narrative essay topics college students

Narrative Essay Topics: TOP 200 Choices for Students

Imagine yourself facing a blank page, ready to fill it with your memories and imagination. What story will you tell today?

As students, you often have to write narratives that capture people's attention. But with so many stories to choose from, where do you start? How do you find the perfect topic that will grab our readers' interest and make them think?

Join our essay service experts as we explore 200 topics for college where stories are waiting to be told, and experiences are ready to be shared. From everyday events to unforgettable moments, each topic is a chance to connect with your readers and make them feel something.

Do You Need Professional Help with Your Hometask?

Ideas for Narrative Essay Topics

After exploring how students write narrative paragraphs, we've put together a list of narrative essay topics designed specifically for college and school students. This list covers a wide range of subjects, so pick one that speaks to you! If you want to see how to develop a topic into a written essay, check out our narrative essay example . 

Literacy Narrative Essay Topics for College Students

How about delving into captivating literacy narrative essay topics designed specifically for college-level writing? Exciting, isn't it?

• How did a childhood book shape your view of the world?
• What challenges did you face when learning to read in a second language?
• How has storytelling within your family influenced your literacy journey?
• Can you recall a pivotal moment that ignited your love for reading?
• How did a specific teacher inspire your passion for literature?
• Have you ever encountered a character in a book who profoundly impacted your perspective on life?
• What role did writing play in helping you navigate a difficult period in your life?
• How has your relationship with technology affected your reading habits?
• What cultural or historical event sparked your interest in a particular genre of literature?
• How has poetry shaped your understanding of language and emotion?
• Have you ever experienced a breakthrough moment in your writing process?
• How has reading aloud impacted your comprehension and enjoyment of literature?
• Can you recall a time when a book challenged your beliefs or worldview?
• How has participating in a book club enriched your reading experience?
• What strategies have you developed to overcome reading difficulties or distractions?

Personal Narrative Essay Topics on Relationships

Take a moment to reflect on your past experiences and craft compelling personal narratives with these essay ideas.

• How did a specific friendship shape who you are today?
• Can you recount a moment that strengthened your bond with a family member?
• What challenges have you faced in maintaining a long-distance relationship?
• How has a mentor influenced your personal and professional development?
• Have you experienced a betrayal in a relationship? How did it impact you?
• Can you describe a memorable conflict resolution process within a relationship?
• How has your relationship with a pet affected your emotional well-being?
• What lessons have you learned from navigating a romantic relationship?
• How has your relationship with a sibling evolved over time?
• Can you recall a time when you had to set boundaries in a friendship?
• How has volunteering or community involvement enriched your relationships?
• What cultural differences have influenced your relationships with others?
• Can you share a moment when you felt truly understood by someone?
• How has technology affected the dynamics of your relationships?
• Have you ever experienced a reconciliation that transformed a strained relationship?

Best Narrative Essay Topics on Education and Learning

Consider the beauty of sharing your personal experiences and emotions in a captivating manner through these ideas for personal narrative essays.

• What was the most valuable lesson you learned outside of the classroom?
• Can you recount a moment when a teacher's unconventional method transformed your understanding of a subject?
• How has a field trip or experiential learning opportunity impacted your education?
• What challenges have you faced in balancing extracurricular activities with academics?
• Have you ever had a "Eureka!" moment while studying? Describe it.
• How has learning a new skill outside of school influenced your academic performance?
• Can you recall a time when a peer's perspective challenged your own understanding of a topic?
• How has technology enhanced or hindered your learning experience?
• What role does creativity play in your approach to learning?
• Have you ever experienced a setback that ultimately propelled you forward academically?
• How has your cultural background influenced your learning style?
• Can you describe a time when you had to advocate for yourself within an educational setting?
• How has mentorship shaped your educational journey?
• What strategies have you employed to overcome academic challenges or obstacles?
• Can you reflect on a time when failure taught you a valuable lesson about learning?

At this point, we think you might've already been interested in our term paper writing service that helps busy students succeed in college. 

Personal Narrative Essay Ideas on Reflection on Life

Why not ignite your creativity with a range of narrative essay topics, from extraordinary moments to everyday experiences?

• How has a moment of failure ultimately led to personal growth and resilience?
• Can you recount a pivotal decision that significantly altered the course of your life?
• What lessons have you learned from navigating a crossroads or major life transition?
• How has your perspective on success evolved over time?
• Can you reflect on a time when you had to confront and overcome a deeply held fear?
• What role has gratitude played in shaping your outlook on life?
• How have your values and beliefs been influenced by significant life experiences?
• Can you describe a moment when you found clarity and purpose amidst chaos or uncertainty?
• What impact has traveling to a new place had on your understanding of the world and yourself?
• How has adversity strengthened your character and determination?
• Can you recall a time when a random act of kindness profoundly impacted your life?
• What lessons have you learned from embracing vulnerability and authenticity in relationships?
• How has practicing mindfulness or self-reflection enhanced your well-being and happiness?
• Can you reflect on a period of personal transformation or self-discovery?
• How have you found meaning and fulfillment in pursuing your passions and interests?

Ideas for a Narrative Essay on Culture and Society

Engaging your readers with narrative essays on culture and society is a great way to spark interest, offering captivating ideas for exploration.

• How has your family's unique culinary heritage influenced your cultural identity?
• Can you reflect on a specific cultural artifact or heirloom that holds deep significance for your family?
• What challenges have you faced in preserving traditional customs while adapting to modern societal expectations?
• How has a local festival or celebration revealed the intricacies of your community's cultural tapestry?
• Can you recount a moment when you navigated a cultural clash between your upbringing and the dominant culture?
• How has your experience as a first-generation immigrant shaped your understanding of cultural assimilation?
• What lessons have you learned from participating in intercultural exchange programs or initiatives?
• Can you describe a unique cultural practice or tradition within your community that outsiders might find intriguing or misunderstood?
• How has the revitalization of indigenous languages contributed to the preservation of cultural heritage in your region?
• Can you reflect on a personal journey of reconnecting with your cultural roots after a period of assimilation or disconnection?
• What role does storytelling play in passing down cultural wisdom and values within your family or community?
• How has the portrayal of your culture in mainstream media affected your sense of belonging and self-perception?
• Can you recount a moment when you challenged cultural stereotypes through creative expression or advocacy?
• How has the migration of a specific cultural group enriched the social fabric and economic landscape of your community?
• What initiatives or grassroots movements are currently underway to promote cross-cultural understanding and cooperation in your society?

Since you're working on essays, we think it's suitable to suggest you learn more about the case study format , which is another common college assignment.

Narrative Writing Topics on Hobbies and Interests

Wow your readers by turning your passions and hobbies into compelling narrative essay topics that will get them thinking.

• How has your passion for urban gardening transformed neglected spaces in your community?
• Can you recount a thrilling adventure from your hobby of urban exploration?
• What lessons have you learned from restoring vintage motorcycles in your spare time?
• How has your fascination with birdwatching deepened your connection to nature and conservation efforts?
• Can you describe a memorable moment from your hobby of foraging wild edibles in the wilderness?
• What unique skills have you developed through your hobby of beekeeping, and how have they impacted your daily life?
• How has your interest in historical reenactment brought the past to life in unexpected ways?
• Can you reflect on a transformative experience from your hobby of landscape photography?
• What insights have you gained from practicing the art of bonsai cultivation and nurturing miniature ecosystems?
• How has your passion for stargazing inspired awe and wonder in the vastness of the universe?
• Can you recount a challenging project from your hobby of woodworking and the satisfaction it brought upon completion?
• What cultural connections have you discovered through your hobby of traditional folk dancing?
• How has your interest in sustainable fashion influenced your consumer habits and environmental awareness?
• Can you describe a moment of serenity and mindfulness experienced while practicing the art of tea ceremony?
• How has your hobby of letterpress printing preserved the tactile beauty of handmade craftsmanship in a digital age?

Narrative Essay Titles on Life-Changing Moments

Life is full of unexpected twists that can lead to life-changing moments. Take a look at these narrative essay titles for stories that have had a lasting impact on your life.

• How did surviving a natural disaster reshape your perspective on life?
• Can you recall a single conversation that drastically altered the course of your life?
• What was the pivotal moment that inspired you to pursue your dreams against all odds?
• How did a chance encounter lead to a life-changing friendship or partnership?
• Can you reflect on the decision that transformed your career trajectory?
• What profound lesson did you learn from facing a life-threatening illness or injury?
• How did traveling to a new country open your eyes to new possibilities and opportunities?
• Can you recount the moment when you discovered your true passion or calling in life?
• What was the turning point that allowed you to break free from a toxic relationship or environment?
• How did experiencing failure or rejection ultimately lead to personal growth and resilience?
• Can you describe the moment when you found the strength to overcome a deep-seated fear or insecurity?
• What life-changing realization did you have while experiencing a period of solitude or introspection?
• How did a profound act of kindness from a stranger restore your faith in humanity?
• Can you reflect on the moment when you forgave someone who had deeply hurt you, and how it changed your perspective on forgiveness?
• What pivotal decision did you make that allowed you to reclaim control over your own happiness and destiny?

Have you ever wondered about the challenges of essay writing? What happens when you're assigned a larger paper, like coursework? Make a preemptive strike by exploring coursework writing service right now!

Good Narrative Topics on Travel and Adventure

Consider creating intriguing titles for your narrative essay ideas by exploring thrilling travel adventures.

• Can you recount a memorable encounter with wildlife during your solo hiking adventure?
• How did a spontaneous decision to explore an unfamiliar city lead to unexpected discoveries?
• What lessons did you learn from navigating a foreign country with only a map and your instincts?
• Can you describe the exhilaration of conquering a challenging mountain peak for the first time?
• How did immersing yourself in a local culture during your travels broaden your perspective on the world?
• What unexpected obstacles did you encounter while embarking on a backpacking journey through rugged terrain?
• Can you reflect on the transformative experience of volunteering abroad in a community-driven project?
• How did getting lost in a labyrinthine city alleyway lead to serendipitous encounters and newfound friendships?
• What was the most memorable meal you had while sampling street food in a bustling market abroad?
• Can you recount the adrenaline rush of participating in an extreme sports activity in a foreign land?
• How did witnessing a breathtaking natural phenomenon during your travels leave a lasting impression on you?
• What cultural traditions or rituals did you participate in during a homestay experience with a local family?
• Can you describe the sense of wonder and awe you felt while exploring ancient ruins or historical sites?
• How did navigating a language barrier challenge and ultimately enrich your travel experience?
• What valuable life lessons did you learn from the mishaps and misadventures encountered during your journey off the beaten path?

Narrative Essay Topic Ideas on Career and Work Experience

College students can uncover captivating narrative essay ideas by exploring potential career paths or reminiscing about past job experiences.

• How did a challenging project at work showcase your problem-solving skills and resilience?
• Can you reflect on a pivotal mentorship experience that guided your career trajectory?
• What valuable lessons did you learn from a career setback or failure, and how did it shape your future success?
• How did a workplace conflict lead to personal growth and improved communication skills?
• Can you recount a moment when taking a professional risk paid off in unexpected ways?
• What insights did you gain from transitioning to a new industry or career path?
• How did participating in a cross-functional team project enhance your collaboration and leadership abilities?
• Can you describe the satisfaction of achieving a long-term career goal after years of hard work and perseverance?
• What impact did a meaningful recognition or award have on your motivation and sense of accomplishment?
• How did volunteering or pro bono work contribute to your professional development and sense of purpose?
• Can you reflect on the decision to leave a stable job in pursuit of passion or fulfillment?
• What strategies did you employ to navigate a toxic work environment and maintain your well-being?
• How did a career setback lead to unexpected opportunities for personal and professional growth?
• Can you describe a moment when mentorship or sponsorship played a crucial role in advancing your career?
• What lessons did you learn from a challenging client or customer interaction, and how did it shape your approach to customer service and relationship-building?

