Q&A for How to Write a Personal Narrative

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How do I add detail? I'm not very good at that.

Community Answer

Take a sentence and say to yourself: Okay, how do I make this longer? For example: "The boy ran." Then add more detail to make a mental picture. Is he tall? Is he wearing an odd hat? Is he running slow? Is he sprinting? Is he a neighbor? Is he barefoot? Is he chasing the mailman? Does he have a name? Is he being followed by anyone? Is he holding anything? Then it becomes: "The tall, white, Jewish boy who lives down the street raced by my house at top speed with a thick, white envelope in his hand -- wearing only one bright red sneaker and a black sock -- while yelling for the mailman to stop.

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Question

How do I write a personal narrative for a day I will never forget?

Community Answer

Consider why you won't forget the event. From there you should portray yourself in a way that gets the reader to believe that you won't forget this while they are in the process of reading. Give the reader reasons to see the event in the same way that you do.

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Question

In my class we are supposed to write figurative language and imagery. How can I use them?

Community Answer

Figurative language can be used in a variety of circumstances, and imagery is mainly used to describe the setting, characters and other details in a text.

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Question

Can I start a narrative with dialogue?

Community Answer

Sure, if the dialogue is important to your narrative, it's fine to start with that.

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Question

Is a personal narrative written in story form?

Community Answer

Yes, personal narratives are often written in story form.

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Question

Is it possible to write a personal narrative that is made up?

Community Answer

Yes, as long as it maintains some sort of realism and sounds believable. Of course, personal narrative is nonfiction, so if you exaggerate or add made-up detail/events/etc., you are now writing fiction (or fictionalized history). Keep that in mind if you need to do this for school, and have been given strict criteria by your teacher.

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Question

My personal narrative has background information in the middle of the story. Is this okay? If not, how can I fix it if it wouldn't fit in the beginning?

Community Answer

That's probably fine, unless you're writing it for school and your teacher has given you very strict parameters. Sometimes it's more interesting to set the scene some other way, like with an anecdote, and then bring in the background information a little later in the narrative.

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Question

Is it better to write in pen or pencil?

Community Answer

Whichever you prefer, though pencil will more readily allow you to correct any mistakes.

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Question

Does anyone know a good app or thing I should use to write my books? I use Pages, but I want to be able to see other options.

Community Answer

Wattpad is an app that lets you write stories and read others stories as well.

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Question

This sentence is grammatically incorrect. The very first Step #1 copy and pasted here ---> It does not need to major moment as long as it feels memorable and important to you.

Community Answer

Thank you for pointing out this error - it's now been fixed. If you spot any more grammatical issues on wikiHow, you can always click the 'edit' button and fix them yourself.

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Question

Can we write a personal narrative that includes fantasy?

Community Answer

No, because personal narrative are real stories that have happened to you.

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Question

Can I get a good grade for writing a personal narrative about a teacher a have a passionate hatred for?

Donagan

Top Answerer

It's possible you could get a good grade if your narrative is cleverly written, humorous, relatable, well-reasoned, non-vitriolic or even displays some of these qualities.

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