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Burnell Cotlon describes the desperate conditions the customers at his grocery store
5
are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020:
/
At least half my customers have lost jobs. They come to the register counting food
stamps, quarters, and dimes. I keep telling them, “It’s okay. I’m not in a hurry. Take your
Narrative
time. Stop apologizing.” I had somebody barter me last week over a 70-cent can of beans.
I used to sell two pieces of fried chicken for $1.25, and I cut it to a dollar.
We have an ATM in the store, and I watch people punching in their numbers, cursing the
machine, trying again and again. It gives out more rejection slips than dollar bills.

activity Key Elements of Your Narrative
Write responses to the following prompts to add some of these elements to the narra-
tive you are working on:
• Setting. Where do the main events of your narrative take place? Write a few lines
that describe the settings, using the examples above as models.
• Dialogue. Think about one of the central conflicts in your narrative that include
another person. Write an exchange or two, recognizing that no one ever remem-
bers exactly what is said, so you are allowed a bit of “artistic license” as long as the
dialogue is true as far as you can remember. Dialogue can also take the form of an
interior monologue: what you might say to yourself.
• Blocking. Close your eyes and try to recall one part of the story you are recounting
in your narrative. Describe some of the actions, gestures, and movements that you
recall doing or what other people were doing.

Step 6. Your Narrative — Structure
Most of the narratives that you read in this chapter follow a typical chronological order. In
other words, the writer describes what happened before the event, how the event started,
what happened during, and what happened afterward. Or, if the piece includes multiple
events, they are presented in the order in which they occurred chronologically. This can be
a very effective structure for telling a narrative, because it fits with the reader’s expectations.
That said, your narrative certainly can include breaks in the chronological order of the event.
A good way of doing this is with a flashback, taking the reader back to an earlier event. A
flashback can also give you an opportunity to reflect and comment on your younger self.
This can be an extremely effective way to contextualize the event as well as reminding your
reader that there are some lessons to be learned through these events. Mindy Kaling uses
this technique in this excerpt from Is Everyone Hanging Out without Me?

Though Mavis could have been confused for a boy from almost every angle, she had the
pale skin and high cheekbones of an Edith Wharton character. Thinking back on her
now, she had all the prerequisites to be a runway model in New York, especially since
this was the early ’90s, when it was advantageous to look like a flat-chested, rail-thin boy.
But our school was behind the times, and the aesthetic that ruled was the curvy, petite,
238 all-American Tiffani Amber Thiessen look, which Polly and Lauren had to some degree.
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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