Interesting Narrative Essay Topics about Challenges and Obstacles

If you're not sure what to write about for your narrative essay, think back to the tough times you've had and how you managed to get through them.

• How did you conquer a once-paralyzing fear to chase your dreams?
• What new strengths did you discover while adapting to a physical challenge?
• Can you recall a creative solution you used during a tough financial period?
• When did you bravely stand against injustice, despite opposition?
• How did overcoming a language barrier broaden your horizons?
• What key lessons did you learn from a major setback in your life?
• How did you manage overwhelming stress and responsibilities?
• What inner reserves of resilience did you draw upon after personal loss?
• Describe a time when you defied societal norms to pursue your goals.
• Reflect on a moment when failure fueled your determination for success.
• When did you find the courage to leave your comfort zone behind?
• How did community support bolster you through a challenging time?
• Share a time when self-doubt led to newfound confidence.
• Can you recount a tragedy that spurred your personal growth?
• What insights did overcoming a monumental obstacle reveal about life?

Best Narrative Essay Topics: How to Choose the One That Resonates 

A narrative essay is a type of writing that tells a personal story, including characters, plot, setting, and the order of events. Its main goal is to connect with readers emotionally and share a specific message or insight through the retelling of a meaningful experience.

Students write narrative essays as part of their studies for several reasons. Firstly, it allows them to express themselves creatively by sharing their unique experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Secondly, it helps them develop important writing skills like organizing ideas and thoughts effectively.

Choosing good narrative essay ideas involves looking at personal experiences, interests, and the potential for engaging storytelling. Here's a simple guide to help you pick the right topic:

• Think about significant moments in your life that had a lasting impact, such as personal growth or overcoming challenges.
• Choose topics related to your hobbies, interests, or areas of expertise to make your story more engaging.
• Consider what your audience would be interested in and choose topics that resonate with them.
• Focus on a specific event or detail to make your narrative more focused and impactful.
• Look for universal themes like love or personal transformation that connect with readers on a deeper level.
• Brainstorm ideas and write freely to uncover compelling topics.
• Decide on storytelling techniques like flashbacks or foreshadowing and choose a topic that fits.
• Get feedback from friends, peers, or instructors to see if your topics are interesting and impactful.
• Choose topics that evoke strong emotions for a more compelling narrative.
• Select a topic that you personally connect with to make your story authentic.

Once you've chosen a topic, brainstorm ideas and create an outline for your essay. Follow your professor's instructions carefully and consider seeking help from our narrative essay writing service if needed.

Bring your stories to life with EssayPro. Select from a vast array of narrative essay topics and let our professionals help you weave your tales into captivating essays. Whether it's adventure, reflection, or imagination, we're here to assist.

Final Remarks

As we wrap up, our list of 200 narrative essay topics is here to fuel your creativity for your next writing project! Whether you're sharing a memorable event, reliving a childhood memory, or expressing a profound insight, crafting a narrative essay can be an uplifting experience that resonates deeply with readers.

And if you're gearing up for college admissions, why not check out our admission essay writing service ? We've already assisted countless students in securing their spots at their dream colleges, and we'd love to help you, too!

Give Us Your Task

We provide assistance as well as editing and proofreading. Every paper we deal with is written and triple-checked by a team of experts—which means that you are guaranteed to get top-quality work from our term paper writing service . Order now!

Related Articles

150 Best Topic Ideas For Narrative Essay

Table of contents

• 1 How to Choose a Topic for a Narrative Essay?
• 2 Some Tips for Writing Narrative Essays
• 3.1 Narrative Essay Topics for High School Students
• 3.2 Good Narrative Essay Topics for College Students
• 4.1 Personal Narrative Essay Topics
• 4.2 Personal Experience Narrative Essay Topics
• 4.3 Narrative Essay Topics About Childhood
• 4.4 Relationship Narrative Essay Topics
• 4.5 Personal Narrative Essay About Friendship
• 4.6 Cultural Narrative Essay Topics
• 4.7 Personal Narrative Stories Ideas on Traveling and Holidays
• 4.8 Narrative Argument Essay Topics

In academic practice, the narrative essay is probably one of the key elements to train students in expressing their opinions. It teaches well how to tell a story in a clear, concise manner, that’s why it is so welcome in the language and composition classes.

Narrative essays are not only valuable as such: their contribution lies in the ability to elaborate students’ storytelling and narration skills. To touch the reader’s nerves, you should opt for exciting narrative essay ideas. There are plenty of them – but don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Below you’ll find a comprehensive list of essay ideas.

How to Choose a Topic for a Narrative Essay?

When you are selecting a topic for your essay , you should consider some aspects. As a teacher, you should opt for the best narrative essay topics that would be interesting and familiar to your mentees. If you are a mentee yourself, you can be assigned a specific task to write on the topic provided by your teacher or professor. In the opposite case, you have the freedom to choose a topic on your own.

We’ve collected some useful tips on how to efficiently select a narrative speech topic for your paper. They apply to the general principles of narrative essay topic choice. You can write about something special and personal for you, or describe events and subjects that are well-known to everyone. The following rules will be a perfect support for you in the creation of a powerful narrative essay.

• Opt for relevant topics Always consider your audience when picking a topic if you are a teacher. The topic shall be cognizable and meaningful for your audience, be it higher school students or schoolchildren. They must be able to express their thoughts on the subject and relate their personal experiences to it.Obviously, the requirements for younger students are lower, and narrative writing topics shall deal mostly with descriptions or reporting. On the other hand, senior schoolers and students shall be able to write an essay that is also persuasive and reflective.
• Choose your comfortable writing style Experience in studying affairs clearly demonstrates that successful subjects for a narration essay are those you feel comfortable with. Picking up the right idea is the key to a powerful paper as it determines the style of your writing.Think about what you love to tell about. Do you like to describe events in a detailed and vivid manner? Or maybe you are factual and concise? Are you a fan of reflections and self-analysis? Recollecting or imagining, projecting or analyzing, reporting or insightful – if you identify your features, they will be helpful narrative essay prompts.
• Show your mastery Topics are essential, but that’s not the hard and fast rule: always factor into personal proficiency. This is what turns even a dull and merely informative topic into an engaging story. A narration essay is your chance to create a description that would allow your readers to pop into your experiences and share your fun or drama with you.Whether your narration concerns a film, a book, a relationship, a person, or a situation, try to complement it with a touch of personal attitude. Discourse upon the lessons you’ve learned, describe a turning point of your life or reflect on why an event from your past is so memorable. Try to convey this in the essay outline , and you’ll see how fascinating it might be. The more so as there are plenty of brilliant topics for narrative writing.

Some Tips for Writing Narrative Essays

Narration may be both rewarding and challenging. To maximize your rewarding experience and minimize the tough aspects of essay writing, follow our tips recovered from the students’ practice.

1. Aim at telling a story

A narration essay stands foremost for a narration. Whether you are describing events, discussing situations, or recollecting the past, your story should be engaging and have a plot. You may introduce the elements that make your story individual. These include arguments, reflections, and opinions, but the focus of this type of essay is narrative.

3. Keep to an outline

The conventional structure is not required, however, it assists in organizing your thoughts properly and preserving accuracy and distinctiveness. The introduction and conclusion parts do not differ much from those in other academic papers. The body part, in turn, presents a story that may tackle moral, practical, psychological, or other problems. This clearly distinguishes your narration from all the others. This is why personal narrative topics shall be thoroughly picked.

3. Make a plan

Draft the events and characters to be introduced in your story. Don’t feel like you are limited by the structure you create. A plan is a guide rather than a mold for your text, so try making it comfortable for you. Drafting your essay before you start writing may also be helpful. This way you can break down the nuances and see what’s lacking for an immersive story.

4. Remain individual

While good narrative topics circulate in the school and college assignments, you are still able to make your essay personalized. To start with, you have your own stories to be told. Then, you might express your own opinions that are unconventional. Also, you can present the lessons you’ve learned from the story. In the end, your author’s style will surely add points to your paper.

5. Choose a writing narrative thoroughly

Stories may be told third-person or first-person. Weigh the pros and cons of each type of narration and opt for the one reflecting your objective. Personal experiences are usually written in first-person, and epic narratives may be third-person. Though, unconventional approaches may be an interesting artistic device making your essay even more intriguing.

Need help with narrative essay writing? Get your paper written by a professional writer Get Help Reviews.io 4.9/5

Narrative Essay Topics for Students

We’ve analyzed trainees’ experience in writing narrative paragraphs and selected narrative essay topics for college and school students. This profound list covers a wide range of subjects, so pick one!

Narrative Essay Topics for High School Students

High school students normally feel comfortable about describing their study routine. Below you’ll find interesting topics to convey some of the things at school familiar to every pupil.

• My favorite class
• An unexpected day-off
• My favorite teacher
• My most memorable participation in a sports event
• My harshest debate competition
• My best role in a school theatre
• My after-school activities
• My routine travel to school
• My funny prom night adventure
• My worst lost match
• The craziest incident on my campus
• The subject I don’t like
• How I failed an exam
• How I got through an exam
• How I got caught cheating

Good Narrative Essay Topics for College Students

Just like high schoolers, students at colleges and universities are fond of talking about their everyday matters. Whether a topic about students’ affairs or reflection on new relationships, the most popular narrative topics for college students are collected here.

• My first day at the higher school
• My last day with my schoolmates
• My favorite course
• Meeting my better half
• The story of my split-up
• My brightest high school moment
• How I met my old friend
• My favourite professor
• A funny adventure on my campus
• The most symbolic episode from my college life
• The day I moved
• How I traveled to my college
• My first impressions of the college campus
• How I met my roommate
• My first friends at college

Topics for essays on themes:

Personal narrative essay topics.

Each of us had moments in life the story of which would be interesting to others. Develop your narration mastery and tell the world a story about the very best, most memorable, extremely scary, or awkward situations. Our list is here to assist you.

• The happiest event ever
• The saddest moment in my life
• The worst moment of my life
• The best moment of my life
• If I start my life all over again, I’d…
• The most frightening episode of my life
• The most dramatic decision I had to make
• The life-changing event in my life
• The greatest risk I took
• The day I decided to move
• The worst decision of my life
• Getting lost abroad
• The most disastrous trip
• How I grew up in a city
• How I grew up in a village

Personal Experience Narrative Essay Topics

Personal experiences are way more exciting for writers. Unfortunately, personal narrative essays are not always just as fascinating for listeners unless they are presented in an entertaining manner. We’re sure that the ideas for personal narratives below will help you pick your topic to maximize readers’ engagement.

• The moment of my life I’m proud of
• My first visiting an opera house
• The weirdest accident I witnessed
• How I first tried Asian cuisine
• My most memorable birthday present
• If I was a character in a book
• The memory I wish I lived through again
• If I was my favourite movie superhero
• How I lost a thing that wasn’t mine
• My first travel to the sea
• What makes me unique
• My first trip into the wild
• My first job interview
• My most significant loss
• My most memorable Christmas

Narrative Essay Topics About Childhood

Childhood is probably the sweetest period of our lives and the one with the most number of insights. The most powerful experiences come from it, and most of our reflections are related to a child’s perception in this or that way. Check out our list of captivating topics about childhood and pick one.

