This document provides guidance on how to write a personal narrative. It defines a personal narrative as a personal account that offers details, analysis, and a personal opinion about an event experienced by the writer. It then lists the steps to write a personal narrative, which include choosing an experience, drafting recollections, adding details, revising, and leaving out unnecessary information. The document also discusses introducing the experience, connecting perspectives in the body, and concluding the narrative. It provides examples of narrative topics and writing prompts.

1. HOW TO WRITE A
PERSONAL NARRATIVE
?

2. Content
1. Definition of a Personal Narrative
2. Writing Personal Narratives
3. Famous Personal Narrative Examples
4. Steps for Writing a Personal Narrative
4.0.1. Choose the Experience or Event to be Reported
4.0.2. Draft Your Recollections
4.0.3. Scribble Down Random Sentences and Paragraphs
4.0.4. Add the Small Details
4.0.5 Revise Your Draft
4.0.6 Leave Out the Unnecessary Details
5. Basic Outline and Format of a Personal Narrative
5.0.1. Introduction: Transport the Importance of Your Experience
5.0.2. Body Paragraphs: Connect Perspectives
5.0.3 Conclusion: Ending Your Narration
5.1 Personal Narrative Ideas and Topics
5.2 Personal Narrative Writing Prompts

3. Definition
“A personal account which offers details, analysis and a personal opinio
n from a particular happening or event, experienced by the writer”.

4. Writing Personal Narratives
• Writing a personal narrative simply means writing a story, resembling to an.
• The narrative essay makes a point, which is usually pointed out, in the ope
ning paragraph.
• Personal narratives are told from a defined perspective, which is usually of t
he author’s.
• Personal narratives repeatedly provide sensory details to get the reader ca
ught up in the fundamentals and sequencing of the story.
• It typically is in the shape of a story.
• A personal narrative tends to convey readers into time and space of the glo
be portrayed by the author.

5. Famous Personal Narrative
Examples
• By Donald R. Burgett
• By Edward L. Beach
• By Roger Hilsman
• By Anne Frank
• By Jeannette Walls
• By Devin Scillian
• By Jane Yolen
• By Caroline Knapp
• By Ji-li Jiang

6. Steps for Writing a Personal
Narrative:
• Choose the Experience or Event to be Reported
• Draft Your Recollections
• Scribble Down Random Sentences and Paragraphs
• Add the Small Details
• Revise Your Draft
• Leave Out the Unnecessary Details

7. Choose the Experience or Event
to be Reported
Keep these three basic principles in mind:
• Remember the audience that you will be writing for. A better narrativ
e is one that interestingly recreates an incident for its readers rather than plai
nly telling the story.
• Ensure that your experience is meaningful to the readers. For this to hold tru
e, find a generalization that your story supports. This generalization does n
ot necessarily have to include the entire humanity; it can target a particular ag
e group or people from a specific background.
• Bear in mind that the story that you are going to write about is not plainly
a story to be told, it has to have a meaning and must provide details clearl
y as to support, explain and enhance the story.

8. Draft Your Recollections
• Now, spend enough time on drafting your recollections about the details of you
r experience.
• Here is the time to create an outline of the basic parts of your narrative.

9. Scribble Down Random
Sentences and Paragraphs
• Explain each part of your narrative.
• Rather than telling the audience dryly of what happened, try to recreate
the experience creating life into it.
• For this, it is important to think like the audience because the information
that you present is the only one that they have got.

10. Add the Small Details
• Also, keep in mind that the minute details that might seem unimportant to you
are not necessarily going to be unimportant to the readers.
• Those details might spice up your personal narrative.

11. Revise Your Draft
• After completing the first draft, read your narrative as to have an idea whether
the entire point has been clearly made and whether the experience is recreate
d through the writing.
• Present your narrative to others and get possible advice and opinion of whe
ther they think you have made your point in the entire piece or not.

12. Leave Out the Unnecessary Details
• Identify areas where more information and details are needed, cut off from pla
ces where additional information is somewhat making the narrative seem less
appealing.
• Rewrite the entire narrative clearing out the mistakes that have been pointed
out. Once you are done with the second draft, there are fewer chances of furth
er errors.

13. Basic Outline and Format of a
Personal Narrative
• Introduction: Transport the Importance of Your Experience
• Body Paragraphs: Connect Perspectives
• Conclusion: Ending Your Narration

14. Introduction: Transport the
Importance of Your Experience
• It is ideal to begin with a paragraph that will introduce the experience and will c
ommunicate its significance. This technique promises that your audience
will know how important the experience is to you, as the author, as they go thr
ough the entire piece.
• Another effective technique is to begin your narrative right away and explainin
g its significance at the very end. This approach allows the reader to develop t
heir own perspective and give a suitable importance to the experience on the
ir own.

15. Body Paragraphs: Connect
Perspectives
• Provide a later explanation in the body paragraphs where you explain abo
ut the significance and how important it is to you.
• This will help your readers to connect both perspectives.
• This approach might connect a great deal of significance to your experi
ence.

16. Conclusion:
Ending Your Narration
• End your personal narrative by telling the readers the deduction, analysis or
effect on your life or thoughts of the experience.

17. Personal Narrative
Ideas and Topics
Following are a few personal narrative ideas and topics to help you get started
on your narrative writing.
• A childhood memory
• Achieving a goal
• A failure
• An event that caused a prominent change in your life
• A realization
• My best friend
• The biggest mistake I have ever made
• The most embarrassing moment in my life
• My happiest moment in my life

18. Personal Narrative
Writing Prompts
• Scary experiences Interesting happenings
• Joyful moments Success stories
• Changing places Inspiration
• Seasons Hard timings
• Celebratory moments Admiration