What is Narrative?

A narrative is a series of connected events. That’s it. It can be fiction or non-fiction, but the decision about which events and the reasoning for why those specific events are connected are what makes something a narrative. A spoken or written creative work needs a plot, a setting, or some other narrative elements to be considered a narrative. A narrative can be presented in several different forms such as literature, dance, music, journalism, video, and more. Narrative helps you show a specific point of view or perspective, so that you can convey meaning to an audience. For instance, a story about a hospital will look different from the perspective of the patients versus the perspective of the doctors. From the perspective of the patients, you may see the frustration of not getting the care you need or feeling unheard by medical professionals. From the perspective of doctors, you may see the frustration of being understaffed, hospital administration politics, and difficult patients. In both instances, you might walk away with a different feeling. You may feel empowered as a patient. Or, you may notice different things when you enter hospital environments, and you may have a new sympathy for the doctors themselves. 

A short cut for writing narrative is starting with two separate people: an audience and a narrator. Your audience may be one specific person or a large group of people. Your narrator may be someone who’s not directly involved in the story but can see and hear everything (third person omniscient) or someone whose thoughts we can hear (first person). 

What is not a narrative?

For something to be a narrative, it needs to have certain narrative elements such as plot, characters, setting, or conflict. When these elements are missing, you’re writing something else. Let’s look at two brief, made up examples: 

  • Example 1: Chrissy asked Jeff if he’d been with Lauren at Chez Veronique last Tuesday. He denied it. Chrissy pulled out her phone and showed him photos. 
  • Example 2: A hot pan is important for scrambling eggs. Get two eggs from the fridge, some butter, some oil, and some salt. 

The first example is a narrative. There are characters, a setting, and tension that may lead to conflict, and will likely drive the plot forward. The second example is not a narrative. There are no characters, no conflict, and no plot. It may be a piece of descriptive writing used for instructional purposes. It could be turned into a narrative, though, if we add in a few elements: 

“A hot pan is important for scrambling eggs,” Chrissy said, hoping to buy some time.

Jeff ignored her. “Get two eggs from the fridge, some butter, some oil, and some salt.” 

Chrissy looked around the kitchen, hoping and praying for something to use as a distraction as she walked towards the fridge. 

Now, we have characters, we have a clear setting, we have conflict, and we have tension that will lead to conflict that drives the plot forward. There are also questions that have been raised. Why does she not want to open the fridge? What could there be in the fridge that’s that bad? And how did we even get into this situation? Did Jeff just get home and say he wants to make scrambled eggs when she was in the middle of something? What was she in the middle of?

Basic Elements of Narrative (Source)

  • Character
  • Conflict
  • Point of view
  • Plot
  • Setting
  • Theme

Character

A character is someone who can make choices and take action or exhibit specific behaviours. These choices, actions, and behaviours shape the plot and drive the story forward. It’s like that proverb goes, “Watch your thoughts, they become your words. Watch your words, they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” You need to understand your characters from thoughts to destiny – soup to nuts!

Conflict

Conflict is tension. It drives the thoughts and actions of your character. If your main character, Lester, wants to have kids, but his wife, Tess, does not want kids, then you have tension. This tension causes the characters to think new thoughts and take action. Lester and Tess thought they were going to spend the rest of their lives together. As a result, they’ve been taking actions that suggest they will spend the rest of their lives together. This conflict of wants means that Lester and Tess are now thinking new thoughts and taking new actions. Lester is thinking about ways to change his wife’s mind. 

Point of View

Point of view is the perspective that the story is told from. Point of view is incredibly important, because it communicates who or what should be emotionally important to the audience or, in other words, how they should approach this emotionally. A first-person POV tells the reader that we are up close and personal with this person. That we may or may not like them, but we’re being entrusted with their secrets. It asks, “Perhaps you relate too…even if you don’t want to admit it.” It is intimate. It makes you feel a sense of responsibility for the protagonist, even if they’re not someone you would typically associate with. Simply listening and witnessing makes you feel culpable and as a result, you find yourself begging them to make better choices or to change their perspective about something. Meanwhile, the third-person omniscient POV creates a sense of grandiosity and a sense of power. It’s a bird’s-eye view. You watch and observe and you know everything that’s going on everywhere but you’re not a character within the story. When you’re trying to figure out the effect you want to have on the reader, playing around with point of view can help. 

Plot

Plot is the cause-and-effect of your story. It’s how the events you’ve chosen to highlight are connected to each other. Usually, they are connected to each other based on the actions of different characters. Plots are made up of plot points. These are moments of change within the story. A moment of change is usually when a character gets a piece of information or experiences something that makes them adjust their behaviour and act differently. There are also specific “beats”, which are smaller, emotional moments that build up towards a specific plot point. 

Setting

Your setting is where the story takes place. This could be the physical setting, but it also includes the time period as well as the social and cultural dynamics of your world. For instance, the setting of Game of Thrones is a fictional medieval kingdom, but there are still social and cultural dynamics that the audience learns in order to understand the lives of the characters, why they do what they do, and the stakes that come with different decisions. 

Theme

Themes are the “big ideas” or the underlying idea that runs throughout the entire story. Sometimes, an author will state the theme explicitly, but usually this is something that is subjective and up for interpretation. For instance, the Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings series could be about good versus evil or love versus power. In The Hunger Games, the theme could be survival and eventual resistance against an oppressive government. 

Understanding narrative helps you effectively tell a story for entertainment, business, or educational purposes

When you understand the different elements of narrative, it’s much easier to meet your communication goals. Communication goals come in all shapes and sizes, but they often feel into the broader categories of entertainment, business, or education. Understanding how to tell a good story can help you tackle these goals more effectively.