• My first memories ever
• My first pet
• The role model of my childhood
• The first time I met my uncle/aunt
• The first time I got to a hospital
• My first big sports competition
• My first day at school
• The first time at a stadium
• My best visit to a children’s entertainment park
• My favourite preschool teacher
• My first time on the airplane
• My most memorable picnic
• The scariest incident of my childhood
• My childhood phobias
• The funniest incident of my childhood
• Free unlimited checks
• All common file formats
• Accurate results
• Intuitive interface

Relationship Narrative Essay Topics

Writing about this huge layer of experience – relationships – is surely thrilling. We’ve picked just some of the great variety of narrative topics about relationships for you. Even if you don’t find here exactly what you want to talk about, you’ll definitely hit upon an appropriate idea.

• My first romantic date
• How my best friend changed my life
• How I first met my best friend
• The saddest moment in a relationship I experienced
• A turning point in my important relationship
• My role model relationship from a book/movie
• My first romantic relationship
• What my parents mean to me
• The best advice about relationships I got
• Why is my significant other so important to me
• The situation that helped me fix my ruined relationship
• The best memories I share with my friends
• My first confession
• How I helped someone with depression
• A film/book about relationships that stroke me

Personal Narrative Essay About Friendship

Friendships often determine our paths in life, and most people love telling stories. These are about their adventures with friends or reflections on the effects of getting cozy with other people. From the list below, you may pick one of the best friendship topics for narrative essay papers.

• My best friend from a summer camp
• How I reconnected with my friend after a quarrel
• How I covered my friend
• How I first met my online friend live
• How I helped my friend reconnect with his/her loved one
• The coolest adventure with my best friend
• The first time at my friend’s place
• My worst quarrel with my friend
• My best older friend
• How my foe turned into my friend
• The toughest situation I and my friend went through
• My friend’s sister/brother
• The situation where I had to choose between two friends
• How I met a friend on the Internet

Cultural Narrative Essay Topics

How about writing on culture? The variety of topics is enormous, and you can write here in different styles and tonalities. Find out effective narrative paragraph topics dedicated to traditions, holidays, or cultural events below.

• My favourite holiday
• How we celebrate Christmas
• The best Christmas present I got
• My best Christmas
• My saddest Christmas
• The holiday which is most significant for me
• Our family traditions for Easter
• How I took part in holidays abroad
• The scariest Halloween I ever had
• Home alone on a holiday night
• The most memorable cultural event I visited
• The festival I love most
• What I was thankful for this Thanksgiving Day
• My family traditions
• A foreign holiday tradition that I love most

Personal Narrative Stories Ideas on Traveling and Holidays

This segment of subjects covers individual experiences. Respectively, it has to do with reflections, opinions, and feelings. Our list of personal narrative ideas related to trips and celebrations is here for your convenience.

• My best entertainment on winter holidays
• My first traveling abroad
• How I first visited a warm country in winter
• How I missed my flight/train/bus
• The happiest moment during the holidays
• Making a new friend during the holidays
• My first time traveling alone
• My most memorable holiday ever
• The saddest incident on a holiday
• My best visit to a foreign city on holiday
• My best travel to a big city
• The worst quarrel while on holiday
• The best encounters during the holiday
• My best trip to a countryside
• How I returned home after a long vacation

Narrative Argument Essay Topics

Strong argumentation is one of the indications of a successful academic paper and a prerequisite for a higher grade. You should pick a topic you are confident in to provide your effective arguments as your objective is to persuade your readers. Opt for a narrative essay topic that speaks to you.

• The toughest decision between right and wrong
• The choice I regret
• How I helped a friend against the rules
• Involvement in a conflict between other people
• Getting caught lying
• How I let down a friend following the rules
• How I shifted the blame to someone else
• The toughest yet most important experience
• Helping someone for personal benefit
• The prank I played on my friend
• Ignoring bullying
• How my friend took the blame for me
• Does justice actually exist?
• Ignoring the wrong behavior of others
• Eavesdropping

When writing a narrative essay, it is important to choose an interesting topic that can engage your readers. Finding the right topic can be a challenge, but there is no need to worry as there are many resources available, such as online essay writers , that can help you choose the best topic for your narrative essay.

Whether a personal experience essay, a story about your best childhood birthday, a narration about your most meaningful travel, or the way you reacted to essential world events, are all worth writing. Bear in mind that each of them requires research, adhering to a structure, and planning. Focus on what’s inspiring for you and may be of interest to your readers, and you’ll get a list of the narrative ideas working best for you.

Readers also enjoyed

WHY WAIT? PLACE AN ORDER RIGHT NOW!

Just fill out the form, press the button, and have no worries!

We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy.

164 Narrative Essay Topics for School & College Students

A narrative essay tells a story about a series of events. At the core of this kind of essay can be a personal experience or a fictional plot. Any story can be a basis for a narrative essay!

Our specialists will write a custom essay specially for you!

Narratives can look similar to descriptions. Still, they are different. A descriptive essay aims to explain the details of a specific moment. Narrative writing focuses on a sequence of events to tell a complete story.

In this article, we have prepared a list of narrative essay topics for high school, college, and university students. The topic ideas are divided by spheres. In the collection below, you’ll find the ideas based on personal experience as well as fictional narrative essay topics. Make use of resources offered by our custom writing experts to write any paper!

• 🔝 Top 10 Topics
• 📖 Fictional Topics
• 🧑✍️ Personal Narrative
• ✈️ Traveling
• 🧒 Elementary

✏️ Middle School

🧑‍🏫 high school.

• 👫 Relationships
• 🧸 Childhood
• 💡 Writing Guide and Tips

🔝 Top 10 Narrative Essay Topics: High School

• Your childhood role model
• How you overcame hardship
• The best news you have ever heard
• The time you experienced culture shock
• A story of how you mistreated someone
• The most memorable encounter you’ve had
• An unexpected event that changed your life
• The most embarrassing conversation you’ve had
• When you realized you were wrong in an argument
• A person who changed your opinion on something

📖 Fictional Narrative Essay Topics

The art of writing fiction is all about narrating a story. In a fictional narrative, you are free to create a tale that doesn’t relate to real life. Take a look at the fictional narrative essay topics below:

• Write a narrative where a girl discovers her superpower.
• A story about a land that has 25 hours in a day.
• Describe your version of the future .
• Fiction narrative where a person discovers big city life.
• Come up with an apocalyptic story.
• A group of scientists discovering a new world inside the Earth.

• Write about a hamster that prevented a house robbery .
• A person who saves the country from mass-produced poisoned food .
• A group of high school students helping to improve their city.
• A new civilization in a far away galaxy.
• Write about a grandfather who was secretly a spy.
• A narrative about a person waking up from the surgery with a different identity .
• Create a story about a mysterious musical instrument .
• A college student who won the presidential election .
• Compose a story about a painting that looks different in every new house.
• An anonymous person sends lots of money to the poor.
• Come up with a fictional narrative about a family with unusual tendencies.
• A movie star who lives out their roles in real life.
• Passengers of an airplane encounter a UFO .
• A narrative where a farmer grows strange plants.
• Write about an orphan who finds out about their inheritance .
• Story of siblings who resolve a long-lasting argument.

🧑✍️ Personal Narrative Essay Topics

A personal narrative is devoted to the author’s own experience. Therefore, feel free to write in first person. Include your thoughts and emotions. Do your best to describe the details of your narrative. This will help the reader to relive the story with you. Here is the list of excellent topic ideas for your essay:

• Memories of your first sports coach .
• A story of how you dyed your hair.
• Write about something you did against your parents’ will.
• Recall a day when you got in a fight with your best friend .
• What was the most exciting adventure in your life?
• An unfortunate situation that had a good ending.
• Write about the time when you had to train hard for a competition.
• Describe the turning point of your life.
• An experience when you had to overcome your fear.
• Write about the circumstances that brought you and your parents closer.
• Describe a memorable conversation with someone.

• An imaginary world you’ve created as a child.
• Who gave you the most valuable lesson in your life?
• One time when you regretted doing something.
• A particularly embarrassing situation you went through.
• Your memories of seeing something very beautiful .
• A moment that made you proud of yourself.
• Recall a time when you taught a child to do something.
• What was the most memorable news report you saw in your life?
• Describe a day when you stood up for someone.
• Write about the best birthday party you’ve ever had.
• Share your experience of being lost.

📚 Literacy Narrative Essay Topics

Literacy narrative revolves around reflecting on feelings connected to reading and writing. For this type of essay, think of yourself as a reader and a writer. You can describe any reading experience, whether it is a book, email, or social media post.

Just in 1 hour! We will write you a plagiarism-free paper in hardly more than 1 hour

• The most touching piece of writing you’ve ever read.
• Write about a book that impacted you the most.
• A news article that changed your view on life.
• What book character do you most identify with?
• Talk about a piece of fiction that captured your imagination.
• What was your favorite novel growing up?
• The scariest story you’ve ever read.
• Recall your emotions after reading a heartfelt social media post.
• What is the most boring book you’ve read?
• Describe a book that you would reread over and over again.

• Your experience of reading a story to a child.
• Have you ever read something that taught you a lesson?
• Do you see yourself becoming a professional writer?
• Recall the day when you had to complete your first writing assignment.
• How does sharing thoughts on social media make you feel?
• If you were to write a book, who would be the main character?
• Talk about the most personal thing you’ve ever written.
• Describe your experience of composing a poem.
• Why can someone have difficulty with writing ?
• Recall what it was like to read for the first time.
• What does journaling mean to you?
• Have you ever been proud of something you wrote?

✈️ Narrative Essay Topics about Traveling

In this section, you get to engage your creativity! A narrative essay about traveling is supposed to show the reader what it’s like to explore the world. Present a story taking place in a real or imaginary location:

• Your first time traveling to another country.
• Friends taking a trip to the Great Canyon.
• Write a narrative about traveling to your dream location.
• Describe a trip to the Taj Mahal.
• A day-long road trip.
• Share your experience of visiting a historical site.
• Come up with a story about getting around the airport .
• What to do if you are lost in a foreign country?
• A day in the life of a flight attendant .
• Write about eating unusual foods from around the world.
• Describe talking to a local in a foreign language .
• A narrative about going on a seven-day cruise .
• Tell the reader about the most breathtaking view you’ve ever seen.
• Write a story about riding a train.
• A short narrative about an out-of-state road trip .

• Traveling to see your family on holidays.
• Come up with a narrative about hitchhiking across America.
• What is it like to travel in the air balloon?
• How to prepare for a trip around the world.
• What to do if your luggage got lost in a foreign country.
• Describe packing a suitcase for a long trip.
• A story about a person missing their plane.

🏫 Narrative Essay Topics about School

This section is for all grades! Writing a narrative essay about school gives you a chance to share your personal experience as a student. You can write about precious memories, challenges, or influential people in your school career. Pick one of the narrative essay topics about school from this list:

🧒 Elementary School

• Write a story with your favorite teacher as the main character.
• Describe your first day at school.
• A fun memory with your best friend.
• What is your favorite thing to do during a break?
• Tell your reader about something interesting you learned in class recently.
• A day when you had to leave school early.
• Recall your favorite celebration with classmates.
• Write about your favorite school subject.
• A story about your most unusual day at school.
• How did you bond with your classmates?
• Come up with narrative about a memorable event at the cafeteria .
• The last day of school before the summer break .
• One time when you forgot to bring something to the class.
• Describe how you worked on a science project.
• The most challenging class you took in middle school.
• A story of how you pranked a friend.
• Have you ever won a school competition?
• The day when you’ve decided on your future profession.
• Write about the teacher who impacted you the most.
• A story of a serious conversation you had about your grades .
• The day when you got in trouble with the principal .
• Reflect on a class you will never forget.

👫 Narrative Essay Topics about Relationships

Narrative essay about relationships focuses on presenting a story about connections between people. You can write about your family, friends, or loved ones. Make sure to pick a statement that you will expand on in your story. Use the following list of narrative writing topics to come up with your narrative about relationships.

