51 Prompts for Narrative Writing to Spark the Imagination

Narrative writing is an important part of any English student’s development and can form a key component of language acquisition. These 51 prompts for narrative writing invite students to recount personal stories, describe memories, and use their imagination.

Prompts for narrative writing

Being able to teach writing is often a challenge, but it’s one of the many good teaching qualities you’ll need to help your students find success with their language acquisition. Narrative writing plays a key role in this. It allows students to use their imagination to practice using previously learned vocabulary and grammar. and helps improve student’s writing skills.

To get you started, we have included a mixture of prompt ideas here. Some will be more suitable for adult students and others are intended for younger learners. So, get stuck in and start inspiring those stories!

Personal Narrative Writing

Personal narrative writing is a form of writing in which the author recounts a personal experience or story. It typically involves the use of a first-person perspective and focuses on the author’s thoughts, feelings, and reflections on the events described. The goal of personal narrative writing is to engage the reader by providing a vivid and detailed account of a specific moment or series of events from the author’s life.

Personal narrative writing skills tend to become more important later in life when you’ll need them to apply for a job. However, it’s still vital that students practice this form of writing from a young age.

You can use these personal narrative writing prompts to get students to describe a personal experience or something that left an impression on them.

Prompts for Personal Narrative Writing

  1. Write about a time you overcame a challenge at work. Tell the story of the challenge and write about what you did to overcome it.
  2. Write about a time when you played the role of teacher. Tell the story of what you did that day.
  3. Think about a time when you worked really hard to get something. Tell the story of what you had to do to get it and what it felt like when you finally obtained it.
  4. Write about the accomplishment you are most proud of.
  5. Write about where you see yourself in 10 years. What position will you be in? How will life look?
  6. Write about the most influential person in your life. How have they influenced you?
  7. Write about a time when you influenced someone else. How did you influence them and what was the outcome?
  8. Think about your favorite boss. Write a story about a time when they did something that left a lasting impression on you.
  9. What is your dream job? Write about why it is your dream job.
  10. Write about a professional achievement you are proud of. What is this achievement? How did you accomplish it?
  11. Tell a story about a day when nothing went right for you. How did you overcome this?
  12. Write about the person you look up to and explain why you look up to them.
  13. If you could meet anyone in the world, who would it be and why? Write a story about meeting that person.
  14. Write about your best friend. How do you know them? What do you like about them? What do you like to do with them?
  15. Think about the first holiday with your friends. Write about where you went, what it was like and what happened on the holiday. If you haven’t been on holiday with your friends yet, write about the sort of holiday you would like to have with your friends.
  16. Write about your favorite family holiday. Where did you go? Who was there? Why was it your favorite?
  17. If you got lost in a foreign country and didn’t know the language, how would you communicate? Write a story about how you would manage this if you ever experienced it.
  18. Write a story about a time you experienced an embarrassing incident and describe how you dealt with it.
  19. Everyone has a favorite time of the year. What is your favorite time of the year and what do you like to do then? Write a story about your favorite time of the year.
  20. Write about your favorite holiday you celebrate. Why is it your favorite holiday? What are your traditions?
  21. Tell a story about your dream place to live. What would it be like to live there?
  22. Write a story about a special day you had, one which you will always remember.
  23. What is your favorite thing you do for fun? What do you like about it?
  24. Write about your best childhood memory.
  25. Write a story about a memorable day you had at school.
  26. What was your favorite subject in school and why?
  27. Write a story about a place you’ve always wanted to visit. What would you do there?
  28. Write about your favorite film. What is the film and why is it your favorite?
  29. What is the best gift you ever received? Who gave it to you and why do you like it? Do you still have it? If not, what happened to it?
  30. Write about a time a family member had an important impact on your life. What did they do and how did it impact you?

Fictional Narrative Writing

Fictional narrative writing involves creating stories that are not based on real events but are products of the author’s imagination. In fictional narratives, the writing process involves writers inventing characters, settings, and events to tell a story. The goal is to entertain, engage, and sometimes convey a deeper meaning or message.

Fictional narrative writing can take various forms, including short stories, novels, novellas, and even scripts for plays or films.

This style of writing is commonly taught in elementary school or middle school where students are often encouraged to use their imagination to write a short story.

You can use these fictional narrative writing prompts to get your students to engage their creative writing skills.

Prompts for Fictional Narrative Writing

  1. Write a story about what it would be like if animals could talk.
  2. Imagine you had a time machine. Write a story about where you would go.
  3. Write a story about trading places with your favorite movie star.
  4. What would happen if aliens visited Earth? Write a story about their day on Earth.
  5. Imagine you wake up one day and a friendly alien is in your bedroom. The alien wants to be shown around your neighborhood. What would you do and where would you take the alien? Write a story about your day with the alien.
  6. What it would be like if you could fly? Write a story about this.
  7. Write a story about what it would be like if you were invisible. Where would you go?
  8. One day you got stuck in a shop late at night and the mannequins came to life. Write a story about what happened that night.
  9. Imagine you live 200 years in the future. What is it like and how different is it compared to today? Write a story about the future.
  10. Pretend you lived in the time of the dinosaurs. Think about how your life would be a write a story about it.
  11. Imagine you woke up one morning and you had switched places with a cat. What would it be like? Where would you go? Write a story about your day as a cat.
  12. Imagine a world where nobody had to work. What would it be like? What would you do? Write a story about a world where nobody had to work.
  13. Imagine you found a portal that allowed you to travel anywhere you wanted within seconds. Where would you go and what would you do there?
  14. What would your life be like if you became friends with a genie who would grant you any wish you wanted? Write a story about what would happen if you were friends with a genie.
  15. One day you are in a remote forest. In the distance, you notice trees walking around and as you get closer you hear that they are talking to each other. What would you do? What would happen if you met talking trees? Write about the experience.
  16. Imagine that your hearing was much better than everyone else’s and you could hear things 200 meters away. What might you hear? How might it change your life? Write a story about a person with special hearing powers.
  17. Imagine you had a flying bike and you could go anywhere you wanted for one day. Think of where you would go and tell the story of how you got there and what it was like.
  18. One day you see a mysterious spacecraft drop a glowing box in your street and you decide to investigate. What’s in the box and what does it do? Write a story about what happens when you open the box.
  19. Imagine a world where money didn’t exist. What would people do? How would you buy or sell things? Write a story about a world where money doesn’t exist.
  20. One day you find an abandoned cave. Inside the cave, you find secret treasure with special powers. What powers does the treasure have and how do you use them?
  21. If you could be someone else for the day, who would you be and why? Write an account of how your day would be.

What next?

These prompts for narrative writing are all great for sparking the imagination of your students and getting them to start writing. The next step is to get them to structure their ideas and learn how to write a conclusion. And remember, they don’t always need to use “in conclusion”. There are over 55 other ways to say in conclusion and you should encourage some variation.

We hope that you liked this list! If you have any prompts for narrative writing of your own that you use and would like to share, feel free to post them in the comments.

James Prior

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