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So, as you consider your own narrative, keep in mind that while the main conflict of your
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story might be about getting lost in the woods (self v. nature), there is likely an inner
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conflict as well about your own level of confidence to survive challenges you face (self v.
self). Narratives are more than just stories about events that happened to you; they are a
way to reflect on and share what you have learned about yourself and your life.
Narrative

activity Conflict
Write a little bit about the central conflict that you are recounting in your narrative
(self v. others, self v. nature, self v. society) and then describe how the events also
reveal some kind of inner conflict (self v. self).

Step 4. Your Narrative — Supporting Characters
It is a rare narrative that includes only the narrator. Usually you would have interacted
with one or more people in the course of your story, and it’s important to add texture
to your narrative by including characterizations of them as well. In this excerpt from
Is Everyone Hanging Out without Me?, Mindy Kaling goes into some detail about her
“secret friend” Mavis.

At fourteen, Mavis was already five foot ten. She had short, dark, slicked-back hair like
Don Johnson in Miami Vice. She was very skinny and had women’s size eleven feet. I
know this because she accidentally wore my dad’s boat shoes home one time. Mavis was
a big, appreciative eater, which my parents loved. When she visited, she made a habit
of immediately opening the fridge and helping herself to a heaping bowl of whatever
leftover Indian food we had and a large glass of orange juice. “This roti and aloo gobi is
delicious, Dr. Chokalingam,” she’d say to my mother, between bites. “You should start a
restaurant.” My mother always protested when Mavis called her by the formal “Dr.” name,
but I think it secretly pleased her. She was sick of some of my other friends saying things
like: “Hey, Swati, how’s the practice going?” in that modern, we-call-parents-by-their-
first-names fashion of liberally raised East Coast kids. Both my parents were very fond of
Mavis. Who wouldn’t love a hungry, complimentary, respectful kid?
Not only do we get the physical details of Mavis and some of her attitude through this
excerpt, but Kaling also uses the descriptions of this supporting character to help
establish what will become the central conflict of the narrative between Kaling and her
other friend group.

activity Supporting Characters
What other people will appear in your narrative? Write a few lines that describe each of
them using some of the same questions you asked about yourself on page 235.

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Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample.
Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
For review purposes only. Not for redistribution.

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