Narrative Essay Outline Template

Creating an exemplary outline for a narrative essay helps you prepare how you will develop an engaging story that is relevant to the central theme and objective. This is because it allows you to organize your experiences, ideas, characters, dialogues, and scenes in one place that you can reference when writing the final text. Using a template like the one we have designed to create the outline is a game-changer. With a premade layout, this template minimizes your workload by allowing you to quickly jot down the key points and notes of the content you want to present in the final essay by simply filling in its different sections. Get our fillable and downloadable narrative essay outline template and begin creating your narrative essay outline.

Use this template to create a great outline for your essay

We have created this template after extensive research on what you need to include in an outline to make it valuable to your essay writing. While it is comprehensive as it is, you should understand the significance of each component before filling out the template so that it can be easy for you to follow through. Here is a breakdown of items you should include in the three main elements of the outline – Introduction, body paragraphs, and narrative conclusion.

Hook

The introduction starts with a hook, which can be a rhetorical question, highly-relevant anecdote, or thought-provoking statement that seizes the reader’s attention. When filling this section, you should give the hook in a sentence or two. 

Set the scene

Scene setting is necessary to contextualize or place the story in a specific moment. This section should thus indicate when and where the story takes place. To fill this section, details matter – describe the time and place in brief. This can be an event like a memorable vacation, your university education journey, a challenging period in your life, etc. You can use descriptive terms to address multiple aspects of a setting like physical attributes, and terms that capture the atmosphere like tone and mood. Also, be specific by using adjectives that distinguish elements in the scene. 

Significance of topic

The introduction should highlight the relevance of the story to you and the reader. This information shows the value that the reader can obtain from reading the essay. To fill this section, enlist the lessons and insights you wish to share through the story in brief.

Thesis statement

The thesis statement states the central point that your essay will be based on and the main purpose of the narrative to set the tone for the rest of the content. You can highlight the moral of the story that connects with the theme of your essay whether it serves as a class assignment or award submission. It does not have to present a point of debate or argument.  

Story beginning

The ‘story beginning’ segment is the first section of the body. It sets the story up by providing the background information, characters, and setting of your story. As you fill this section, make sure you provide information that provides a clear picture of who, when, and where. Next, introduce the main characters, specifying their roles within the story based on what they contribute to the developing events, and relationships based on their interactions in the narrative. This information highlights the dynamics of the story. After establishing the characters, describe the setting of the story and end this section using a transition word or phrase to usher the reader into the next segment of the story.

Story middle

In the story middle, tell the reader what happened by filling out the three fields – short anecdote, climax, and transition sentence. To fill out this section properly, start by hinting at the main events in the right sequence that will lead up to the climax in the ‘short anecdote’ segment. Also, highlight key dialogues as they give your story life. Then, develop the story by highlighting the gradual progression of events from one to the next. Build suspense as your story progresses. In the ‘climax’ section, highlight the peak of your story where a dramatic twist happens, and there is extreme tension, gloom, or excitement. The climax is the event that directly precedes an unsatisfying ending or successful resolution. Close this section with an appropriate transition. 

Story ending

An ending allows you to share how your story ends. It serves as a payoff to the reader for reading the entire narrative by breaking the tension built up or highlighting the change that occurs. When filling this section, aim to evoke the reader’s emotions by indicating the outcome of your story whether it is positive or negative. Remember to remain factual, as the narrative should be the actual account of what transpired in real life.  

Moral of the story

The moral of the story serves to highlight a lesson that readers can draw from the story. To fill this section, you can discuss how the experience changed you, whether it continues to affect you, did it help you grow or teach you something. 

Closing remarks

Use the ‘closing remarks’ section to share an important take-home point with the readers. A strong closing leaves a lasting impression on the reader. This can be a call to action, a quote, question, or relevant advice to the reader.

FAQs