• A conflict between generations .
• What is it like to be in love ?
• Write about how hatred can destroy relationships.
• Describe an example of loyalty.
• A story about maintaining friendship via social media .
• Come up with a narrative where people with opposite personalities are getting along.
• Tell the reader about somebody being generous.
• Write about a couple being honest with each other.
• A story where classmates treat each other with respect.
• Describe a family that maintains loving relationship no matter what.
• A story where you help somebody who used to be your enemy .
• How friendliness can brighten up a person’s day.
• Talk about the pain of ending a relationship .

• Children learning from their parents about empathy .
• A narrative about food connecting people.
• Come up with a story about unfulfilled expectations.
• The importance of authentic conversations in a friendship.
• What relational patterns do you see in your family?
• Manifestations of real love in everyday life.
• A story when someone makes a sacrifice for the sake of others.
• Describe a situation where parents are bonding with their child.
• Talk about the most meaningful relationship in your life.

🧸 Childhood Narrative Essay Topics

Childhood narrative essays are about sharing memories from the time when you were little. You can write about playing with friends or a day when you fell off the bike. Or, ask your family members to recall some episodes from your childhood.

• A story of how you received your nickname.
• Write about playing with your favorite toys.
• What is the most memorable place you went to when you were little?
• What kind of friends did you have when you were little?
• Did you ever break anything?
• Recall your earliest childhood memories.
• What was the first valuable lesson you’ve learned as a kid?
• Share your favorite childhood sports memory.
• A story of your first triumph.
• What did you enjoy doing when you were little?

• A moment from your childhood that your parents often recall.
• Which talents did you have when you were a child?
• What was it like to grow up with your siblings?
• Write a narrative about your favorite pet.
• The most memorable childhood moment with your family.
• Were there any challenges you had to overcome as a kid?
• What was your favorite children’s book ?
• Did you ever get lost when you were little?
• An exciting sleepover you had with friends.
• Write a story about how you and your friends went on an adventure.
• A family holiday that you will remember forever.
• What was your favorite food in your early years?

💡 Narrative Essay Writing Guide and Tips

As you already know, writing a narrative essay is very similar to telling a story. Here are a few tips to remember for narrative writing:

Receive a plagiarism-free paper tailored to your instructions. Cut 15% off your first order!

• Tip 1: Use your memories. Take time to write down everything you can recall about the event. You can use it as a basis for your paper.
• Tip 2: Be clear. Stick to the main idea of the essay. It’s better not to add characters or details that are not relevant to the story you’re telling.
• Tip 3: Choose words carefully. In an essay words to are like paint on a canvas. The use of vivid language can help you create a story worth reading.

Now, pay attention to this step-by-step guide. It will help you outline an on-point narrative essay:

• Introduction. In the opening paragraph, determine the main idea of the paper. Make a clear thesis that reflects the purpose of your narrative. To help yourself with this part, you can try a narrative essay thesis generator .

In this essay, I want to share my happiest childhood memory of playing with my older brother.

• The body. Since you are writing the narrative essay as a story, make sure to tell the story well. Think through the plot with conflict, climax, and a powerful conclusion. Take your time to introduce the setting and the characters. All this will make your paper entertaining and easy to read.
• Conclusion. Bring your narrative to a logical end. Expanding on the thesis statement will help you write a great conclusion.

Playing with my older brother taught me the true meaning of family, and I’m very grateful for it.

We hope this article helped you figure out how to write a narrative essay!

You may be also interested in:

• How to Write a Narrative Essay: Easy Guide and Useful Tips
• How to Start an Autobiography about Yourself: Full Guide + Autobiography Examples
• How to Write a Creative Essay: Tips, Topics and Techniques
• Breaking Down the Types of Essays: a Complete Guide for Success

🔍 References

• Narrative Essays: Purdue University
• Nailing the Craft of Narrative Writing: WeAreTeachers
• Narrative and Reflection Writing Samples: Western Technical College
• Drafting a Narrative: Walden University
• Scholarly Personal Narrative: University of Vermont
• The Power of Personal Narratives in the Classroom: University of Washington
• Fiction Writing Basics: Purdue University
• How to Write a Literacy Narrative: Pen and the Pad
• Literacy Narratives: UNC Charlotte
• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to LinkedIn
• Share to email

Similar to the instructions in a recipe book, process essays convey information in a step-by-step format. In this type of paper, you follow a structured chronological process. You can also call it a how-to essay. A closely related type is a process analysis essay. Here you have to carefully consider...

In a classification essay, you divide the subject into categories. To create these categories, you single out certain attributes of things. You can classify them according to their characteristics, themes, or traits. Sounds complicated? Be sure that any high school or college student can manage this type of essay!

Throughout your high school years, you are likely to write many evaluative papers. In an evaluation essay you aim is to justify your point of view through evidence.

Immigration is a permanent move to a foreign country. It takes place all over the globe, including the United States. It played an important role in history, and it continues to influence society today. This article offers a variety of immigration essay topics. They are suitable for college-level works, as...

Should you buy a green or a red apple? Before making a decision, people often compare their options. In a compare and contrast essay, you analyze the similarities and differences between certain things. In this article, you’ll find interesting and easy compare and contrast essay topics for college, high school...

An opinion essay requires a student to present a point of view on a chosen subject and back it up with substantial evidence. Like in a debate, the writer has to give their opinion and defend it while using scholarly resources. This article will help you find a good opinion...

When you start studying philosophy, you may think it’s boring and has nothing to do with the real world. It couldn’t be further from the truth! The study of philosophy deals with the most exciting and mysterious aspects of reality. It is closely connected with science, psychology, art, and politics....

It would be great if economics in college would just teach you how to save and make money. In reality, however, students usually write research papers on micro- and macroeconomics topics to learn about the production and consumption of goods on an international level.

The corporate world is the world of the future – there’s no doubt about that. And education in ABM will help you conquer it! What is ABM strand, exactly? ABM stands for Accountancy, Business, and Management. Future leaders and entrepreneurs pursue education in this field to learn the skills essential...

If you are a psychology student and you think that Mindhunter is just not good enough, you are not alone! Psychology is one of the most exciting research areas. It is one of the reasons why Custom-writing.org experts prepared as many as 191 psychology research topics! 🔝 Top 10 Communication...

There is a big difference between research conducted in science and humanities. Scholars in humanities and social sciences (HumSS strand) are more interested in questions rather than answers. Interpreting the known facts and looking at them from a new perspective is also a part of research in HumSS. There are...

The importance of health research can’t be underestimated. It helps move medicine forward and save millions of people. It also promotes various preventive techniques that help us live longer and safer lives.

Home — Blog — Topic Ideas — 150+ Great Narrative Essay Topics and Ideas

150+ Great Narrative Essay Topics and Ideas

Often during the education process in school or university , we are asked to write an essay. Let’s talk about essays, in particular narrative ones. In a narrative essay, the author tells a story from real life. In this form of essay, the presentation of events in chronological order will not be enough. The authors’ thesis should interest the reader and make the story as vivid as possible so that the reader wants to become a part of the events described and can easily "transfer" to the story . More often such an essay is written in the 1st person in the present or past tense.

There are also other types of essays, such as:

• Description essays. In such an essay, we describe an object.
• Definition essays. Here we have one goal - to reveal this or that concept.
• Illustration essays. Your goal is to prove a statement.
• Argument essays. Here we give examples of persuasive facts that support your assertion.

Now let's look at the most popular narrative essay topics that we can board you with.

How to Know What Topic You Need?

If you were given a list of essay topics at schools or colleges , it would be logical if you choose a topic that is closer to you, on which you are not averse to reflecting.

If there is no list of topics, and you have only indicated the direction in which you should choose a problem for the essay, you will have to formulate the topic for narrative writing yourself.

Here are some tips on how to choose a topic for your essay:

• Before defining a narrative essay topic, it is worth finding the author's position. This is the moral instruction of the author, which can be written directly or encrypted in the words or thoughts of the hero-narrator. To find it, one should single out the topic and all the micro-themes in the text, and then formulate moralizing within their framework, that is, the author's position.
• From the author's position, it is worth asking a special question, that is, a question that requires a general answer, and not a short "yes" or "no". This question will be a problem.
• It is necessary to find two examples in the text that illustrate the transition from the question to the author's position, that is, to help answer the question posed. This will prove that such a problem is indeed raised by the author.

Narrative Essay Topic Ideas

Now, let’s take a closer look at topics for narrative essay examples you can choose. 

Personal Narrative Essay Topics 

Personal narrative essay examples and ideas are needed when you describe something that you experienced in your life.

• How To Be a Defensive Driver.
• A Personal Narrative about Fear Of Heights.
• My Fear of Failure.
• The Narrative about Losing My Dad.
• A Day I Lost My Best Friend.
• Narrative on Precious Time.
• What I Did This Summer.
• Personal Narrative: I Am a Perfectionist.
• Why Softball Is Important in My Life.
• Narrative on Vocation.
• My First Rock Concert.
• How I Learned to Accept Myself the Way I am.
• I Helped a Person in Need.
• My Last Day at School.
• The Character I Associate Myself with.

Cultural Narrative Essay Topics

Cultural topics for narratives allow you to highlight the topic of culture and at the same time present the story in an interesting way for the reader.

• Narrative about Mexican Culture.
• What traditions are unique in your family?
• Which tradition surprised you the most?
• How does the media influence our perception of culture?
• How does culture define a person's personality?
• What culture do you identify with?
• What is your favorite holiday?
• How does your family celebrate Christmas?
• The Impact of Narrative in English Language and Culture.
• What holiday has the most sacred meaning for you?
• What traditions does your family observe on the Easter holidays?
• Which of the cultural events you attended did you remember the most?
• What foreign tradition do you like the most?
• Holiday traditions in your family.
• Which festival do you like the most?

Narrative Argument Essay Topics 

This type of narrative topics for an essay implies that you need to write about something that has had a big impact on you.

• Conflict case from your life.
• What disagreements did you have together with your friend?
• The case when someone deceived you.
• Has there been a choice in your life that you regret?
• Have you been in conflict with other people?
• A situation where you have to make a difficult decision between right and wrong.
• Have you been caught doing something bad?
• Have you ever had to win friends following the rules?
• Have you ever blamed another person for what you did?
• Have you helped someone for personal gain?
• Have you ever played pranks on your friends?
• What experience can you call the most difficult but important in life?
• Have you ever been in a car accident?
• Have you ever been humiliated?
• Have you ever helped a friend solve his problem?

Interesting Narrative Essay Topics 

• Have you had to make a difficult decision in life?
• Have you ever flooded a neighbor's house?
• Has there ever been a person in your life who has changed it drastically?
• Would you like to relive any of those days again?
• Have you ever failed an exam?
• What was the scariest moment in your life?
• Have you ever been really sick?
• Have you ever saved another person's life?
• Have you ever worked up the courage to visit a haunted house?
• Have you ever won a prize?
• What was your first job in life?
• Have you ever participated in educational student exchange programs ?
• What do you do when you are all alone?
• What was your first meeting with the police?
• Have you ever been to the emergency room?

Personal Experience Narrative Essay Topics 

Here you can describe people or events that influenced you in one way or another.

• How have you met a special person in your life?
• The person you enjoy the most.
• The best place in the neighborhood.
• The place you'd like to live your whole life.
• A productive art, you enjoy.
• What is your first job search ?
• Your biggest disappointment.
• Do you remember your first birthday?
• Narrative on Earthquake: An Earth-Shattering Experience.
• Have you ever encountered a wild animal?
• Tell about the first time you got home alone.
• How did you cook food for the first time?
• Tell how you helped someone.
• How did you overcome your fear?
• Narrative about Video Games.

Relationship Narrative Essay Topics

Relationship narrative stories ideas help to describe our relationship and how our experience has influenced certain events in life.

