Writing a Personal Narrative: Part 1

Finding the Focus
You have been asked to write a personal narrative, now what?  Also, when you try to write about something personal, the essay often turns into a blow by blow diary, and unless this is what the readers have asked for in a competition, you will miss the mark. It's very important to keep your audience in mind whenever you write.

Some quick tips about writing include:

  • Don't expect a perfect essay when you start out. A great essay takes many drafts to write, not just 1 or 2 - more like 10 to 12.
  • Keep all of your drafts, doodles, ideas, brainstorms, or anything that helped you with your writing in one place. A folder or notebook works great.
  • Plan on writing in chunks of time from 15 minutes to 1 hour per day.
  • Give yourself time to think about what you want to say. Digest what you have written and come back to it the next day. Re-read what you wrote and decide whether revisions are warranted.

Student writing

Getting Your Creative Writing Juices Flowing

Day 1:

  1. Write the theme on a piece of paper.
  2. Under the theme, write the goal of your essay.
  3. For the next 10 minutes write down everything you know about the theme and goal on a personal level. This is called a brain dump. Let your writing rest for about 1 day and do NOT start writing on anything yet.

Day 2:

  1. Use the same piece of paper and add another 10-minute brain dump under Day 2 and repeat this for at least 2 days.
  2. On Day 5, read everything you have written. Jot down any additional ideas that come to mind as you read. Is there anything written that you believe fits the theme and the goal? If so, highlight these areas and write them on another sheet of paper along with any of your notes. Now you can start to develop your ideas.
  3. After trying the steps above, if you are stuck on this writing assignment, talk to other people like your family, school mates, or teacher about the theme and goal to get their perspectives. Think about what they have said and how you agree or disagree with them, and repeat the brain dump steps.