How to Write a Narrative Essay Introduction

There is hardly a more important part in a writing piece than its introduction. It has multiple functions and in many cases, the first impression that your writing makes on readers depends solely on the introduction chapter. When so much hinges on it, it’s easy to get frozen and hesitant. Is your introduction impressive enough? Does it tick all the boxes? Will your reader be intrigued? Is your style fluent enough to lure them into the main body? The bad news is, such hesitations will never leave you – it’s completely normal for a writer to hate his or her own work. The good news is, there are some proven techniques to follow, and if you don’t feel that your introduction improves with their use, at least you will have the benefit of following a defined set of rules, which adds confidence. Let’s focus on writing introduction for narrative essay. Debunking the myths For some reason, there is a certain amount of false beliefs that surround narrative writing in general and the contents of narrative paper chapters in particular. Myth No.1: A narrative paper can’t be personal. Quite the opposite – a narrative paper is almost always personal because the best kinds of stories are told by people about themselves. Narrative papers are often assigned as admission papers, where admission officers will look closely at the personal component. Myth No. 2: There is a separate set of rules for how to start a narrative paper. Not quite true. The introduction to a narrative paper will be somewhere in between the academic and fiction worlds. That’s why the narrative paper rules are more of a mix of the two sets of rules. You should still rely on academic writing norms but add a significant amount of fiction writing tricks – attention grabbing, etc. Myth No. 3: An introduction to a narrative paper doesn’t need a thesis. This is not true at all. Every paper needs a summary statement that will be further expanded in the body paragraphs. The thesis statement for a narrative essay will be different from other kinds of papers, of course, but it will still exist. Getting ready to writing a narrative essay introduction As with any other activity, you need a plan before you start working. Suppose you already have an outline for the entire paper, so you know how you want to proceed. Decide on the following: Will you write your introduction before or after all the other parts? It is generally recommended to put off writing of the introduction until you have written all the other chapters, as then you will have a better understanding of the general flow of your paper. However, many writers choose to start with the introduction part. They feel that the introduction will set the tone for the entire paper. Choose the approach that works for you, personally. How long will your introduction be? There are still word limits, even if you are working on a rather creative paper. How much of its word count will you allocate to the introduction chapter? What will you include in it? Different kinds of information can be included in the introduction chapter: while some prefer to go with only the thesis statement, others pack the introduction with background information, elaboration on the importance of the topic, and other things. In deciding how many aspects to include in your introduction, don’t forget about the word limit. Starting your introduction for narrative essay The first and the most important thing that your introduction should start with is the attention hook, i.e. something that will force your reader to pay attention. There are multiple ways to do it, here are just a few: providing unexpected statistics; stirring emotion; stirring curiosity; quoting a famous person, etc. The wording you choose plays a major role. Omit long, hard-to-read sentences. You reader should be drawn into your paper and forced to read more and more – which is hard to achieve if your writing is hardly comprehensible. You could go with the so-called incipit introduction, where you start with the end of the story. It can be especially appropriate for narrative papers, but you should be careful not to overdo it. The attention hook should be followed by describing the setting. There are two approaches here: you can either describe only the events that were precursors to the main conflict in your paper or you could include the â€Å"feelings† part. Your choice should depend on the kind of story you are telling – which one is more appropriate? The last paragraph is usually reserved for the thesis statement, and there are no reasons to change it in the narrative paper. Besides, summarizing your point in the last paragraph of the introduction makes a nice break and holds your reader in suspense until she reaches the main body (if you manage to build such suspense, of course). Concluding recommendations There are a few recommendations that apply to narrative writing in general. First of all, you can’t afford to just tell about things. You need to show them. The descriptive language should help you, as well as a well-considered approach to describing the sensory effects of events. Talk about smells and looks and sounds instead of giving a dry account. Second, you should consider including the psychological element. What did the main characters feel as the events unfolded? You are most likely to be the only main character, so you shouldn’t have problems describing the psychological effect. Finally, try to implement all the small copywriting tricks – simple sentences, building up tension, using transitions – to make your story more cohesive. If a reader can’t but read your entire paper at one go, you have created an amazing piece of work. These are the fundamentals of writing introductions to narrative papers, but they should suffice if you have no clear idea of the subject in general. With time and practice, you will be able to develop your own set of rules to follow. For now, stick to the general recommendations outlined above.