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Start with your main characters, writing out their name, age, and description. Then, identify the characters’ motives, desires, and relationships with each other. After you’ve created this character sketch for your main characters, create a brief list of any side characters you’ll include, as well as the important details about them.  If you are a character in your story, you will still need to complete this step. It's up to you how much detail you want to write down about yourself. However, it's helpful to take note of your description, interests, and desires at the time the story takes place, especially if a lot of time has passed. A main character description might look like this: “Kate, 12 - An athletic basketball player who suffers an injury. She wants to recover from her injury so she can return to the court. She’s the patient of Andy, a physical therapist who is helping her recover.” A side character description might read like this: “Dr. Lopez is a friendly, fatherly middle-aged doctor who treats Kate in the emergency room.” Identify the different locations where your story takes place, as well as the time period when they occur. Write down every setting you'll include in your story, though you may not describe them all in the same amount of detail. Then, jot down a few descriptors that you associate with the location or locations.  For example, a story about overcoming a sports injury might include a few settings, such as the basketball court, the ambulance, the hospital, and a physical therapy office. Although you want to show your reader each setting, you'll spend the most time on the main setting of your story. You might list the following descriptors about the basketball court: “squeaky floor,” “roar of the crowd,” “bright overhead lights,” “team colors in the stands,” “smell of sweat and sports drinks,” and “wet jersey sticking to my back.” Your story may feature several different settings, but you don't need to provide the same level of detail about each one. For instance, you may be in an ambulance for a brief moment in the scene. You don't need to fully describe the ambulance, but you might tell the reader about "feeling cold and alone in the sterile ambulance." A narrative essay usually follows a typical story arc. Begin your story by introducing your characters and setting, followed by the incident that hooks readers into the action of the story. Next, present the rising action and climax of your story. Finally, describe the resolution of the story and what your reader should take from it.  For example, you might introduce a young basketball player who is about to make a big play. The incident that kicks off the story might be her injury. Then, the rising action is the basketball player’s efforts to complete physical therapy and get back into the game. The climax might be the day of tryouts for the team. You might resolve the story by having her find her name on the team list, at which point she realizes she can overcome any obstacle. It’s helpful to use Freytag’s triangle or a graphic organizer to plan your essay. Freytag's triangle looks like a triangle with a long line to its left and a short line to its right. It's a tool that helps you plan out your story's beginning (exposition), an incident that starts your story's events, the rising action, a climax, the falling action, and the resolution of your story. You can find a Freytag's triangle template or a graphic organizer for your narrative essay online. The climax is the highest point in your story. The beginning and most of the middle of your story will build up to this point. Then, the end will resolve the conflict that drives your climax.  The most common types of conflict include person vs. person, person vs. nature, and person vs. self. Some stories will have more than one type of conflict. In the story about the young athlete who gets injured, her conflict might be person vs. self, as she’s having to push through her pain and limitations. Your point-of-view is going to depend on who is telling the story. If you’re telling a personal story, your point-of-view will always be 1st person. Similarly, you might use a 1st person point-of-view if you're telling a story from your character's perspective. You’ll use a 3rd person point-of-view if you’re telling a story about a character or another person besides yourself.  In most cases, a personal narrative will use the 1st person “I” point-of-view. For example, “Over my last summer with my grandfather, I learned more than how to fish.” If you’re telling a fictional story, you might use the 3rd person point of you. Use your character’s name, as well as the appropriate pronouns like “he” or “she.” For instance, “Mia picked up the locket and opened it.”
List and describe the characters in your story. Describe the setting of your story in a few brief statements. Map out the plot of your story with a beginning, middle, and end. Write out the climax of your story either in detail or as an outline. Choose a point-of-view for your story, such as 1st person or 3rd person.