the most significant challenges Cameron faced was the film’s extensive use of visual effects. At the time, the technology required to create realistic water and sinking sequences was still in its infancy. However, Cameron, known for his innovative approach, utilized a combination of practical effects, miniature models, and cutting-edge CGI to achieve the desired realism. The result was a series of breathtaking scenes that left audiences in awe and set new benchmarks for special effects in cinema.

Cameron’s commitment to excellence did not stop at technical achievements. His ability to craft a poignant narrative was equally crucial to the film’s success. The love story between Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) provided a human element that resonated deeply with viewers. Cameron’s script balanced the romance with the impending disaster, creating a compelling and emotionally charged experience. The chemistry between DiCaprio and Winslet, combined with Cameron’s direction, brought an authenticity to their performances that became a defining feature of the film.

The making of “Titanic” was not without its challenges. The production faced numerous setbacks, including budget overruns and the physical demands of filming in water. Cameron’s reputation for being a demanding and exacting director was put to the test as he navigated these obstacles. Despite these difficulties, his unwavering vision and determination ensured that the project stayed on course. The film’s eventual budget ballooned to around $200 million, making it the most expensive film ever made at the time. However, the risk paid off, as “Titanic” went on to gross over $2 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of its era.

“Titanic” received critical acclaim, winning 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Cameron. The film’s success solidified Cameron’s status as a master filmmaker and demonstrated his ability to deliver both commercially and artistically. Beyond its box office achievements, “Titanic” left a lasting cultural impact, with its iconic scenes and memorable dialogue becoming ingrained in popular culture.

James Cameron’s direction of “Titanic” exemplifies his unique ability to blend visionary storytelling with technical innovation. His dedication to creating an authentic and emotionally resonant film resulted in a cinematic masterpiece that continues to be celebrated decades after its release. Cameron’s work on “Titanic” not only cemented his legacy as one of the greatest directors in film history but also inspired a new generation of filmmakers to dream big and push the limits of what cinema can achieve.

The film’s enduring popularity is a testament to Cameron’s skill in crafting stories that transcend time and connect with audiences on a profound level. “Titanic” remains a benchmark in filmmaking, a perfect blend of historical epic and intimate drama, all brought to life through the vision of James Cameron. His impact on the film industry is undeniable, and his contributions to the art of filmmaking continue to influence and inspire.

Remember, this essay is a starting point for inspiration and further research. For more personalized assistance and to ensure your essay meets all academic standards, consider reaching out to professionals at EduBirdie .

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The Visionary Behind Titanic: James Cameron's Masterpiece. (2024, May 28). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/the-visionary-behind-titanic-james-camerons-masterpiece/

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"The Visionary Behind Titanic: James Cameron's Masterpiece." PapersOwl.com, May 28, 2024. Accessed May 30, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/the-visionary-behind-titanic-james-camerons-masterpiece/

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PapersOwl.com. (2024). The Visionary Behind Titanic: James Cameron's Masterpiece . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-visionary-behind-titanic-james-camerons-masterpiece/ [Accessed: 30-May-2024]

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