• Have you ever fallen in love?
• What advice would you give to a couple who are just starting their relationship?
• How would you define family?
• If you have a best friend, how did you meet?
• Do you think that your parents are more sensitive than others?
• What is your attitude towards marriage?
• Have you ever experienced gender bias?
• How do you remember deceased family members?
• What do you know about the origins of your family?
• Narrative about Friendship.
• How did you meet your best friend?
• What can make you end a romantic relationship?
• Is the community in your area important?
• Do you think hatred can destroy a relationship?
• Have you ever experienced intergenerational conflict?
• What does honesty mean in a relationship?

Childhood Memories

In this type of essay, you need to describe the events and memories of childhood.

• What was my first pet?
• What are my first memories?
• Whom did I look up to as a child?
• How did I first go to the hospital?
• My first meeting with my uncle/aunt.
• The Impact of a Funeral.
• My first terrible incident.
• What are my childhood fears?
• What was the happiest day of my childhood?
• My first time at the stadium.

Growing Up in High School 

Here you need to recall the most vivid impressions from high school.

• What lessons were my favorites?
• Who was my favorite teacher?
• What role in the school theater did I remember the most?
• How I lost a sports match.
• Topics forbidden to me.
• How did I feel when I failed the exam?
• How did I feel when I passed the exam with excellent marks?
• Is commuting to school a routine for me?
• My best adventure in school.
• What kind of extracurricular activities do I enjoy the most?

Moral & Ethical Dilemmas

In this type of essay, you have to describe the ideas of the complexity of moral choice.

• What is your attitude towards pro-life movement: argumentative essay on abortion ?
• How can we influence the fight against racism?
• How should a work ethic deal with sexism?
• Do you think euthanasia should be legal?
• Why can't war be ethical?
• What moral issues does workplace automation cause?
• The Missing Climate Change Narrative Analysis.
• Is it ethical to have a lot of money?
• If drugs were legal, would their use be ethical?
• Is it possible to justify eating meat in the modern world?

College Student Life

Try to describe events and memories from your student's life.

• Narrative about Reading.
• My last day with my schoolmates.
• My favorite course.
• Meeting my better half.
• The story of my split-up.
• My brightest high school moment.
• How I met my old friend.
• My favorite professor.
• Narrative on a Trip: The Wonders of Rome.
• The most symbolic episode from my college life.
• The day I moved.
• Narrative on a Road Trip to Remember.
• My first impressions of the college campus.
• How I met my roommate.
• My first friends at college.

Narrative Essay Topics for Different Grades 

Let’s look at the narrative speech topics for different grades.

Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 5

• My first bicycle ride.
• My dad is my hero.
• A day with my grandmother.
• My first day at school.
• My best friend.
• My favorite teacher.
• A school trip to the zoo.
• My grandpa’s hands.
• The most exciting day of school.
• The best summer vacation.

Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 6

• A memorable teacher.
• My first trip abroad.
• A sad story from my childhood.
• My favorite vacation with my family.
• A fight with my best friend.
• My best birthday party.
• How we celebrate our parents’ wedding anniversary.
• My first day at a new school.
• Last Christmas was an interesting story.
• How I lost my sister.

Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 7

• Something that scared me the most.
• The best day of my life.
• Helping a stranger.
• How I met my best friend.
• My brother’s wedding.
• How I got my first pet.
• Once I called the dean's office.
• Conflict with my father.
• Unique family tradition.

Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 8

• School trip to the museum.
• My best day at school.
• The most exciting day of summer vacation.
• Worst day at school.
• The day I got my first pet.
• The hour we spent looking at our baby's album.
• My first attempt at cooking.
• My first Japanese pastry.
• My first foreign friend.

Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 9

• A visit to the countryside.
• How I lost my faith in humanity.
• A car accident.
• My friend had an accident.
• A trip I will never forget.
• The most enjoyable Christmas.
• A bad experience that completely changed my behavior.
• How I used to spend my summer vacations.
• My experience with a tornado.
• I got lost in the streets of venus.

Narrative Essay Topics for O Levels

• A special moment when I got my first bike.
• A disappointing birthday party.
• The most embarrassing thing that happened to me.
• A disastrous date.
• The moment of success.
• Growing up in New York.
• A sporting experience.
• A random act of kindness.
• The first six months of COVID-19.
• The end of my relationship.

Narrative Essay Topics for High School Students

Personal narrative ideas in high school include the classic moments that are stereotypical of the secondary school experience.

• Special homecoming court moment.
• A friendship that started long before high school.
• Prom dress shopping and your self-esteem.
• Anticipation for graduation.
• An award or scholarship you received.
• Participating in a school musical.
• Coming to America: A Narrative of a Journey of Hope.
• Your first love.
• A moment you stood up for what you believed in.
• How your relationship with your parents changed for the better.

Narrative Essay Topics for Middle School

Middle school is a great time of self-discovery that’s filled with firsts and memorable moments. Use these milestones as the topic for your narrative essay.

• Making an unlikely friend.
• How bad relationships help you become a better person.
• The first time you opened your locker.
• The teacher that makes you feel smart.
• Moving from elementary school to middle school.
• A social media post that inspired you.
• A news story about a kid/teen that was uplifting.
• A comment from a teacher that made you feel good.
• A comment from someone you’re not friends with that made you feel good.
• Being yourself.

Narrative Essay Topics for College Students

College is another time in your life that’s wrought with self-discovery and seeing the world as it truly is.

• Frederick Douglass Narrative.
• Frame Narrative in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
• Narrative on The Definition of Bravery in Beowulf.
• A Critical Examination of Social Commentary and Narrative Execution.
• Examples of community on campus.
• A test experience that boosts your self-esteem.
• The moment you realized you were going into the right field.
• What does a college degree mean to you?
• College is a microcosm of the world.
• The feeling of independence.

Conclusion 

Teachers and students are very fond of narrative essay topics, as they are flexible enough that everyone can find a topic that is close to them. If you can’t decide on a topic yourself, then the list that we presented in our material will help you. We sincerely wish you good luck and inspiration for writing the best essay. And the topics we have suggested will help you with this!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

150 Narrative Essay Topics

If you're looking for a more creative approach to writing essays, narrative essays might be a great option for you. With narrative essays, you have the freedom to tell a story and use your own personal experiences to make a point.

Whether you're writing a personal narrative or an experiential essay, you'll want to make sure that you're engaging your reader and conveying your message effectively. This is where custom essay writing services and coursework writing services can be incredibly helpful. With the assistance of professional writers, you can develop a compelling narrative essay that is both engaging and informative.

Overall, writing a narrative essay can be a fun and rewarding experience. Whether you're reflecting on a personal experience or sharing an anecdote, remember that the goal is to make a point and connect with your audience. So why not give it a try and see what stories you can tell? And if you need any assistance, don't hesitate to reach out to a " write my essay" or " write a paper for me" service for help.

What is a Narrative Essay?

A narrative essay is a less formal form of academic writing where the goal is to see whether you can tell a story clearly in an engaging manner. It follows the typical format of an essay with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion but also incorporates classic story writing elements like plot, setting, character, climax, and ending. 

This kind of essay is written from a defined point of view, usually yours, so writing in the first person is recommended unlike most other forms of academic writing. You still need to make a point though, so include a thesis statement in your first paragraph and refer to it again in the conclusion. 

Many college application essay prompts are narrative writing, for example - describe the most significant achievement of your life. Learning how to write a good narrative paper has use beyond just college essays though, a majority of online content now is based on telling engaging stories. Read on to know more about narrative papers and find a list of 150 fascinating topics for narrative essays.

How to Choose a Topic for a Narrative Essay

Choosing good narrative essay topics are crucial for a few reasons. The story you tell will most often draw from your own experiences and thoughts, so choose a topic that you know well or are well-informed about. Additionally, since the story has to have a purpose, select a topic that has broad potential and narrow it down to tell your unique story. Remember the following things when choosing a topic for a narrative essay.

The key thing to remember is that you’re telling a story

Because a narrative essay is so unlike most academic writing assignments, a common mistake is writing sections like a dry academic assignment. It’s for school, but that doesn’t mean you can’t deliver an experience. It’s about crafting an engaging piece of storytelling while revealing something impactful through the story.

Choose an interesting or meaningful idea to explore

This is a great time to write about something that is particularly important in your life or something you are passionate about. Topics can range from your thoughts and ideas about a concept to an obscure activity that you enjoy.

The pre-writing stage is critically important

A good story flows well and includes details that draw the reader in, but it also has to deliver some idea or message. Collecting information and planning ahead to create an outline for your essay will smoothen your writing process.

Don’t forget to have fun with it!

The story you tell should be engaging, which means you have the freedom to experiment! Drawing from several different but interconnected life experiences, or telling the story from the perspective of an inanimate object are some interesting ways to make your essay stand out. 

But remember that it’s still an essay

Even though it’s storytelling, you’re still writing an essay, which means it needs to follow the classic essay structure. Based on the word count, plan how many body paragraphs you need (minimum 3 ALWAYS). Your first sentence should still have a hook, and your first paragraph still needs to have a thesis statement. The story that unfolds in the body paragraphs shouldn’t drift from your thesis statement, and your conclusion needs to end the story as well as reiterate your thesis. 

Struggling with the Topic for Your Narrative Essay Homework?

Get your assignments done by real pros. Save your precious time and boost your marks with ease.

150 Unique Topics for Narrative Essay 

It can be quite tough to think of something meaningful to write your essay about, but almost any experience you have can be an interesting topic. For one person, the first time they played a sport could be a traumatic experience, for another it could be life-changing. Only you know your experiences and thoughts. Here’s a list of narrative essay topics that you can use to start the brainstorming process and spark your imagination.

College narrative essay topics 

College is a time of new experiences. So much happens that it shouldn’t be difficult to choose something to write about. The essay you write can be more descriptive, focussing on your sensory observations of an experience, or more contemplative, focusing on new thoughts and feelings. Take a look at these narrative essay topics for college students. 

What was it like getting your first acceptance letter?

How you chose which college to go to

Your first day leaving home and coming to campus

Meeting your roommate and whether it went well or not

Your first college party 

Your favorite class 

Losing touch or staying in touch with friends from high school

The best day in college so far

The difference between sports in high school and college

How you realized college was easier or tougher than you thought it would be

What it was like being in a class with 200 students

Your experience with an extracurricular you had never tried before

Going home for the first time after attending college

Finding a subject you never thought you would like 

How did you start feeling truly comfortable in college?

Narrative essay topics for high school students

High school years are chaotic. The changes in students and their social expectations can be frustrating, challenging, and exhilarating. Essays about many important firsts can be drawn from high school. Here are a few examples of narrative essay topics related to high school.

The best day of freshman year

A time you were bullied and stood up for yourself

A time when you were bullied and felt helpless

Your most significant social accomplishment

What was a meaningful volunteering experience you had?

Your proudest moment in a sporting event

Losing a valued friend

Your first highschool dance

Why your favorite teacher became your favorite teacher

When you realized what you want to pursue as a career

The best video game moment you had 

An embarrassing moment in school and how you overcame it

Your best social media moment

The buildup to graduation day

An experience helping another student

Personal narrative essay topics

Since narrative essays are often written in the first person and rely on the experiences and thoughts of the author, they can all be considered personal, but a personal essay asks you to specifically tell a story about a time that changed you in a meaningful way. Here are some topics for writing a narrative essay about personal moments and revelations. 

