1

INTRODUCTION TO NARRATIVE
WRITING stories of misadventure and
search
This unit of work is for students at Yr. 5 level or above. The aims of the ten
weeks long programme are the following:
To encourage students to create stories
To help them realise that they are doing this naturally by recounting
events from their daily lives
To stimulate students imaginations by presenting them with many
good short story models at their reading time
To teach them how to structure different types of narratives e.g.
stories of misadventure or quest, and narratives about people, places,
animals and things
To provide many opportunities for story making/telling/writing and
letting students use different parts of the story structures to do this
the beginning, the middle or the end, as well as working with
complete stories
To teach students to analyse and synthesise text
To teach students how to present information in point form and in
prose
Tutors are asked to encourage and praise all efforts of the students and
guide them sensitively when necessary. Many young and older pupils who
request the help of tutors show a marked reluctance to write, pleading that
they cannot spell correctly, or they do not understand paragraphing and
other punctuation symbols. The spell-check on the computer can deal with
the first deficiency and teaching story structures can help with the latter,
along with topic writing. Listening exercises to identify longer and shorter
pauses can aid the identification of commas and full stops.
Formal grammar, punctuation, parts of speech and spelling lessons need to
be taught frequently.
B C Kenna RSM

NAR
RRAT
TIVE
E WRIITING
G stories of
misadven
nture and ssearch
h
The word narraative is a big wordd meaning story. So,
S narrativve writing
g really
means story writing. I caan hear thee groans an
nd moans of the stuudents com
ming
througgh cybersppace to my
y ears from
m far, far away
a
across the year
ars!!!!!
I ccant writee stories!
I ddont havee an imagination!
I hhave ideass, but I dun
nno how tto do puncctuation an
nd paragraaphs.
I hhate writinng, becausse Im no ggood at it!!
not write stories
s
likee those in the
Yes, Ive heard it all before. Maybee you cann
above pictures, but
b I bet you
y can telll me whaat you did when youu went cam
mping
with a school grroup, or with your fa
family. I beet you can
n tell me ab
about an acccident
you haave had how
h you broke
b
thatt bone, or skinned your elbow
ws and kneees.
The evvents told about you
ur life are sstories and
d they don
nt even neeed an
imaginnation, beccause you can remeember the facts. Eveery time yoou tell som
meone
what yyou did som
mewhere, you havee told a sto
ory.
Even iif you tell a story yo
ou need to put it tog
gether in th
he best waay possiblee, so
that it will be intteresting and
a easy too understaand.

There are only thhree or four simple parts to a good storry. They aare
1. Beginnin
ng
2. Middle has one or more p
problemss

3. Solution/s to whatt has gonee wrong

4. End

The Beginn
ning
When you beginn a friendsship, you nneed somee informattion Wh
ho is this person?
p
Wheree does s/hhe live? What
W
is s/hee like? Maaybe theree are somee Whys yo
ou
want too know abbout her orr him, andd youll fin
nd those answers
a
wh
when you enjoy
e
your frriendship. Well, a sttory begin
nning answ
wers all orr some off these queestions.
So, whhen you arre plannin
ng your stoory (tha
at is so importtant!!!!)) you
think aabout the following
f

What is my story aboout? Thatss the title.

W
W is in my
Who
m story? W
Who is the storytelller? Is it yyou or a wiitness?
W
Where
did my
m story ttake place?
W
When
did th
he action hhappen one
o day, at
a midnighht, during the
t
schhool holid
days?
Why
W did thiis happen?? Sometim
mes The Beginning answers why
w
The beeginning is usually an
a ordinarry event no dramaa!
Here iss the beginnning of a story aboout a bush
hfire -

PLANNING THE BEGINNING

Ask yourself these questions and answer them -

WHAT is happening in the beginning of the Bushfire story?

Mum and Dad have to go to Ballarat - Mum is in pain - bushfires near
that city weeks ago

WHERE is the action going to take place?

Our farm near Ballan

WHO is in the story at the beginning?

Dad, Mum, Mark and I
(Who is going to tell the story?) I am - John

WHEN is this happening?

Summer holidays - one very hot Saturday in January

WHY are Mum and Dad going to Ballarat on such a hot day at the
weekend?
Mum needs dentist - Dad wants new battery for old car.
I am going to put this information together in the first paragraph - the
beginning. This paragraph will be a little story and it leads you into a
longer one! Usually, the beginning is only several sentences, so it can
fit in one paragraph.

THE BUSHFIRE

(The beginning)

My name is John and I live on a farm near Ballan. On January 15th

last, it was a very, very hot summer Saturday.
Dad told us after breakfast that Mum had had a bad night with a
nerve pain in her tooth and she had very little sleep. He said he was
going to drive her to our dentist in Ballarat, and while she was
getting treatment, hed go to the garage and get a new battery for
our paddock bomb, which was difficult to start. He was worried
about the heat of the early morning. Weeks ago, there had been
bushfires burning south and west of Ballarat.

Now, you discuss this beginning and see if you can find the information
that answers the questions about who, what, when, where, why. See
how I planned the little story for the beginning of a longer story it
was so EASY PEASY! The first paragraph is the most important one,
because if the reader doesnt like the beginning, she/he wont read the
rest! Note how I included a little hint of danger to come, with these
words bushfires burning south and west of Ballarat!

