A Narrative Essay Tells A Story

Usually the story is about yourself, but sometimes about others, fictional or real. There will be two types of narrative essays you will find yourself writing.

1. You will have received an assignment in an English or English-related course to write a narrative, and you may or may not have an option for a topic.
2. You will be required to write an essay for college admissions or for a scholarsip competition and the narrative essay topics will be provided by way of prompts to which you must respond.

When you have a choice of topics, you will want to think about events and/or experiences in your life that really stand out – they were hilarious, they were really serious, they were really sad or poignant. Thse always make the best narrative essays, because there is emotion involved on your part, and that emotion will come through in your writing. Here are some possible narrative essay ideas:

1. The day my dog died
2. The best day of my life so far
3. The most embarrassing incident of my life
4. The funniest experience I have ever had
5. The most frightening event in ymy life
6. The worst part-time job I’ve ever had (or the best)
7. The summer I grew up
8. My worst break-up ever
9. The best (or worst) blind date
10. An event that changed my life forever

As you can see, narrative essay topics can be on most anything that involves you. If you want to get really creative, you can write a narrative essay from the point of view of a pet or an object. Here are some possibilities:

1. The day my master picked me from the litter and brought me home
2. The day I chewed up the couch while my master was gone
3. The fight I had with that really mean dog at the dog park
4. (Your bed). The night my owner couldn’t sleep and tossed and turned all over me
5. (Your couch) The night I was horribly abused because my owner invited obese people over for a party.

When You are Given Prompts for an Admissions or Scholarship Essay

Obviously, you will not have complete freedom of choice for your narrative essay, but you wil be given options. Here are some tips for this important essay:

1. Read each prompt very carefully. Think about your life as you read them. Does something “strike” you? You need to choose a prompt that will allow you to tell a compelling sotry about yourself, so choose carefully.
2. Get the prompts as early as possible, so that you have as much time as possible to make your selection and to begin thinking about the points you want to include. Time will also allow some creative thought. Readers of these essays love those that are unique and really different.
3. While the entire esay is certainly important, the introduction, indeed, the first sentence, will be the most important part. If you don’t have the reader hooked after the first sentence, the remainder of our essay will fall flat.
4. If you are anxious about writing a really creative and engaging narrative, get some professional help.