The personal narrative paper is the best place to have your
home-schooled teen start writing. Writing what they know makes learning
to write well, not only effective, but meaningful to the child. Once
they have picked a great topic or event to write about, what is the best
way to start?
I always have my students write their narrative rough draft in one sitting. The more prepared they are beforehand, the better success they have in writing that first Paper. There is a pre-writing process that will make it much easier for your children to write their own story. Most of the pre-writing should be done in chart or note form, with just words or short phrases.
The Story Map:
Start by listing all the characters, human or animal, found in the event. But before adding descriptive notes on the characters, your teen should state, as clearly as he or she can in one sentence, the problem, difficulty, or challenge in the story. Have them look through a short list of action verbs and pick the best action verbs that fit that problem, difficulty, or challenge.
Then, they should write down where and when the event happened as well as why it happened, or the primary cause of the event. A way to help them see their experience from a larger perspective would be for them to jot down the answers to a couple of questions. What if that event had not happened? What if it had happened differently?
Audience and Purpose:
The goal of the narrative paper is to convey the meaning and importance of one's experience to a particular audience. Have your child think about their audience and what background information they will need to understand that experience. Here are some questions that will guide their thinking.
Who is your audience? What does your audience need to know before they can understand your experience? What perceptions do you want to communicate? Fear, surprise, anger, frustration, happiness?
The Plot:
Next, have them lay out the events of their narrative experience. They should think of both actions and conversations as part of the plot layout. First, state how the event began, then, what happened next, and next, and next.
However, it is a clearly described climax that is most important for the success of any narrative paper. The climax is the point at which the winner wins and there is no more "problem." Here is another place to have them write a complete sentence. Can they pinpoint the exact moment of the climax using action verbs? Their sentence should correspond with the sentence written about the problem, difficulty, or challenge of the story.
Finally, have them jot down a note or two on the resolution of their narrative, on the closing scene. I discourage my student's from ending with a "philosophical" or "moral" statement. "I learned that" somehow instantly dissipates the real meaning of the narrative for the reader. Better to end with real life than with a "moral."
Characters:
Well developed characters are important to any story. Have your teen think of the people involved in the event. Then they should fill in some details concerning the two main people involved, starting with themselves.
Include the name of the character and his or her age and role in the event. Then list some details of that person's looks, hair, clothing, and so on. What are that character's feelings and attitudes? Write down one important thing the character says. What does that character want? Why do they do whatever they do in the story?
These pre-writing exercises give your teen the chance to look at the event from a variety of perspectives. It also gives them a rough outline or map so that when they do write their first draft, just writing becomes easier and more successful.
I always have my students write their narrative rough draft in one sitting. The more prepared they are beforehand, the better success they have in writing that first Paper. There is a pre-writing process that will make it much easier for your children to write their own story. Most of the pre-writing should be done in chart or note form, with just words or short phrases.
The Story Map:
Start by listing all the characters, human or animal, found in the event. But before adding descriptive notes on the characters, your teen should state, as clearly as he or she can in one sentence, the problem, difficulty, or challenge in the story. Have them look through a short list of action verbs and pick the best action verbs that fit that problem, difficulty, or challenge.
Then, they should write down where and when the event happened as well as why it happened, or the primary cause of the event. A way to help them see their experience from a larger perspective would be for them to jot down the answers to a couple of questions. What if that event had not happened? What if it had happened differently?
Audience and Purpose:
The goal of the narrative paper is to convey the meaning and importance of one's experience to a particular audience. Have your child think about their audience and what background information they will need to understand that experience. Here are some questions that will guide their thinking.
Who is your audience? What does your audience need to know before they can understand your experience? What perceptions do you want to communicate? Fear, surprise, anger, frustration, happiness?
The Plot:
Next, have them lay out the events of their narrative experience. They should think of both actions and conversations as part of the plot layout. First, state how the event began, then, what happened next, and next, and next.
However, it is a clearly described climax that is most important for the success of any narrative paper. The climax is the point at which the winner wins and there is no more "problem." Here is another place to have them write a complete sentence. Can they pinpoint the exact moment of the climax using action verbs? Their sentence should correspond with the sentence written about the problem, difficulty, or challenge of the story.
Finally, have them jot down a note or two on the resolution of their narrative, on the closing scene. I discourage my student's from ending with a "philosophical" or "moral" statement. "I learned that" somehow instantly dissipates the real meaning of the narrative for the reader. Better to end with real life than with a "moral."
Characters:
Well developed characters are important to any story. Have your teen think of the people involved in the event. Then they should fill in some details concerning the two main people involved, starting with themselves.
Include the name of the character and his or her age and role in the event. Then list some details of that person's looks, hair, clothing, and so on. What are that character's feelings and attitudes? Write down one important thing the character says. What does that character want? Why do they do whatever they do in the story?
These pre-writing exercises give your teen the chance to look at the event from a variety of perspectives. It also gives them a rough outline or map so that when they do write their first draft, just writing becomes easier and more successful.
Daniel Yordy is Your Editor at The Writing Conservatory. He has
taught writing to students - and learned writing - for almost 30 years.
His effective writing course has been hammered out inside of junior
high, high school, and college classrooms.
Pre written Papersthesis and dissertation
