How to Write Narrative Texts?

How to Write an Engaging and Creative Narrative Text: Step by Step

The way to maintain interest for a narrative text from the beginning to the end is an art that combines literary devices with the psychology of the reader and, above all, the ability to generate affective links with the public. When it comes to writing a compelling story, you need to know the ins and outs of the structures and character developments that drive a plot forward and keep readers invested.

This article will discuss well-structured but engaging plot points, with examples that can be implemented in fiction and nonfiction alike, through practical, genre-agnostic advice on writing a narrative. You learn to hook the reader’s attention and keep them reading all the way through to the end.

Start with a Strong Hook

The opening of a story matters. Even the first paragraph, even just the first sentence, has the ability to hook the reader’s attention and establish the mood of the tale. That hook can be a compelling question, a cryptic statement, an unusual incident, or an interesting situation.

Example:

She heard the sound of a scream coming from the kitchen, and she woke. Upon entering, she saw her mother, lying on the ground, staring at a strange letter.

This opening line adds mystery and urgency, and it makes the reader curious about what is going on and what will happen next.

Create Engaging Character

A good story has well-developed characters at its core. Writing characters that compel a reader’s interest requires the character to be interesting, complex, and ideally, with a clear motivation. Readers relate to characters who have stakes, goodness to lose, or obstacles they confront that hit an emotional nerve.

So, how do you make an interesting character? Well, there are a few different methods:

• Internal conflicts: People who face moral or psychological dilemmas often evoke empathy and interest.
• Transformation arcs: When a character changes a lot during the course of the story, the reader becomes implicated in that process of change.
• Unique personality: Individuality within your character makes them interesting.

Example:

John was not someone who gave in to pressure. In fact, he was a contrary sort of fellow. And when his parents told him he should pursue their career in law, he decided to become a street musician.

You already have John’s complexity here: he is someone who defies expectations, a character with a strong sense of individuality.

Reach about the Plot — With Clear Conflict

Need a great story? You need a core conflict. This conflict can be internal (doubt, fear, or moral dilemma) or external (a challenge, a threat, a mission). The conflict isn’t interesting just because it exists — it’s interesting because of its complexity, and the way it ties into the characters and their motivations.

Here are a variety of ways you can develop conflict:

• Character conflict: At least two characters with opposing goals or values create tension that draws in the reader.
• Conflict against the environment or society: Where the character faces a major struggle against the circumstances; war, economic crisis, or unstable political situation.
• Internal conflict: The character struggles with themselves, with insecurities, desires, or morality.

Example:

She knew that if she told the truth, she risked everything. But to hide the secret was to condemn someone she loved. What would she do?

There is conflict within the narrative and that keeps it interesting because the reader questions which path the character will choose.

Your Building Blocks of Narrative Structure

For all narrative, the backbone is the structure. The plot may be good, but if the narrative is confused or poorly structured, the reader may lose charm very quickly.

The traditional structure of a story is as follows:

1. The exposition: Introduction (exposition) establishes setting, characters, and main conflict.
2. Development (rising tension): Characters face obstacles that complicate the conflict.
3. Climax: The point of peak tension, the zenith of the conflict.
4. Resolution: The end of the conflict and the end of the characters’ journey.

But you could also opt for a more fluid, nonlinear structure, bending these stages depending on the style and genre of the story.

Example:

With a nonlinear narrative, you might start with the climax and then flashback, revealing how you got to that pivotal moment over time.

Use Suspense to Keep Interest Up

Suspense is one of the best ways to keep a reader reading. Suspense can be created in a number of ways:

• Leave questions hanging: Add mysterious pieces or questions to the plot that will only find resolution later in the story.
• Cliffhangers: End chapters or sections in a moment of tension or in the middle of an unexpected revelation.
• Give a twist: Take a sudden change that alters the journey of the narrative with surprising turns.

Example of a cliffhanger:

At the door, the moment she opened it, she faced a strange animal-like person with anvil-looking smile. But the figure didn’t speak a word. They only motioned sideways...

The final line is a promise of revelation, leaving readers wanting to know what happens next.