A summer vacation adventure that involved heroics

Describe an experience you had in a foreign country that made you feel lucky to be from your country

Your first time following a YouTube tutorial 

Your excitement at watching the newest star wars/lord of the rings/Marvel Cinematic Universe etc. movie

Bonding with a new pet 

The moment you realized that you admire some traits in a person and want to be like them 

A situation that changed your relationship with your parents 

A situation when you had to deal with the police

Witnessing an event that needed you to call the police 

Your best leadership moment

Your experience attending a large event (politics, religion, sports, etc)

The most meaningful time in church or any religious moment of significance

An experience that humbled you 

A situation where you made a serious mistake 

A time you had to learn from adversity 

Narrative argument essay topics

Like any narrative essay - the goal is to tell a story, but like any argument essay - the goal is to convince or persuade the reader to agree with your viewpoint. Writing an effective narrative argument essay incorporates convincing arguments into the story itself. The trick is finding a balance between getting lost in telling the story and forgetting about storytelling and convincing the reader. Here are a few examples to help you find a topic for a narrative essay. 

A time when you convinced somebody against a conspiracy theory

A moment that made you more religious or spiritual

A moment that made you less religious or spiritual

Your favorite trip and why the place you went to is fantastic

How you discovered your favorite art style

The first time you played a new genre of game and why it’s the best 

Your experience attending a conference or event about climate change

Watching a movie, tv-show, youtube video, or any media that changed your mind

A situation where you had to verbally defend yourself or a friend

An observation about income disparity gained by working in a soup kitchen/homeless shelter etc.

An experience you’ve had talking to somebody with different political beliefs

A conversation about gender identity with an older person

Seeing the police behave appropriately or inappropriately

Your experience with love and how you developed your definition of it

A time you had to swallow your pride and hold your tongue

Easy narrative essay topics

Here’s a list of some good topics for a narrative essay that most people have experience with and can write about but are still interesting enough to create an engaging story for the reader. Below are some easy but interesting narrative essay topics.

A hike, picnic, or walk that made you appreciate nature

Visiting a particularly awesome amusement park

An especially romantic date

Your first trip to a big city 

Your first trip to a foreign country 

Discovering a new movie genre

The thrill of watching horror movies

A regular day in your life

A moment when you gained respect for your parents, teachers, or friends

The time you saved an animal

How you broke a bad habit 

How you developed a new skill

Your experience at a zoo

The first time you went bowling (tried any new game)

Your happiest day

Did you like our inspiring Narrative Essay Guide?

For more help, tap into our pool of professional writers and get expert essay editing services!

Cultural narrative essay topics

Some of the most mind-expanding experiences happen when looking at and understanding a different culture or by analyzing your own culture from an outsider’s perspective. Cultural narrative essay topics are particularly useful when applying to colleges or applying for grants or scholarships for exchange programs. 

What you learned from a trip abroad

How the lives of people in various socio-economic brackets are different

Observations on which basic things are different in different countries

How your cultural identity has changed over time

Sleeping over at a friends house from a different cultural background

Describe some unique personal family traditions

An experience where your culture/race/religion affected the situation around you

How you learned to fit in with a different culture

You first experience living in a foreign country

Discovering new subcultures like anime, gaming, k-pop, etc

Your favorite traditions from foreign cultures

How you understood your cultural heritage better

A time when you realized the impact of media on the perspective of other cultures

Getting over stereotypes because someone behaved differently than what you expected 

Celebrating a different festival for the first time

Autobiographical narrative essay topics

Autobiographical narrative essays as you to specifically describe and talk about things in your life that impacted you. Take a look at the narrative essay topics below for inspiration.  

Your first memory

Your first meaningful memory

Your first day of school

Your relationship with your grandparents

Finding out a shocking family secret

Your proudest achievement as a child

Your favorite childhood hobby

The best day of middle school

A time when you lost something important

How you dealt with losing someone close to you

Discovering your favorite musician

Your first kiss, date, or relationship

The worst day of your life 

Why certain things are so meaningful to you

Which people have influenced your life significantly?

Fictional narrative essay topics

Fictional narrative essay topics are an opportunity to flex your creativity. Put yourself in the shoes of someone else, or in a fantastic situation and write a story! These are some narrative essay topics to choose from down below.

What it would be like traveling to Mars

What you would do with a million dollars

Describe a particularly vivid dream 

A day in your life if you woke up as the opposite sex

What it would be like to be a professional gamer

What it would be like to have 100,000 Instagram followers

A day at the zoo from the perspective of an animal

A day in the life of a child from a very wealthy family

A day in the life of a child from a war-torn country

What it would be like to have your own talk show

What would you do if you were president?

What would you do if you were a dictator?

What it would be like to be a superhero

Tell a story based on your favorite work of art

A hypothetical dinner with your favorite celebrity

Best narrative essay topics - our choice

The best narrative essay topic ideas are going to be different for every individual. This section is going to choose some topics that offer the most space for creativity, are interesting to write about, or offer a broad chance for self-reflection. 

Your earliest sad memory

How you realized someone had become a role model

A day in the life of your favorite fictional character

The thrill of winning

The heartbreak of loss

Understanding gender identity

A clash of culture

A new discovery

Finding your favorite hobby 

Performing beyond expectation

Overcoming personal trauma

Helping someone in need

A life-changing trip 

Enjoying nature

Questioning the status quo

More interesting narrative essay topics

Think about these situations and ask yourself if any of these or something similar happened to you and makes for a good story. Enjoy these interesting narrative essay topics!

The best way to win at a particular video game

The process of creating a good TikTok 

Why binging a show is the best way to consume media

What it’s like being lost in a virtual world

A time you were convinced to try something new

Discovering a new favorite food 

What dancing means to you 

The saddest scene in media

The funniest babysitting moment

Your first day at a job

A time you asked for help

What it feels like to end a good book

A time where you panicked 

A time you were kind to someone 

Final thoughts

A narrative writing is unlike most other forms of academic writing. This can make it challenging for students, but as long as you think about it as writing a story and choose the right topic for a narrative essay, they are actually a joy to write! Here are a few key things to remember as you write your essay. 

A narrative essay uses the story structure - beginning, middle, and end, as well as plot, climax, setting, and characters

Spend time on the prewriting phase to gather your thoughts and plan an outline

Don’t lose track of the main purpose of the story

Generally, write in the first person, but the third person can be used as well

Use vivid words and explain sensory details

Above all, have fun and engage the reader as much as you can

Featured Posts

Definition essay topics.

Cause and Effect Essay Topics

180 Persuasive Essay Topics

Narrative Essay Writing

Narrative Essay Topics

Interesting Narrative Essay Topics and Ideas

16 min read

Published on: Mar 22, 2023

Last updated on: Mar 25, 2024

People also read

How to Write a Narrative Essay in Simple Steps

20+ Top Narrative Essay Examples by Experts

Personal Narrative Essay - Easy Guide & Examples

Share this article

Unlike other forms of academic writing, narrative essays focus on personal experiences, anecdotes, and reflections. They aim to engage readers through vivid storytelling, allowing them to connect emotionally with the narrative. 

However, finding the right topic can sometimes be challenging. 

In this guide, we'll look into the narrative essay topic examples, explore various themes, and provide valuable tips to help you choose the perfect topic for your narrative essay.

Let’s jump in!

On This Page On This Page -->

Narrative Essay Topics for Students

If you're a student, you probably have to write an essay at some point. Getting an interesting topic idea is not easy. We have gathered some essay topics for different academic levels to help you with the task.

Let's dive right into the narrative essay topics list without any delay.

Narrative Essay Topics For University Students

• The worst interview of your life 
• A time when you discovered something precious 
• A time when you were insulted or disrespected
• A time you discovered one of your skills
• The moment when your loved one was hurt 
• The moment when your best friend had an accident 
• The day your father caught you smoking 
• A mistake that taught you something significant 
• An action you thought would help the person but got you in trouble.
• The moment when someone else's experience saved your life 
• The time when you underestimated a junior
• How has practicing helped you become a professional?
• The time when your beliefs were shaken
• An event that made you feel sorry about a person
• The time when you had to let go of one of your most important things

Narrative Essay Topics For College Students

• First experience of living in a hostel
• The worst roommate ever
• Frightening memory of your childhood
• Why you chose a specific major
• What studying in a dream college feels like?
• The most healthy part of your routine
• The time you inspired someone
• What should you tell your younger self?
• Your favorite author and his work that you most relate to
• A moment when your joke offended your friend

Narrative Essay Topics For Grade 12

• Your favorite activities in your leisure time
• How you overcome your fears
• The hardest thing you did in life
• What regrets do you have in life?
• Your biggest motivation to score well in academics
• Share a cherished family tradition and its impact on you.
• Recall a moment where you stood up for your beliefs.
• Discuss a tough decision and its impact on your character.
• Explore a memory that highlights the value of friendship.
• Reflect on a book, movie, or art that shaped your perspective.
• Overcome a setback or failure and what you learned.

Narrative Essay Topics High School

• The most interesting summer school memory 
• The moment when you saw your favorite actor in real life 
• The first time you helped a needy person
• How you became friends with your best friend 
• A person who left a deep influence on you 
• The day when you became a class representative 
• Your first speech on the stage
• Your first term paper
• Your favorite high school student’s profession 
• The first time you stood up for something you believed in

Narrative Essay Topics For Grade 10

• A time when you had to stand up for something you believed in
• The most significant challenge you have faced in your life so far
• A moment that changed your life forever
• A decision that you regret making and what you learned from it
• A person who has had a significant impact on your life
• A time when you learned an important life lesson through a mistake you made
• A trip that you will never forget
• A time when you felt like you had to prove yourself to someone
• A moment when you felt like giving up, but you pushed through anyway
• An experience that helped you discover something new about yourself.

Narrative Essay Topics For Grade 9

• A time when you overcame a fear
• The most memorable day of your life
• A difficult decision you had to make
• The first time you tried something new
• A moment when you learned an important life lesson
• An experience that changed your perspective on something
• A time when you made a mistake and what you learned from it
• A memorable trip you went on
• The first time you fell in love with a hobby or activity
• A moment when you felt proud of yourself for overcoming a challenge.

Narrative Essay Topics For Class 7

• My favorite sibling
• Betrayal in friendship
• Why is television so important in your life?
• A hobby of yours that you recently adopted
• The most memorable farewell
• A memorable encounter with a new friend
• The day when you became a class representative
• Your dream college
• Your favorite profession

Narrative Essay Topics For Class 6

• The time when you underestimated a junior 
• The time when your beliefs were shaken 
• An event that made you feel sorry about a person 
• The time when you had to let go of one of your most important things 
• Your favorite activities in your leisure time 
• The most adventurous thing you've ever done
• Your biggest motivation to score well in academics 

Narrative Essay Topics For Grade 5

• Your first day at school
• Your favorite teacher 
• Your best winter vacations
• The happiest day of your life
• Your best birthday ever
• The moment when you got lost in a mall 
• The most painful injury 
• Your first pet
• The feeling of losing loved ones
• The hardest goodbye 

Tough Essay Due? Hire Tough Writers!

Short Narrative Essay Topics

• Exploring family traditions
• Narrating standing up for beliefs
• Recounting a tough decision
• Reflecting on the value of friendship
• Sharing shaping perspectives
• Reflecting on overcoming failure
• Revisiting meaningful places
• Delving into a social passion
• Narrating stepping out of comfort zones
• Reflecting on influential role models

Best Narrative Essay Topics

• An unexpected act of kindness
• A transformative travel experience
• The day everything changed
• Lessons learned from failure
• A secret that changed everything
• Discovering my passion
• The power of forgiveness
• A moment of serendipity
• Conquering my greatest fear
• Lessons from a cultural exchange

Topics For Narrative Essays on Themes

Narrative essay themes contain a range of subjects and ideas that serve as the central focus or underlying message of the narrative. These themes often reflect aspects of human experience, emotions, relationships, and societal issues. 

