The art of storytelling is one that every writer should master. It is an essential tool to help create an engaging and immersive story. The use of narrative techniques is a great way to achieve this. Narrative techniques can help writers to create vivid worlds and characters that stand out from the rest. These techniques can be used to enhance the reader’s experience and ensure that the story does not become dull or stagnant. In this blog post, we will be discussing some of the essential narrative techniques for writers. We will discuss how to structure a narrative, how to create compelling characters and how to use language to make the story come alive. We will also explore some of the most common narrative techniques used by writers and how to use them to make your story shine. So, let’s dive in and look at some of the best narrative techniques for writers.
What are narrative techniques?
A writer crafts the components of a story using literary devices and techniques known as narrative techniques. They incorporate various narrative components, such as theme, plot, perspective, style, character, and genre. The majority of writing genres, including fiction, poetry, screenwriting, and theater, can be used to implement various narrative techniques.
26 narrative techniques for writers
Here are 26 narrative techniques for writers to take into account:
1. Use the setting
Many authors design settings that capture the feelings or circumstances of their characters. Additionally, a setting can influence a character’s choices, contributing to the conflict of the story. Take gothic novels as an example, which occasionally describe gloomy castles and characters with a corresponding gloomy personality You can illuminate many facets of a character’s defining characteristics by defining certain characteristics of the castle setting, such as an always-cold hallway.
2. Create foreshadowing
Giving hints about upcoming events in a story before they occur is known as foreshadowing. As readers may anticipate the event and continue reading to see if they are correct, writers frequently use foreshadowing to add a tension and emotional element to their stories. Depending on the genre, you can also use foreshadowing to give a story a menacing tone.
3. Include sensory imagery
Using only words, writers frequently employ sensory imagery to convey all the details of a scene. This method can aid in the reader’s comprehension of a scene’s various elements, enabling them to comprehend the physical setting. For instance, a scene set in a grocery store might detail voices over the loudspeaker or the food that the character smells, tastes, sees, and touches while they are shopping.
4. Provide a “cliffhanger”
A cliffhanger is a story’s conclusion that leaves the reader guessing as to how the plot will end. It frequently suggests various possible outcomes for a story, allowing readers to speculate about their preferred conclusion. Cliffhangers are occasionally used by authors to create anticipation for a story’s next chapter. For instance, a TV series may end before a character chooses their spouse.
5. Change the chronology
Some writers include pertinent events from a character’s past or future in a flashback or flash-forward. It can be revealed why a character behaves a certain way in the present timeline of a story by including a scene about a previous occurrence. A future event can add dramatic irony, which happens when the reader discovers a story’s resolution before the characters do.
6. Choose a point of view
Point of view typically describes who narrates a storys events. Most of the time, writers choose a viewpoint that best conveys the information they want readers to know versus what they want to keep hidden. For instance, a first-person account only focuses on one character’s motivations. She, he, or they pronouns are used in third-person point of view to reveal the observations of numerous characters while the narrator exists outside of the story entirely.
7. Incorporate character voice
Character voice is the distinct manner in which a character communicates with others or with themselves in a story. A character’s voice can be discerned from their personality traits, dialogue, and narration. To influence how a reader interprets their actions and to establish the tone of the story, writers frequently give their characters a voice. They might also use this method to make it easier for readers to tell one character apart from another.
8. Use symbolism
Symbolism is the use of things or language to convey a vague idea or feeling. Symbols are frequently used by authors to develop a story’s main themes and add another emotional component. For instance, whenever a character thinks about their relationship with another character, they might observe a specific type of weather pattern. You could therefore say that weather pattern serves as a general representation of the relationship.
9. Create an unreliable narrator
Typically, unreliable narrators are characters who purposefully withhold information from the reader. They might lie, unintentionally omit details because of the events in their character arc, or omit information if they don’t know it. In order to build tension and suspense in a story, authors frequently use an unreliable narrator.
10. Involve readers in the story
Some writers incorporate readers in the narrative of a text. For instance, characters may acknowledge that they are in a work of fiction or show awareness that readers are watching them as they act. They can therefore speak directly to readers in narration or dialogue as an unnoticed character in a text. You can influence how a reader’s participation affects the plot’s overall arc depending on your preferences.
11. Record a stream of consciousness
Stream of consciousness is a technique for expressing a central character’s present-day thoughts and perceptions as they move through a scene. Long sentences are typical, and character emotions are prioritized over a series of plot points. Writers frequently employ first-person narration to examine how a character interprets sensory data. Because a person’s immediate thoughts frequently involve memory recall, you can also use this technique to write nonlinear stories.
12. Personify an animal character
Personification is a method for transferring characteristics of one thing to another. Authors frequently humanize animals by giving them human traits, enabling them to have human motivations and language skills. Many authors of fables and fairy tales humanize animals to give the narrative a fantastical tone and style. You can humanize animals to help readers develop an emotional connection with them.
