Welcome to Story Writing: Real and Fictional Experiences!
Hello, Story Writer! Have you ever told someone about something fun you did at the weekend? Or have you ever made up an exciting adventure about a magical dragon or a talking animal? If so, you are already a storyteller!
In this chapter, we will learn how to write narratives. A narrative is simply a story that tells about events in order. You will learn how to write stories about real experiences (things that really happened to you or other people) and fictional experiences (made-up stories from your brilliant imagination).
Note: For help with planning and checking your work, see the chapter on Planning, evaluating and proof-reading.
What is a Narrative?
A narrative tells a story. Every good story has parts that fit together like puzzle pieces:
• Characters: The people, animals, or creatures in the story (these are nouns).
• Setting: The place and time where the story happens (like a sunny park or a dark castle).
• Events: What happens at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end.
Quick Takeaway: A narrative shares an adventure by telling what characters do and what happens to them from start to finish.
Stories About Real Experiences (Personal Experiences)
A real experience story is about something that actually happened in real life! It could be about a trip to the seaside, playing with a friend, or losing a toy.
Writing About Yourself
When you write about yourself, you are sharing a personal experience. Here are top tips for writing real stories:
• Use the special pronoun I when talking about yourself. Remember: the word I must always be written as a capital letter!
• Use names for your friends or family (like Mum, Dad, or Ben). Names of people must also start with a capital letter.
• Keep your events in order so the reader understands what happened first, next, and last.
Example of a real experience narrative:
On Saturday, I went to the park with Ben. We kicked a big red ball. Suddenly, a little puppy ran over and chased it! We both laughed.
Stories About Other People's Real Experiences
You can also write a true story about someone else! For example, you might write about a day your teacher found a lost kitten, or how your sister learnt to ride her shiny bicycle.
Quick Takeaway: Real narratives are true stories about things you or other people have seen, felt, or done in real life.
Stories About Fictional Experiences
What does fictional mean? Fiction means made-up! A fictional narrative comes straight from your imagination. In fictional stories, animals can talk, toys can come alive, and spaceships can fly to purple planets.
Bringing Made-Up Characters and Settings to Life
Because fictional stories are made up, you get to choose everything! You can describe your characters and places using expanded noun phrases.
An expanded noun phrase uses describing words (adjectives) with a naming word (noun) to give more detail.
• Instead of just writing a monster, you could write: a giant, furry monster.
• Instead of just writing a woods, you could write: a dark, spooky woods.
Example of a fictional narrative:
One morning, a tiny green frog put on a golden crown. He hopped into the deep pond because he wanted to find a hidden treasure chest. When he opened the lid, shiny silver coins floated out into the cool water!
Quick Takeaway: Fictional narratives are invented adventures. You can use adjectives and expanded noun phrases to paint pictures in the reader's mind.
Connecting Your Story Ideas with Conjunctions
When writing both real and fictional narratives, we want our sentences to flow nicely together instead of sounding choppy. We use joining words called conjunctions to link words and clauses.
Co-ordinating Conjunctions: or, and, but
You can use these three words to join parts of your sentences:
• and: joins two ideas together (We ran to the tree and we climbed up high.)
• but: shows a difference or surprise (I looked for my teddy but it was not under the bed.)
• or: gives a choice (Did the knight take the golden key or the silver sword?)
Subordinating Conjunctions: when, if, that, because
You can also use these words to add extra information about time or reasons:
• because: explains why something happened (The boy cheered because his team scored a goal.)
• when: tells the time something took place (The stars twinkled when night fell.)
• if: shows what might happen (The dragon will sleep if you sing softly.)
• that: adds details (She found a magic box that glowed in the dark.)
Quick Takeaway: Use joining words like and, but, because, and when to build longer, exciting sentences in your stories.
Using the Right Tense (Time Words)
Most narratives are about things that have already happened, so we usually write them in the past tense. It is very important to keep your verbs in the same tense so your story makes sense!
Simple Past Tense
We use simple past verbs to show finished actions:
• We walked to the shop.
• The bird flew into the oak tree.
• He looked around the room.
Past Progressive (Continuous) Form
Sometimes in a story, an action was happening over a period of time. We use the past progressive form for this:
• The rain was falling outside.
• The children were playing happily.
Tense Consistency: The Golden Rule
Be careful not to jump between the past and the present by accident!
• Confusing: The alien landed his ship and then he runs away. (Here, landed is past, but runs is present!)
• Correct: The alien landed his ship and then he ran away. (Now both verbs are consistently in the past tense!)
Quick Takeaway: Stick to one tense throughout your story so your reader never gets muddled.
Different Sentence Types in Stories
To make your narrative fun to read, you can use different types of sentences:
• Statements: Sentences that tell information. They end with a full stop.
Example: The little boat sailed across the blue lake.
• Questions: Sentences that ask something. They start with a question word or flipped verb, and end with a question mark.
Example: Where did the magic kitten hide?
• Commands: Sentences that tell someone to do something.
Example: Look inside the cave!
• Exclamations: Special sentences that begin with What or How to show great surprise, ending with an exclamation mark.
Example: What a brave girl she was!
Example: How fast that rocket zoomed!
Quick Takeaway: Mixing statements, questions, commands, and exclamations makes your narrative exciting and lively!
Common Mistakes to Watch Out For
Don't worry if writing stories feels tricky at first! Here are three common traps to avoid:
• The Lower-Case "i": Always remember that when you write about yourself, I is always a capital letter. Never write a little dot on it!
• Missing Full Stops: Every new sentence needs a capital letter at the start and a full stop (or question mark, or exclamation mark) at the end.
• Tense Switching: If your story starts in the past (Yesterday we played...), make sure all your action words stay in the past tense.
Quick Review: Story Writer's Toolkit
Before you begin your next narrative, check your toolkit:
1. Decide: Is your story a real experience (something true) or a fictional experience (made up)?
2. Order: Does it have a clear beginning, middle, and end?
3. Details: Have you used expanded noun phrases to describe your characters and settings?
4. Joining Words: Have you used conjunctions like and, but, because, or when?
5. Punctuation: Are capital letters used for the word I, names of people, and the start of sentences? Are full stops in place?
6. Tense: Are your verbs consistent from start to finish?