Here are some common narrative essay themes and their topic ideas:

Childhood Memories Narrative Essay Topics

• My favorite toy from childhood
• Exploring my grandparents' house
• Building forts and imaginary worlds
• The day I lost my first tooth
• Baking cookies with my mom
• Playing hide and seek in the neighborhood
• My first pet and our adventures together
• Celebrating holidays with family traditions
• Exploring nature in my backyard
• The joy of making new friends in kindergarten

Life Lessons Narrative Essay Topics 

• Overcoming stage fright during a school performance
• Finding strength through a sports injury
• Learning patience through gardening
• Embracing change after moving to a new city
• The value of empathy in understanding others
• Discovering inner courage during a difficult decision
• The power of forgiveness in healing relationships
• Finding beauty in imperfection and embracing flaws
• The rewards of volunteer work and helping others
• Overcoming self-doubt through creative expression

Personal Growth Narrative Essay Topics 

• Exploring my cultural heritage through food and traditions
• Overcoming language barriers in a foreign country
• Finding confidence through public speaking
• Rediscovering creativity through art and music
• Exploring new career paths and passions
• Finding balance between work, family, and self-care
• Embracing vulnerability and authenticity in relationships
• The journey of self-discovery through traveling alone
• Overcoming limiting beliefs and embracing personal power
• Learning to set boundaries and prioritize self-respect

Relationships Narrative Essay Topics 

• The bond between siblings: shared adventures and conflicts
• Lessons learned from a long-distance friendship
• Reconnecting with an estranged family member
• The influence of a childhood teacher on personal development
• Building trust and communication in romantic relationships
• Exploring the dynamics of multigenerational relationships
• Navigating friendships through life transitions
• Overcoming misunderstandings and repairing relationships
• The role of pets in family dynamics and emotional support
• Exploring the meaning of unconditional love through relationships

Social Issues Narrative Essay Topics

• Empowering youth through education and mentorship
• Exploring access to healthcare in underserved communities
• Addressing mental health stigma and promoting awareness
• Bridging the digital divide: access to technology and information
• The impact of climate change on local communities
• Exploring racial justice and equity in society
• Overcoming barriers to LGBTQ+ equality and acceptance
• Supporting refugees and building inclusive communities
• The importance of intersectional feminism in social justice movements
• Promoting diversity and inclusion in educational settings

Personal Narrative Topics 

A personal narrative essay is a type of essay in which the writer shares a personal story, experience, or event from their own life. In this section, we will look into some different personal narrative ideas: 

Personal Experience Narrative Essay Topics

• Overcoming a fear of public speaking
• The day I conquered my greatest phobia
• Learning to embrace vulnerability and authenticity
• A life-changing encounter with a stranger
• Navigating a crossroads: choosing between passion and stability
• Finding resilience through adversity
• The transformative power of self-reflection
• Lessons learned from a failed business venture
• Exploring the joys and challenges of parenthood
• Overcoming cultural barriers in pursuit of personal growth

Personal Narrative Essay About Friendship

• The unlikely friendship that changed my life
• Weathering storms together: the strength of true friendship
• Navigating the ups and downs of high school friendships
• From strangers to soulmates: a journey of friendship
• The power of empathy in strengthening friendships
• Exploring cultural differences through friendship
• The art of forgiveness: repairing broken friendships
• Lessons learned from a childhood best friend
• Finding support and laughter in friendships across generations
• Celebrating diversity: embracing friendship beyond borders

Personal Narrative Stories Ideas on Traveling and Holidays

• A solo journey to self-discovery
• Living with locals in a foreign land
• Traveling alone to remote destinations
• Exploring culinary delights around the world
• The joy of spontaneity
• A holiday to remember
• Traveling through time
• From backpacker to business class
• Discovering hidden gems off the beaten path
• Family road trips

Fictional Narrative Essay Ideas

• Lost in a parallel universe: A journey through time
• The last survivors of a post-apocalyptic world
• A magical creature's quest for home
• The secret society of time travelers
• Escaping from a dystopian society
• Adventures in a virtual reality game
• Discovering a hidden portal to another dimension
• The mystery of the abandoned spaceship
• Guardians of the enchanted forest
• A quest for the legendary artifact of power

Literacy Narrative Essay Topics

• How a childhood book shaped my imagination
• Learning to read and write in a second language
• Discovering the power of poetry through personal experience
• The influence of storytelling in family traditions
• Overcoming dyslexia: My journey to literacy
• Exploring literary classics through different cultural lenses
• The impact of technology on reading habits
• The role of libraries in nurturing a love for reading
• Finding my voice through creative writing workshops
• Using literature to navigate life's challenges

First-Person Narrative Essay Ideas

• My journey through a haunted house on Halloween night
• A day in the life of a street performer in New York City
• Surviving a wilderness adventure in the Rocky Mountains
• Exploring the abandoned mansion at the edge of town
• My experience as a volunteer in a refugee camp
• Racing against time: My first marathon experience
• Finding love in unexpected places: A summer romance
• The night I spent stranded on a deserted island
• Becoming a detective for a day: Solving a mystery in my neighborhood
• My encounter with a UFO: An unforgettable extraterrestrial experience

Funny Narrative Essay Topics

• The misadventures of my clumsy pet cat
• Embarrassing moments during family gatherings
• My hilarious attempt at learning a new dance
• Surviving a disastrous cooking experiment in the kitchen
• The comedy of errors: my unforgettable road trip
• Accidentally sending a funny text to the wrong person
• The day I accidentally wore mismatched shoes to school
• My awkward encounter with a celebrity lookalike
• The unintentional pranks I played on April Fools' Day
• When auto-correct turns texting into a comedy show

Tips to Choose the Right Narrative Essay Topic

When selecting a narrative essay topic, consider the following tips:

• Authenticity: Choose topics that align with your personal experiences and values.
• Relevance: Select topics that are relevant and meaningful to your intended audience.
• Engagement: Opt for topics that are engaging and thought-provoking, sparking curiosity and empathy in readers.
• Scope: Ensure that the topic allows for sufficient depth and exploration within the confines of a narrative essay.

If you want to get an idea of writing a narrative essay, visit our narrative essay examples blog and get access to free PDF examples.

Summing it up!

Essays provide a unique opportunity to share personal experiences, insights, and reflections with readers. By choosing the right topic and crafting a compelling narrative, you can engage and inspire your audience. 

Remember to infuse your writing with authenticity, emotion, and vivid detail to create narratives that resonate long after they're read. 

If you find yourself short on time or unsure where to begin, seeking professional assistance is always an option. The custom essay writing service at CollegeEssay.org is here to help you with your writing needs. 

Additionally, don't forget to try our essay writer AI tool for further assistance!

Cathy A. (Literature, Marketing)

For more than five years now, Cathy has been one of our most hardworking authors on the platform. With a Masters degree in mass communication, she knows the ins and outs of professional writing. Clients often leave her glowing reviews for being an amazing writer who takes her work very seriously.

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That’s our Job!

Keep reading

Legal & Policies

• Privacy Policy
• Cookies Policy
• Terms of Use
• Refunds & Cancellations
• Our Writers
• Success Stories
• Our Guarantees
• Affiliate Program
• Referral Program
• AI Essay Writer

Disclaimer: All client orders are completed by our team of highly qualified human writers. The essays and papers provided by us are not to be used for submission but rather as learning models only.

• Essay Guides
• Essay Topics

Narrative Essay Topics: 250+ Ideas for Students

• Speech Topics
• Basics of Essay Writing
• Other Essays
• Main Academic Essays
• Research Paper Topics
• Basics of Research Paper Writing
• Miscellaneous
• Chicago/ Turabian
• Data & Statistics
• Methodology
• Admission Writing Tips
• Admission Advice
• Other Guides
• Student Life
• Studying Tips
• Understanding Plagiarism
• Academic Writing Tips
• Basics of Dissertation & Thesis Writing

• Research Paper Guides
• Formatting Guides
• Basics of Research Process
• Admission Guides
• Dissertation & Thesis Guides

Table of contents

Use our free Readability checker

Students in college often want to create a masterpiece when assigned a creative paper. Choosing the right topic for narrative writing is crucial for captivating your audience and leaving a lasting impression. Good narrative ideas inspiration can come from many sources, including documentaries, historical texts, self-help books, poems, and podcasts.  This article will define and explain the characteristics of good narrative essay topics as well as offer examples for students. Students who want to share their experiences through stories will find this guide helpful and full of inspirational ideas. In case you seek professional advice or want to entrust a writing task to an expert, buy narrative essays online from our platform. Our academic writers have extensive experience in preparing different types of essays and will be glad to help you.

What Are Narrative Essay Topics?

Narrative essay topics can be anything as long as they allow the writer to create a compelling story and convey a message. What is a good topic for a narrative essay? Unlike academic writing, narrative essays allow learners to get creative and personal and enable them to share personal experiences in an engaging and meaningful way. The creative process becomes easy with experience as students gain knowledge of filtering relevant topics in their brainstorming sessions. To come up with such narrative essay ideas , below you will find a criterion to focus on when choosing themes.

Characteristics of Good Narrative Essay Topics

What are good topics for a narrative essay ? Good narrative topics incorporate emotional appeal to connect the audience to your story. For a start, memorable events are recommended in creative writing as the story’s details can easily be remembered and developed coherently. Below are the characteristics of a good narrative essay topic:

• Unique and not easily predictable.
• Evokes strong emotions in the audience, whether it's laughter, sadness, or excitement.
• Has a clear conflict that drives the plot forward.
• Addresses current issues or touches upon universal themes that resonate with the audience.
• Creates anticipation and uncertainty, keeping the audience engaged and invested.
• Explores meaningful themes like identity, justice, love, or loss.

How to Choose a Narrative Essay Topic?

Choosing a narrative essay topic can be challenging, but following the right approach makes the process easier. The prewriting stage is essential to experiment and come up with the right subject and structure for the essay. By selecting a good narrative essay topic, you will be able to immediately capture your reader's attention and increase your chances of sharing work with a large audience. You can achieve this goal by following the criteria below:

• Reflect on your experiences of significant life events, like occasions, people, and places.
• Brainstorm ideas. Write down a list of potential topics that come to mind based on your reflections.
• Consider the audience. Think about who will be reading your essay and what the reader's interest might be.
• Evaluate the potential topics by reviewing the issues you brainstormed.
• You can use narrative essay prompts to help you brainstorm.
• Experiment with different topics, structures, and techniques to find what works best for you and your audience.

List of Narrative Essay Topics

This section gathers a list of narrative writing topics to choose from to help you create a high-quality paper. The reader’s attention is initially hooked on the title, which sets the tone of the manuscript and the words that come after it. Examples of catchy narrative essay titles are mentioned below.

• An adventure you went on and lessons learned.
• Moment of epiphany in my life.
• A bad cultural practice that affected me.
• A day that started normal but ended up being remarkable.
• Why did my mother stop sampling her favorite cuisine?
• Fishing trip with my classmates I will never forget.
• First time I attended auditions.
• A proud moment in my life.
• My life in the village.
• Weekend in my favorite camp.

Below you will find more ideas. But if you don't spot the right one feel free to use our Narrative Essay Title Generator .

Good Topics for a Narrative Essay

Good ideas for a narrative essay often include a plot, characters, setting, and themes written to engage and entertain a reader. The piece usually contains reflections on the event's meaning, significance, and how it has impacted the writer's life. Here is a list of good topics for narrative essays.

• Climbing mount Longonot.
• My first day of high school.
• Overcoming fear of public speaking.
• First concert I attended.
• Life-changing trip.
• My first job.
• Best moment of my life.
• Last trip to Vegas with my brother.
• My first trip to Mexico .
• How I met my role model.
• Life of moving from one place to another as a child.
• Struggles of balancing personal and educational life
• Most shocking accident that I witnessed.
• How I lost my dream vacation to bad weather.
• My experience with bullying.

