Video Tutorials
New this year! To help you through the writing process, we’ve put together these short video tutorials featuring Carol Edgarian, bestselling author and Cofounder/Editor of Narrative Magazine. Each video covers a basic aspect of the writing process—from choosing an idea to crafting a scene to revising and submitting—and offers some expert, behind-the-scenes advice.
Reading List
Need a start? The Narrative Library offers thousands of stories, poems, and essays, free of charge—we invite you to gather inspiration by getting lost in our stacks.
Essays
The best personal narratives allow small events to speak broadly about who we are and our understanding of the world. The following essays provide strong examples of how to distill greater meaning from a few defining moments.
“Snapshots of My Brother” by Lynn Ahrens
“Whale Shark” by Rick Bass
“My Daughter and God” by Justin Cronin
“Catching Out” by Charles D’Ambrosio
“Sparrow” by Maria Hummel
“When You Can No Longer Talk about It, You Have to Sing” by Irene Keliher
“The Lost Sister: An Elegy” by Joyce Carol Oates
“Real People” by Jayne Anne Phillips
“Blue Lake” by Laura Rose
“At Lee” by Jack Schiff
“Mysteries of Love and Grief” by Sandra Scofield
Fiction
Conflict, action, resolution. Character, plot, theme. Language and imagery. Dialogue and narration. Great stories offer these key elements in compelling and original combinations. And what gets the words flowing better than sitting down with a short story? Enter the incredible worlds created by these authors and think about how, in your writing, you can best create your own universe, using a voice that is all your own.
“Hands” by Sherwood Anderson
“The Woman in the Rose-Colored Dress” by Gina Berriault
“Araby” by James Joyce
“The Treatment of Bibi Halder” by Jhumpa Lahiri
“Red Dress–1946” by Alice Munro
“The Man Arguing in the Kitchen” by Gina Ochsner
“Friday Night Fish Fry” by Austin Smith
“In the Water” by Brenden Willey
“Übermensch” by Tobias Wolff
Poetry
Choose your words deliberately and economically. Every word, every sentence, tells its own story, so craft yours with care, and opt for quality over quantity. Read the poems below to see how a few well-chosen words can create an entire world.
“Los Angeles” by Chris Abani
“How to Be a Real Indian” by Kenzie Allen
“How to Live in an American Town” by Jennifer Chang
“night vision” and “it was a dream” by Lucille Clifton
“somewhere I have never travelled,gladly beyond” by E. E. Cummings
“Slow Dance” by Matthew Dickman
“Weak Winter Sun” by Jim Harrison
“English” by Yusef Komunyakaa
“To the New Year” by W. S. Merwin
“A Small Motor” by Alberto Álvaro Ríos
“What We Have” by Ruth Stone
“Trojan” by Ocean Vuong
“Put This Book Down” by Javier Zamora
“Poem for Americans” by Matthew Zapruder
Additional Information:
For Teachers | For Students | Supplemental Materials | FAQ