Work on the Narrative Rhythm

Maintaining that interest is crucial, so the rhythm of the story is very important. Another way around this is to use high tension scenes intermixed with calmer ones. A fast rhythm plot can tire the reader, while a slow plot can create boredom.

Here are a few recommendations for keeping good rhythm:

• Action and pause: Where we get bursts of action followed by a longer, detailed narrative passage or dialogue.
• Diversity of sentence structure: Short sentences tend to amp up urgency, while longer ones allow for more contemplation, development, and exploration of ideas.

Example of rhythm variation:

Quick: She ran through the streets, her footsteps echoed and the sound of her heavy breaths chased her...

Slow: The sky, she thought, would she stand up to what would follow?

Breathe Life into Your Themes and Message

A good story isn’t merely about the plot or characters — it’s about the themes it addresses. Themes that are universal like love, friendship, betrayal, redemption, and identity spark a strong emotional connection with the reader. When you explore these themes frankly and deeply, you elevate the story.

Example:

For example, if your story is about redemption, the protagonist is someone who fails repeatedly, but realizes the error of their ways, and over the course of the narrative learns what they must do in order to atone.

By weaving these themes into characters and the events they find themselves in, writers are able to create a much richer and more interesting story.

Write Realistic and Significant Dialogue

Dialogue is a powerful tool for character building and plot progression. It can say a lot about the characters’ internal emotions, struggles, and interpersonal dynamics. Good-seeming dialogue is natural-sounding but also, in a way, crafted; it’s not meant to sound wearisome and artificial.

The following are column tips along with some for how to create interesting dialogue:

• Avoid exposition: Excessive characters don’t need to explain everything all the time. Characters should reveal more through what they say implicitly than through long speeches.
• Dialogue is about conflict and feeling: Not about talking about how you feel, that’s boring.
• Adjust the tone: Each character delivers their lines differently. Their speech should be representative of their personality and past.

Example:

"You’re going to abandon me, aren’t you?" she said, averting his gaze.

"No… I just… want to think a little bit."

This is an example where the tension in the dialogue is apparent, and the selected words define the fragility of the relationship.

An Ending That Is Surprising, But Also Predictable

The ending of a narrative is the last opportunity to have a lasting impact on the reader . And for that to happen, it needs to be shocking but at the same time, in line with everything we’ve seen throughout the story. A surprise ending, one that isn’t foreshadowed or organic to the story, can annoy the reader. Conversely, an unoriginal ending can cause the story to seem anticlimactic.

The goal should be to achieve an ending that is one of:

• Twist: Something that alters the reader’s understanding of the story in a fundamental way.
• Emotional conclusion: A resolution, that there is some sort of conclusion to the ending, brings a reader that feels that it is over.
• Open-ended conclusion: Some questions remain unanswered giving the reader (in the case of their, or my, story) the chance to imagine what happens next, or at least to reflect on what they experienced in the story.

Example of a twist:

She thought she had lost everything, and when she opened the last letter left by her brother, she discovered that he had prepared everything for her. The key to the secret had been in her hands all that time.

In this example, the twist is what makes the ending surprising, but the idea that the brother has left something for her is subtly planted throughout the story, making it consistent with everything that has come before.

Create a Point of View that Grabs Hold of the Reader

How the reader interacts with the story is greatly influenced by the point of view (or narrative perspective). Depending on whether you are telling the story in first person, limited third person, or omniscient third person, the reader can either feel a closer connection or a wider perspective of what is going on.

• 1st person: Both lets the reader into the protagonist’s head and heart, and creates a feeling of intimacy and identification.
• Limited third person: The reader sees the world through specific characters at a time, but remains more objective.
• Omniscient third person: The narrator knows everything, what every character is thinking and feeling, what is happening everywhere.

The perspective you choose should be determined by the experience you want to create for the reader. For instance, first-person perspective is better for establishing a closer and more personal connection, while omniscient third person works best if the story contains several characters and plotlines.

Example of first person:

I didn’t know what to do; my chest was hurting so bad. When I turned back to her one last time, I knew something inside me had shattered for good.

This perspective builds a close, emotional bond with the lead character.

