The Purpose of Narrative Writing
Narration means the art of storytelling, and the purpose of narrative writing is to tell stories. Any time you tell a
story to a friend or family member about an event or incident in your day, you engage in a form of narration. A
narrative can be factual or fictional.
A factual story is one that is based on, and tries to be faithful to, actual events as they unfolded in real life. A
fictional story is a made-up, or imagined, story; when writing a fictional story, we can create characters and
events to best fit our story.
The big distinction between factual and fictional narratives is determined by a writer’s purpose. The writers of
factual stories try to recount events as they actually happened, but writers of fictional stories can depart from
real people and events because their intentions are not to retell a real-life event. Biographies and memoirs are
examples of factual stories, whereas novels and short stories are examples of fictional stories.
Because the line between fact and fiction can often blur, it is helpful to understand what your purpose is from
the beginning. Is it important that you recount history, either your own or someone else’s? Or does your interest
lie in reshaping the world in your own image—either how you would like to see it or how you imagine it could
be? Your answers will go a long way in shaping the stories you tell.
Ultimately, whether the story is fact or fiction, narrative writing tries to relay a series of events in an emotionally
engaging way. You want your audience to be moved by your story, which could mean through laughter,
sympathy, fear, anger, and so on. The more clearly you tell your story, the more emotionally engaged your
audience is like.
The Structure of a Narrative Essay
Major narrative events are most often conveyed in chronological order, the order in which events unfold from
first to last. Stories typically have a beginning, a middle, and
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an end, and these events are typically organized by time. However, sometimes it can be effective to begin with
an exciting moment from the climax of the story (“flash-forward”) or a pivotal event from the past (“flash-back”)
before returning to a chronological narration. Certain transitional words and phrases aid in keeping the reader
oriented in the sequencing of a story. Some of these phrases are listed in Table of Transition Words and
Phrases for Expressing Time. For more information about chronological