The 5 Best Ways to Begin a Narrative Without Stress or Worry

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and are not endorsed by any educational institutions or official bodies. This article is intended for informational purposes and should not be considered as professional advice. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided, Bing's Academy makes no guarantees or warranties, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, or reliability of this article. Please use your own judgment when interpreting and using this information.

Getting started in narratives is often the hardest part. Once a story is begun, it is a lot easier to continue and finish it.

Here in Australia, narratives and stories are required to be taught from a very young age. It is covered as early as kindergarten focusing on one single event and with every year beyond that, it increases in difficulty and complexity in terms of the way it is written and assessed.  It is a key component in the NAPLAN test, Selective and all throughout high school including the HSC exam in year 12. There are many components of a narrative but they all will require an introduction. The way you start off a story will shape the rest of the story and the overall tone. Imagine if you were reading a book, if you read the start of the book and it is quite boring, would you want to continue? I doubt it.

There are heaps of ways you can start a narrative but if you wanted a guideline especially in primary school or junior high school, I will go over my favourite 5. For all narratives, you will need a prompt otherwise it won’t be as relevant or make sense in terms of the examples I use. Remember it is not the entire introduction but it is the start of an introduction which is often the hardest part.

Let’s say the narrative question was centred on -
”‘Write a story about a time you found something interesting’.
 

1.     Sounds or motion word
 
The first method is, to begin with, a sound or motion word. Students can suggest a sound that someone might hear if they find something. A suggestion could be Click. Click! Bang, Bang. Oink Oink. The next two sentences will be follow-up sentences that will tell the story that is about to take place and perhaps a hint about the object or character that is found. So if it started with ‘Oink Oink’. The next two sentences could be, ‘That is the sound I heard as I was walking down the street next to Friend Park. Suddenly I found a little piglet that I will always remember.’  Although if I started with the sounds of ‘Bang, Bang!’, it will make the story begin with more intensity and action. It depends on the story you plan on writing as the start of the story sets the tone. This technique also gets some extra marks as it is onomatopoeia and imagery which are great literary devices.

2.     Pose a question

The second method you can start with is to pose a clear question. Make sure it is not a long one as the emphasis of this is to make it thought-provoking for the reader to reflect and think about. For instance, with this prompt, it could be ‘Have you ever found something so interesting that you can’t sleep at night?’. Remember the question mark as it is a question and will typically be a rhetorical question. In this example, you will also need a second sentence that expands on the question. This can be, “This is the story about a time I found a piglet that changed my life”. It could actually be any question but it depends on the object or character. The second sentence should indicate what object or character you found interesting is. You do not want to write an entire paragraph before talking about the focus or key element of the story. Start with it as soon as possible and in just the second sentence, we introduce it.

3.     Use a quotation

Another way to begin a narrative is to use a quote. These are words spoken by someone but not in a conversation. You want to make sure this is a short sentence with only a couple of words. “Look at that,” yelled my friend Sally. “You won’t believe what I found next to Friend Park”. Or “Find a piglet, pick it up, and all day you’ll have good luck.”. “That piglet next to the park was the start of the craziest day in my life.” As you can see, I do not make it a back-and-forth conversation as any story that is heavy in conversation is just telling us what has happened without showing us. This relates back to the show don’t tell saying that everyone knows about but struggles with.

4.     Start talking

A method to start a story is to ‘just start talking’. Picture having a conversation with someone, you want to make the story logical and sequential. Don’t bounce everywhere. This includes the beginning of a story. Let’s say you start with “One day, I was walking next to the park and found something really interesting. I could hardly believe my eyes!”

5.     Restate the prompt

The fifth way to begin a narrative is by doing something that students often do in stories, especially if they have trouble and that is to simply restate the prompt. It is the same way I mentioned in the advice sheet or for the NSW writing paper for the newspaper report ‘Chaos on the Beach’. You want to first reread the prompt. (Write a story about a time you found something interesting). Then rearrange the words to make an opening sentence. For example, “everyone has found something. I am going to tell you about a time I found an interesting animal.” This is usually something I save in my back pocket if I can’t think of a better start however there are so many different approaches and methods you can use.

I’ve just gone over 5 ways you can start and begin a narrative, but I want to reiterate that this is not a complete introduction. It is only the start, and you will have to follow through and provide more information and context. It is by no means the only way to begin a story too, the good thing about a narrative is that it is flexible and requires creativity. Although for students in primary school and in high school here in NSW, they can be highly effective. The important thing here is to be able to understand it and then apply it.

Have any questions or want to know how we help students improve? Connect with us here.