A List Of Narrative & Descriptive Essay Tips

Before we start, it’s important to make clear the difference between narrative and descriptive essay form. A narrative essay form looks at the story from your point of view.

A narrative is a story, right? Don’t make it boring. Here’s a refresher for those of you with a story that doesn’t add up.

Narrative format

• Introduction. Here is where you pull your reader in or lose them forever. An effective  introduction will interest your reader, set the tone, and inform s/he as to why they should keep reading.


• Body paragraph. “Show, don’t tell”, conjures up terrible memories of middle school writing assignments. But it makes sense. A successful writer will provide the reader an experience as close as possible  to the one lived through. All five senses (sight, sound, touch, smell and taste) are at your disposal. So use them. Conventional storytelling incorporates time chronologically. Don’t fix what isn’t broken. Let the story flow.


• Conclusion. You have the beginning and the middle, here is the end. Show, (don’t tell) how the story ended and how you were affected.

The descriptive essay form is used to describe someone or something.

• Find your Subject. Artistic license is always important, this is no exception. Your thesis statement should be creative, but not vague. Let your reader know who or what you are writing about.


• Organize. There are several options when it comes to how you can organize your paragraphs. The most successful options include chronological order, and narrowing from broad to specific points, using space as a gauge to make the reader aware of the same points you have realized.


• Summary. If you have painted a beautiful canvas, admire it. Tidy up your essay with a little description of what you discussed, but the work you have put in should show its relevance at this stage.

As you can see, there are glaring similarities to narrative and descriptive essay formats. All formats love a topic with a purpose,a soul, and organization. Knowing this, any topic is available, as long as you are able to recognize the subtle differences between these two styles. Write about something personal, an event that evoked feelings or emotions you hadn’t felt before, or flip it around and be descriptive by writing about how a similar event made someone else feel. Don’t let the term “topic” prevent you from writing about experiences.