Here are some new ideas that you can organize under who, what,
when where, why

NEARLY A BUSHFIRE! (Your new story title)

You live on a little farm with your mother.

An old man comes begging for food.
He has a cigarette dangling at the corner of his mouth.
Mum said he has to cut some firewood first.

Now set out the plan -

WHO? Mum, the old man, me Jill. (I tell the story.)

WHAT? Old man comes cuts some wood has a smoke
WHEN? One day last summer
WHERE? Our little farm near Buninyong
WHY? Old man wants food - Mum needs firewood.
Write the beginning of your story and dont forget to give a hint of a future
problem cigarette dangling at the corner of the old mans mouth.

E MIDD
DLE OF
O THE
E STO
ORY
THE
This part of the story tellss us about all the thiings that happen
h
afteer a probleem
occurss. Let yourr imaginattion run rioot. Put you
ur ideas in
n point forrm.
For exxample

You wateer plants, see

s the oldd man asleeep near wood
w
heap
Grass is smoulderin
ng
You screaam
Scream wakes
w
old man.
m
You pull hose
h
towaards woodd-heap
Flames grrow and sp
pread
Old man jumps
j
on flames wiith big boo
ots
Mum grabbs boot- mat
m at backk door, begins beltin
ng
fflames
Hose wonnt stretch far, you pput finger halfway across
a
muzzzle
Long, thinn water strream reachhes fire
Old mans trousers catch firee
You sprayy him.
Mum charges old man
m with m
mat, belts flames aro
ound his llegs.

Com
mplicaationss
There are three big
b compllications hhere the hose wont stretch, the fire iss
spreadding, flamees burn thee old manns pants.
Choose yyour action
Write the middlle of the story in intteresting sentences.
s
n

words carefully

Solution tells how the problem is solved - Mums efforts with the door-mat,
your spraying with the hose-water quenched (put out) the flames.

The Ending explains how the victims are at the end of the story.
Example: The poor old mans legs were badly burnt, so Mum drove him to
Emergency at the city hospital. The nurses looked after him well. That
evening we went to visit him. My father died last year and Mum packed up
some of his pyjamas and clothes and took them to Bob. That was the mans
name. The St Vincent de Paul men found Bob a place to live in the town and he
became a new uncle to me.

Now you have a complete story with all of the parts

1.
2.
3.
4.

The Beginning
The Middle with Problem/s (This is the longest part of the story.)
The Solution explains how the trouble is put right.
The Ending tells how victims are at the end of the story.

Some teachers and text books confuse students by naming the simple parts of
a story with big words like
1. Orientation
2. Complication/s
3. Resolution
4. Conclusion

Why use big words when little words are easier to understand?

IT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO PLAN EACH

PART OF THE STORY AND WRITE DOWN
YOUR IDEAS IN POINT FORM!
Finally, you must correct your work before passing it to the teacher. This is
called editing your work. You could ask yourself the following questions:

1. Have I written on the topic?

2. Does every sentence make complete sense?

3. Have I included all the story parts e.g. the beginning, the middle, the
solution and the end?
4. Are my writing skills correct spelling, grammar, punctuation
5. Did I choose the best words to express my meaning e.g. adjectives,
adverbs, nouns, active verbs etc.

Some Topics for Story Writing

Choose a topic and write its beginning or the whole story. You could share
the task one person might write The Beginning, another student could write
The Middle, a third student might write The Solution and The End. This can
be fun!
An Emergency
A Night in the Jungle
Hit and Run!
The Crash
A Terrible Storm
A Wicked Witch in Disguise
The Bully
An Escaped Lion
Stop, Thief!

QUEST STORIES
A quest is a search for something or someone! Fairy tales are usually quest
stories. In Cinderella the prince searches the land for the beautiful, good
person he has danced with the night before, because he wants to marry her.

In the story of Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf is searching for some really
tasty food Grandma and Little Red Riding Hood.
Police stories on TV are quest stories. The policemen are searching for lawbreakers.
When you write or tell a quest story you use the story parts given above.

NARRATIVES THAT ARE NOT

MISADVENTURE OR QUEST STORIES
Such stories may be told about people their whole life story or part of it.
They might be stories that describe animals, places and things. They could tell
about something good that a particular animal did for its owner. These stories
have different structures (parts).
A Beginning this introduces the reader to the person, animal, place or
thing. It includes who, what, when, where and maybe why. This part is
the same as the beginning of an adventure story, but there need not be any
clues about danger.
The Middle this part of the story tells the reader some interesting facts
about the character, place or thing.
The Ending the storyteller or writer can inform the readers/ listeners
about the important effects of the characters or things achievements. If
you were telling the readers about your best friend, you might say
something like
This person has helped me to be my best self always.
My life would be very lonely and less happy without her.
(This is called a personal comment and it is a good way to end such stories.)

STORY TOPICS
Write a beginning for one of these topics, or write the whole story.

My Mother

10

Our dog, Jack

The Man Who Invented the Motor Car
How my town got its name

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
1. Photo of bushfire selected from Images on web titled The Victorian Bushfires in 2009
2. Clipart: man with the leg of his pants on fire artist Ron Leishman
3. Clipart: traditional fairy tales free clipart images on that topic

B C Kenna RSM
Centacare Ballarat,
17/2/12