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Writing Guidelines
Prewriting ■ Choosing a Topic
Any memorable event is a good topic for a personal narrative. The event doesn’t have to be big (driving the Alaska Highway), just interesting. Something small in scale (the first friend you made) might make a better narrative.
Helpful Hint
Think of events that took place within a fairly short period of time. Evan Connolly’s story about returning home one night is based on an experience that lasted only 5 minutes.
Gathering Details
The experience you choose to write about may be very clear in your mind. If this is the case, you may do very little collecting. A simple, quick listing of the basic facts may be enough. Just jot down things as they happened. Or you may want to use a 5 W’s chart to collect this information. (See page 35.)
Once you finish your list, review all of the details you’ve included, using the following points as a general guide: