Authors' Paradize
A collection of book reviews, releases and stories of authors and great books.
The Power of Storytelling: How to Use Narrative to Strengthen Your Writing
Humans tell stories to make sense of the world. They bring facts to life and help humans to share emotions. Storytelling is central to every culture and is one of the most basic ways to transmit knowledge. A compelling story with an emotional trigger can have a great impact on readers. You may not be gifted with good narrative skills, but you can improve them with some guidance and practice.
Read widely
Reading widely allows you to understand more about language, including vocabulary, grammar, and spelling. All these basic elements of language you find in books give you the foundation you need for writing narratives. You will begin to learn how the use of narrative writing helps you to capture the imagination of readers.
Create a compelling plot
A good story with a well-constructed plot allows your readers to see things in a different way. You can use nonfiction or fiction narratives to educate, motivate or entertain readers.
How you introduce the characters and establish conflict throughout your narrative will keep readers invested. The plot should end with some kind of satisfaction for readers as you tie all the loose ends together.
Find narrative writing help
If you are stuck when it comes to narrative writing, you can get help from professionals. You can hire a screenwriter or use ghostwriting company available online. Many students find a writer online to assist them with their assignments. A writer with experience in academic writing can help you to submit a quality piece of work. Your own narrative writing skills will improve when you can study good examples of this writing style to help you learn.
Your characters must be believable
Your characters should have flaws just like people have in real life. Readers should be able to relate to them. The motivations of characters must make sense to them. If your characters are too perfect from the start, you don’t give them room to grow. Readers want to see how they develop.
M ake your dialogue flow naturally
Using first-person narration immediately establishes a connection between the reader and the character. Using the same idioms, slang, etc., you would use in speech will make your narrative writing more immediate and less clinical. Dialogue also has to be true to the period of your story and reflect the background of a character. It is affected by the character’s background, social status, upbringing, etc.
Use sensory imagery
Narrative stories must include imagery that appeals to the senses of the readers. Don’t just describe what an object looks like but how it smells, sounds, tastes, or feels. Fiction writers know how to use telling sensory details to convey meaning. You should try limiting one sense to really experience the others. Close your eyes, and you will hear more, smell more, and taste more.
Think about pacing
A good story has the kind of pacing that engages readers. It isn’t too slow in parts which can be boring. It isn’t so packed with action in parts that it’s exhausting for readers. Try and see how other writers pace their work. How does the writer introduce the topic in his exposition? Writers will often bring up a new topic at a point where a change in pace is necessary.
Cut out unnecessary details
Scenes that don’t develop your characters or contribute to your storyline will make your story suffer. They can disturb its rhythm. If you want to make your story flow better, you may have to cut out some extraneous details. You may love a certain description of the surrounding countryside, but it will bore readers if there isn’t a good reason to include it.
Add layers
A good story will convey how characters really feel. To convey this, you have to add layers to your story. Describing the body language of a character can help you to do this. For example, a wife may appear to love her husband, but if she flinches when he comes near, this reveals some deeper issues and gives added complexity to your story.
Telling a story is one of the best ways to inspire, motivate, teach, and inform readers. It can take time and practice to learn how to write narrative text. Observing how other writers do it is often one of the best ways to learn.
You will also need to practice if you want to create a compelling plot and believable characters. Using sensory imagery and good dialogue will help to elevate your story. All the above tips will help you craft better stories that woo your audience.
Read widely
Reading widely allows you to understand more about language, including vocabulary, grammar, and spelling. All these basic elements of language you find in books give you the foundation you need for writing narratives. You will begin to learn how the use of narrative writing helps you to capture the imagination of readers.
Create a compelling plot
A good story with a well-constructed plot allows your readers to see things in a different way. You can use nonfiction or fiction narratives to educate, motivate or entertain readers.
How you introduce the characters and establish conflict throughout your narrative will keep readers invested. The plot should end with some kind of satisfaction for readers as you tie all the loose ends together.
Find narrative writing help
If you are stuck when it comes to narrative writing, you can get help from professionals. You can hire a screenwriter or use ghostwriting company available online. Many students find a writer online to assist them with their assignments. A writer with experience in academic writing can help you to submit a quality piece of work. Your own narrative writing skills will improve when you can study good examples of this writing style to help you learn.
Your characters must be believable
Your characters should have flaws just like people have in real life. Readers should be able to relate to them. The motivations of characters must make sense to them. If your characters are too perfect from the start, you don’t give them room to grow. Readers want to see how they develop.
M ake your dialogue flow naturally
Using first-person narration immediately establishes a connection between the reader and the character. Using the same idioms, slang, etc., you would use in speech will make your narrative writing more immediate and less clinical. Dialogue also has to be true to the period of your story and reflect the background of a character. It is affected by the character’s background, social status, upbringing, etc.
Use sensory imagery
Narrative stories must include imagery that appeals to the senses of the readers. Don’t just describe what an object looks like but how it smells, sounds, tastes, or feels. Fiction writers know how to use telling sensory details to convey meaning. You should try limiting one sense to really experience the others. Close your eyes, and you will hear more, smell more, and taste more.
Think about pacing
A good story has the kind of pacing that engages readers. It isn’t too slow in parts which can be boring. It isn’t so packed with action in parts that it’s exhausting for readers. Try and see how other writers pace their work. How does the writer introduce the topic in his exposition? Writers will often bring up a new topic at a point where a change in pace is necessary.
Cut out unnecessary details
Scenes that don’t develop your characters or contribute to your storyline will make your story suffer. They can disturb its rhythm. If you want to make your story flow better, you may have to cut out some extraneous details. You may love a certain description of the surrounding countryside, but it will bore readers if there isn’t a good reason to include it.
Add layers
A good story will convey how characters really feel. To convey this, you have to add layers to your story. Describing the body language of a character can help you to do this. For example, a wife may appear to love her husband, but if she flinches when he comes near, this reveals some deeper issues and gives added complexity to your story.
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ConclusionTelling a story is one of the best ways to inspire, motivate, teach, and inform readers. It can take time and practice to learn how to write narrative text. Observing how other writers do it is often one of the best ways to learn.
You will also need to practice if you want to create a compelling plot and believable characters. Using sensory imagery and good dialogue will help to elevate your story. All the above tips will help you craft better stories that woo your audience.
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Any facts, figures or references stated here are made by the author & don't reflect the endorsement of iU at all times unless otherwise drafted by official staff at iU. This article was first published here on 1st March 2023.