By Hannah Pais:
We oftentimes hate it when English teachers give us a dense book to analyze. A common remark I hear from my friends is, “Why do we have to read this book written in the 1800’s? It’s not even relative to 2019!” So, why is it that when students are given the task to write personal narratives, they struggle just the same? Could it be that we don’t want to boast? Or maybe we think that our lives are not interesting enough to write an entire essay about? Whatever the struggle may be, hopefully a few tips on how to craft this style piece can give you a little help. Who knows, maybe you’ll even like writing them in the future.
The great Stephen King once said, “One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because you're maybe a little bit ashamed of your short ones.” When you’re writing a personal narrative, make sure the tone, diction, and examples all exhibit who you are. Don’t try to dress up your essay to make it seem harder and more scholarly. Although a few beefed up vocabulary words make a great addition, you should focus on what you want to be said and reflected about yourself.
Make sure that your piece has an accurate timeline using proper tenses. Say you’re writing about your earliest memory in life. To do so, you have to utilize the past tense. If your memory was going to a pool, say “I went to a pool,” rather than “I am going to a pool.” Seems a little silly, but several people struggle with consistent tenses, thus making their writing choppy.
Write down all your thoughts first (even if it’s a little crazy), and go from there. Several students at BHS have a tendency of trying to write a perfectly polished essay on the first go-around (I am guilty of this as well!). It is almost like we are worried that things we write down are somehow “wrong.” However, getting your thoughts down can really help change your end result. You get a better idea of what you want the substance of your piece to be, and you get to pick the most important parts about your narrative.
This is quite obvious, but be personal! If what you’re writing is not the most extravagant life story ever, that is absolutely okay. No teacher is ever going to tell you that your memory or story about yourself is too boring. Don’t make something up just to add a layer to your personal narrative. The main goal of a personal narrative is to give a glimpse of who you are, and the piece is supposed to transport the reader to this moment in your life. So, what can you do to make this happen?
-Use imagery to help the reader visualize the moment
-Use diction to reflect how you felt in that moment. If it was a sad moment, use slower or darker diction. If you felt terrified in that moment, use quick diction to emphasize terror
-Use the word “I,” but not too much (only if it is necessary and non-repetitive)
-Use quote integration to help tie in what was said and what you’re explaining in the story
Have fun with your narrative! Pick something with true meaning and value to you. Writing something you care about and something personal is much better than writing about something you are disinterested in.