Reflection on Narrative Style

To write in the narrative style means to write about a personal experience or event using your own style to get your message across to your readers. Therefore, to me, narrative pieces are one of the easiest styles of writing because it offers writers flexibility to write about whatever is on their mind. Basically, writing a narrative is like telling a story that reveals a lot about yourself (your character, attitude, personality) to your readers. Narratives do not have to be complicated and complex in their ideas and language. In fact, the article, "How to Write With Style" in the English 101 Reader, urges writers to keep it simple when writing a narrative. Keeping it simple allows the reader to be able to understand what you are trying to say, and enjoy reading the story. Sometimes keeping sentences and ideas simple make more of an impact and reveal more about yourself to the reader than if you tried to use more flowery language to produce the same idea. For example, as I read through the narrative piece in the English 101 Reader titled, "On Being a Cripple" by Nancy Mairs, simple sentences, such as, "I am a cripple" were used throughout the piece. By using simple and straightforward sentences, Mairs successfully got her ideas across to the reader in a way that the reader could easily understand. "On Being a Cripple" is a perfect example of a narrative because the author writes about a topic that is very personal to her: living with multiple sclerosis (MS). It is important to choose a topic that you care about and is personal to you when writing a narrative because that will allow you to write with a compelling style that is unique to you and will make for a more exciting reading experience for your readers. Writing a narrative is a lot like writing in a journal or diary. It is the perfect writing style to use in order to get your emotions across about a particular situation or experience that is unique to you. One of the most fascinating aspects of a narrative piece is the fact that twenty people can write about the same topic, and reading each paper would not be boring because everyone has unique beliefs and perceptions that would make each paper unique in its own way. Writing in the narrative style does not require much thinking. The purpose of a narrative piece is to pour whatever is in your heart and your gut out onto paper. It is not the time to use as much flowery, symbolic language as possible in order to gain style points and be artistic. The hardest part to writing a narrative piece is to choose a topic. Once you have gotten past that, all you have to do is write, write, write!