13. Include big surprises in a plot
Some writers include an unexpected event in a story that drastically changes the plot, which is frequently referred to as a plot twist. Plot twists are frequently used by authors to add drama and to subvert readers’ expectations. For example, consider a character trying to find their family. A supporting character they’ve known since the beginning of the plot is revealed to be their relative at a pivotal point, which shifts the emphasis of their storyline.
14. Make a satire or parody
Satire uses humor to make social commentary. You can make commentary about a person or a situation using literary devices like exaggeration and irony. Similar to imitation of a writer’s style or genre, parody involves exaggerating features for comedic effect. For instance, exaggerating a celebrity’s mannerisms may be used in a parody of that person.
15. Compose a metaphor
A type of figurative language known as a metaphor describes something by making reference to another. In order to connect two ideas and add imagery, you usually describe one emotion, thing, or concept as another when writing a metaphor. For instance, consider the phrase, “Love is an ocean. By equating these concepts, readers can take into account their similarities in novel ways.
16. Include a simile
Another form of figurative language that makes direct comparisons between ideas or objects is the simile. A similar from a metaphor can typically be distinguished by whether it uses the words like or as to describe a comparison. “Love is like an ocean,” for instance, could be used as a simile using the components from the metaphor above. “.
17. Resolve your plot neatly
Sometimes, writers will use an unexpected event, object, or character technique to resolve conflicts in a plot. This method aids in giving a story a clear, concise ending. Consider a play where two siblings are at odds over who should inherit land from a relative. This method of resolution could result in that relative showing up in the final scene to make the decision.
18. Write a narrative-within-a-narrative
Some authors include a character’s story as part of a larger, all-encompassing one. This method is frequently used by authors to critique the practice of storytelling. For instance, you might start a story with characters introducing a narrative-within-a-narrative, write this full narrative in the middle, and then bring the original characters back to discuss it in the conclusion.
19. Start in the middle of a story
Some authors start their narratives in the middle of the plot’s events, which leaves the reader with little knowledge of the main conflict before it begins. They frequently include hints through dialogue and narration to provide a backstory. This method can be used to give a story a sense of urgency, which may heighten the suspense for the reader.
20. Use a hyperbole
Hyperbole is a stylistic device that uses a significant exaggeration to communicate a fact. To emphasize these points to readers and give them more information about a situation or its emotional relevance, writers frequently use hyperbole. Think about a character who lacks this ability saying, “I walked a thousand miles.” Including it might aid readers in understanding this character’s response to the circumstance.
21. Design an author surrogate
Some writers include a character to represent themselves. They usually serve as the narrator, allowing the author to comment on the events of a story. Using this method, you can also create a fictional character whose traits and history exactly reflect experiences from your own life. Another choice is to give yourself different characteristics to understand how you might act in various circumstances, such as a setting from science fiction,
22. Construct an allegory
A story that allegorically depicts a larger concept or occurrence from an existing society Sometimes authors will covertly express their viewpoint on a larger concept or event by using an allegory rather than stating it out loud. Think of the example of a youngster asking their neighbors for help in finding a lost object. This could be interpreted as an allegory for people who seek meaning in their lives through other people.
23. Use alliteration
Alliteration is a method for combining words with similar letters or sounds. Alliteration is a technique used by writers to highlight certain words or to come up with catchy lines. “Damien dared Julia to stand on the river dam” is an instance of alliteration. The words “stand” and “dam” share the same initial consonant sound, whereas the words “Damien” and “dared” start with different letters.
24. Involve a “Red herring”
A red herring is a device used to present false information and lead a character away from a crucial idea or fact. In mystery novels, red herrings are frequently used by authors to paint one character as a likely suspect while another character is the real murderer. To add a sense of surprise to a story, you can also use them to deceive readers about a particular aspect of a plot or character.
25. Try the cut-up method
With the cut-up method, you can rewrite a piece of writing by removing specific phrases or clauses from it. You can use it to change the context of an original work or comment on it. For instance, you might cut words from a newspaper article with scissors so you can use them in a poem about what the article said.
26. Add defamiliarization
By using unusual descriptions to describe a familiar situation, a writer uses the defamiliarization technique. This method can be applied to look at aspects of daily life in a certain society in order to give readers new insight. For instance, you could talk about a character who considers what it would be like to live with a non-human creature that communicates in a variety of ways after seeing a pet one day.
How to write descriptively – Nalo Hopkinson
FAQ
What are the five narrative techniques?
- Setting. …
- Foreshadowing. …
- Cliffhanger. …
- Flashback or Flash Forward. …
- Red Herring. …
- Epiphany. …
- First-Person Narrator. …
- Backstory.
What are some techniques used by writers?
Backstory, flashback, flash-forward, and foreshadowing are plot-relevant devices that can be used in a narrative, which is the series of events that make up a narrative.