Paint Pictures with Visual and Sensory Detail

Telling a compelling story is not only about what you and your fellow characters do, it’s also about how those scenes are described. You can paint with sensory imagery, creating a scene that will draw the reader in further. Write not only of what characters see, but also what they feel, hear, smell, and even touch. These descriptions add depth to the narrative, giving it realism and texture.

Example of sensory imagery:

"I said — and the rain was beat, beat, beat against the windows as if the sky was trying to talk to her.” The air was heavy, pregnant with the smell of damp earth and cigarettes in the corridor.

Here, the milieu is depicted not just in terms of what is literally observable, but in sounds and smells, pulling the reader into a place at the time.

Construct the Setting: The World Is a Character

A story can have a setting or an environment, which can also be considered a character in the story. The setting is not merely the frame for the action; it can mirror the characters’ emotional state, the theme of a story, or even serve as a metaphor for internal or external conflicts.

Finally, some areas that contrast with the places they inhabit, even if they do not contrast in the traditional sense — the confined space of the room that is a device in a story about escape. By contrast, an open space can symbolize options and new directions.

Example:

"The hospital felt quiet, other than the faint sound of monitors and the footsteps of the nurses who seemed to be trying not to stomp on the floor. That made the heavy air thick with a sense of apathy in the place as the smell of disinfectant was strong and ripe. Nobody expected anything from anybody out here."

In this scene, the hospital is less a location than a metaphor for the apathy and despair the characters are going through.

Maintain a Balance Between Description and Action

You have to find a balance between description and action to create an engaging narrative. Some of each is required, for too much of either makes for a dull read. Too much description can lag the pacing of a story, too much action can limit the narrative weight.

Description is for creating the atmosphere, setting the scene, or emotional layers to scenes. Action should be plot-driven, and show where the conflict is headed, and engage the reader.

Example of balance:

Action: He dashed down the dimly lit hallway, devoid of any sense of direction, his athletic footfalls muffled behind the roar of the tempest outside.

Description: The walls were wet and the air was thick with the smell of mold. Each breath was a chore, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that nobody really was there with him, looking in from a distance.

In the first example, action creates urgency, and in the second, description gives the tension and discomfort of the environment.

Steer Clear of Clichéd and Simple Solutions

A good, original narrative cannot rely on clichés and easy answers. Such clichés could dilute the narrative, rendering it predictable and stale. Always look for the exciting road ahead and new nuances to the characters and plot.

• Stereotyped characters: Make sure not to write characters who are stereotypical or shallow.
• Conflict resolution: Resolution of conflicts needs to be neither instant nor simple, as it diffuses the tension and reader gratification.

Example of a cliché:

The hero overcame the villain just in time to save the day and they all lived happily ever after.

It is such an easy fix. Rather, introduce challenges that ask more of the character, perhaps with unforeseen or complicated repercussions for resolving that conflict.

Rewrite and Refine

It does not usually happen to compose a narrative text engaging with one time. And only through the process of revision and rewriting in order to arrive at that efficient form. You can find all the weak points in the narrative, improve the rhythm, remove redundancies, and improve the dialogues.

Here are some recommendations for effective rewriting:

• Read out loud: This helps catch repetition in cadence, forced dialogue, or passages that don’t sound natural.
• Solicit feedback: A second party can point out blind spots you may not have identified.
• Check the structure: Plot, conflict development, and resolution.

Conclusion

It takes practice, patience, and a thorough understanding of narrative techniques to write a narrative text that is interesting, engaging, and captures the reader’s attention through to the end. Use these tips and some imagination, and you can create stories that will draw the reader in from the first line, and keep them engrossed in the plot and the characters till the last word.

The key your story may be different, what applies here might not necessarily apply to yours. The key to being an engaging and impactful storyteller is — experiment, keep discovering new ideas, and stay honest with your stories.

A narrative text needs to have an appropriate number of characters to be convincing and capable of engaging the reader or viewer. Therefore, it's important to use tools that allow you to count characters and words so that the limit of your text is not exceeded. On our website, you have access to a free word counter. With it, you can count words, count characters, count blank spaces, and get an estimate of the time needed to write a given text.