Best Narrative Essay Topics

The best topics for narrative essays usually reflect the writer's insights and experiences and are infused with their unique voice and perspective. This should be followed with a clear and engaging introduction, which sets the stage for the narrative and hooks the reader’s attention. Here are examples of the best topics for narrative writing you can pick from!

• A life-changing decision you live to remember.
• A vacation that transformed your perspective on traveling.
• The most remarkable year that changed your life.
• Meeting the Queen of England.
• My first visit to a coffee milling company.
• Confession of a bank robber.
• My first job interview.
• How I lost my first mobile phone.
• My most significant grief.
• Childhood memory I will never forget.
• My best moments in life.
• Worst punishment I received.
• Scariest Halloween in my life.
• My experience with Asian cuisine .
• My first prank at the cafeteria.

Interesting Narrative Essay Topics

Interesting ideas for narrative writing should tell a story in a way that is not only entertaining but also thought-provoking and memorable. Additionally, the essay must have a clear and engaging writing style, combining humor, emotion, and vivid imagery to keep the reader captivated from start to finish! This includes memorable characters, imaginative settings, and descriptions that bring the story to life. Examples of interesting narrative topics for essays are:

• Near-death experience and its aftermath.
• Childhood memory that still makes you smile.
• Overcoming a phobia .
• A trip that changed your perspective on life.
• Meeting a celebrity.
• Life-changing decision that needed to be made.
• Time when you had to stand up for others.
• Cultural celebration that affected you.
• Returning home after living in Europe for years.
• Cooking a meal for the whole family for the first time.
• Struggle of the first day in a different country.
• Worst decision I ever made.
• My first experience in the theatre.
• Living alone for the first time.
• An individual that had a significant impact on your life.

Funny Narrative Essay Topics

A funny narrative writing topic allows you to share a lighthearted or humorous story with your readers. They often involve sarcasm or irony, poking fun at a certain aspect of life or describing a comical situation or event. The titles for narrative essays should encapsulate the primary theme of the essay. Here are some potential titles for narrative essay topics:

• When you got lost in a strange city.
• The most ridiculous law you’ve ever heard of.
• The most unusual dream you’ve ever had.
• Mistaking my father for a boyfriend through a text message.
• The day I wore mismatched shoes to school.
• Getting stuck in an elevator.
• Accidentally dying my hair pink.
• The day you were asked to get out of class for farting.
• Falling asleep in class.
• The day your father forgot to pick you up from school.
• Jammed in a public toilet.
• Getting lost in a shopping mall.
• Being locked in a restaurant store overnight.
• Marriage counselor that remarried four times.
• Time you pulled a prank on someone.

Easy Narrative Essay Topics

Easy topics for narrative essays allow the writer to express their story and ideas in a simple and straightforward manner. These titles are often familiar, personal, and relatable to the author and reader. They are easy to research or recall, reducing the time and effort required to collect information and write. Here are some ideas for a narrative essay:

• The best vacation you took.
• Special place you have visited.
• Your favorite childhood memories.
• Journey to self-discovery.
• Overcoming chicken phobia.
• Moment of kindness you received or gave.
• An event that shaped your identity.
• A memorable event with family or friends.
• Personal accomplishment that you are proud of.
• A day in the forest.
• Playground memory.
• Unusual winter holiday.
• Experience of being an introvert .
• A difficult decision you had to make.
• Growing up as a village kid.

Narrative Essay Ideas for Students

Narrative essay ideas help students reflect on or explore memorable moments in their school years and the lessons learned from these events. This includes telling about challenges you overcame, highlighting your resilience, or describing a student-teacher relationship and how it shaped your identity. Additionally, topics can comprise memories of stepping out of your comfort zone, sharing your lessons, and highlighting your bravery. The subsequent section covers some narrative essay topic ideas for students at different levels of education.

Narrative Essay Topics for Middle School

Personal narrative essay topics for middle school allow students to explore their imaginations by sharing personal life experiences, developing a narrative, and communicating the intended message to the reader. Here are examples of narrative essay ideas for middle school to inspire you to select a topic that will maximize the reader’s engagement.

• A lesson you learned from a failure.
• Great fictional character that I identify with.
• Dealing with anxiety in grade 8.
• Memorable event from middle school.
• Experience that changed your view on environmental protection.
• A place that holds a special meaning to me.
• Encounter with the school principal and its consequences.
• Special moments with my classmates.
• The best thing I learned in middle school.
• An extremely boring day in middle school.
• Best teacher I ever had.
• Most memorable farewell party.
• The most dramatic decision I made in middle school.
• Friends who made a difference in my life.
• The day I was expelled for eavesdropping on teachers’ conversations.

Narrative Essay Topics for High School

High school aims to provide students with a well-rounded education and the skills they need to succeed in their future endeavors. Narrative essay topics for high school students include developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills with titles written in personal story format. Students use high school narrative essay topics to share their thoughts, personal growth experiences, overcoming challenges, significant events in their lives, relationships, and reflections from their past experiences. Some common examples to know include:

• High school experience that taught you a valuable lesson.
• Sports accident that had a lasting impact on you.
• Best day spent with a childhood friend.
• My first day at high school.
• High school relationship that had a significant impact on you.
• The version of a perfect day in school.
• Learning fitness from my parents.
• My harshest debate competition.
• My worst lost match.
• My routine travel to and from school.
• A serious conversation I had about my grades.
• The day I decided on my future profession.
• How the teacher of English inspired my career in education.
• My after-school activities.
• How I won the school talent competition.

Remember that there's nothing wrong in getting help with college essay . Thousands of students do it every semester.

Narrative Essay Topics for College Students

Narrative essay topics for college students often have a reflective tone since it helps learners remember past experiences and learn from them. These titles can range from cultural experiences and significant events to personal experiences. Here are some examples of college narrative essay topics.

• My first day in the school of higher education.
• My best learning courses.
• Meeting my boyfriend at college.
• A turning point in my career path.
• How I traveled to enter college.
• A cultural experience that expanded my horizons.
• A defining moment in my college experience.
• How we shared duties with my roommate.
• Story of my break up in college.
• How community work made my college life interesting.
• A funny adventure in college.
• How I showcased my culture during cultural day events.
• My last day in college.
• My growth and personal development over the years in college.
• My experience with a statistics course.

Narrative Essay Topics for University Students

Topics for a narrative essay for university students often focus on describing a personal experience or events in the life of a student. Here are narrative topic ideas examples to help you in choosing an interesting topic.

• Stranger became my best friend in my third year of university.
• Favorite celebration with university classmates.
• Time when you were insulted by the professor.
• Time when a psychology class shook my beliefs.
• Worst interview of your life.
• Discovering that I am good at sociology.
• How associate professor's advice helped me navigate university life.
• The day my father learned I had a smoking habit.
• How I navigated through the hard university life.
• Reasons that prompted changing my course.
• The moment I realized university life subjects you to be independent.
• First time I participated in a big school event.
• The teacher I wanted to be friends with.
• An embarrassing conversation with the professor.
• My culture shock experience at campus.

Narrative Essay Topic Ideas

A narrative essay offers an invaluable contribution to enable students to express their opinions through creative writing clearly and concisely. Choosing interesting topics for a narrative essay is important to get the reader’s attention and make them connect and relate to your story. In choosing narrative topics to write about, you should find relevant titles, have a comfortable writing style, and show mastery. Different types of narrative ideas are explored in this part.

Narrative Story Ideas

Narrative story topics can be fiction or non-fiction, from personal experience or even a historical event. Ideas for a narrative story essay should align with narrative writing guidelines to create a good one. Some possible themes include:

• Meeting an unlikely friend.
• How you opened your online business.
• Social media story that inspired your career.
• Finding true love.
• Cultural tradition that is important to you.
• An individual who finds a lost treasure and must decide what to do with it.
• A family that moves to a new town and must adapt to the new surroundings.
• Group of friends who go on a wild adventure.
• The worst nightmare.
• The memories of the place where I consumed the biggest burger.
• A family member who must come to terms with a loss.
• My first experience riding a bicycle.
• A friend who discovers a hidden talent and must decide whether to pursue it.
• A college student, a bogeyman, and a magician walk into a bar.
• Winning the lottery.

Narrative Argument Essay Topics

Argument narrative essay topics present a claim or thesis that should be controversial or debatable to allow the writer to present arguments and counterarguments clearly and concisely. Narrative essay topics that teach a lesson allow authors to use examples to support their viewpoints. Possible argument titles are:

• Effects of climate change on local communities.
• Impact of technology on our daily lives.
• The role of community service in personal growth.
• Benefits of a diverse workplace.
• Impact of technology on our ability to focus and retain information.
• Effects of parental involvement on student academic success.
• Role of financial literacy in personal and professional life.
• Consequences of discrimination and prejudice on mental health.
• Need for gun control in preventing mass shootings.
• Negative effects of media on body image and self-esteem.
• Contribution of healthcare in promoting personal and community wellness.
• Benefits of social media on political discourse.
• Preventing teenage substance abuse through parental involvement.
• Importance of physical education in schools.
• Debate surrounding the death penalty.

View more: Good Argumentative Essay Topics

Narrative Descriptive Essay Topics

Descriptive narrative essay topics captivate readers’ senses and create a vivid and detailed picture in their minds. Narrative essays topics are often used to describe a person, place, or experience with detailed language and imagery. Examples of such titles include:

• World famous landmark that you visited.
• Visit to Kenya.
• A natural disaster you experienced.
• Unforgettable Christmas holiday.
• A place that brings you peace.
• A day in the life of a famous person.
• The best hotel in Europe.
• The book I love the most.
• The birthday party I regret the most.
• My first encounter with an elephant.
• The concert that I live to remember.
• A memorable childhood experience.
• Favorite family tradition.
• Greatest American in history.

Read more: Best Descriptive Essay Ideas  

Narrative Essay Topics by Themes

The theme of a narrative essay portrays the main message or idea the writer wants to convey through their story. It is often revealed through the author’s reflections, observations, and experiences rather than explicitly stated. A narrative essay title is the first thing a reader sees, and it should reflect the theme or central idea of the essay. Narrative paper topics can have many formats, including quotes, questions, statements, or a combination. Here are some narrative essay topics organized by themes.

Personal Narrative Essay Topics

Personal narrative ideas can range from simple anecdotes to longer, more complex stories, from everyday experiences to significant events. Personal narrative topics are themes a writer chooses to focus on, ranging from everyday experiences, and personal events to abstract ideas like personal growth, self-discovery, to relationships. The subject matter should be something the author feels a personal connection to or is passionate about to entertain, inspire, inform, or reflect. Here are examples of personal narrative essay ideas.

• A speech during Independence celebrations day that changed your life.
• Making new friends during camping.
• Traumatic life episodes.
• The best movie I watched during the holiday.
• Teenage friendship that had a significant impact on you.
• Making new friends in France.
• Saddest incident of my life.
• Loss and grief that defined your strength.
• How performing community work changed my perception of humanity.
• Cultural and societal issues you faced.
• A time when you took a risk.
• The beauty of nature and why I love camping.
• The ups and downs of my first long-distance relationship.
• My first skydiving experience and how it changed me.
• Thrill of competing in a high-stakes sport.

Narrative Essay Topics About Family

Topic for a narrative essay about family explores personal experiences and reflection on family dynamics and relationships. Good narrative ideas on these topics are characterized by local traditions and their impacts on your life. The writer can also take account of information on how the family has shaped their values and beliefs. Such topics include:

• Importance of family in shaping your moral values.
• Special family customs that bring family together.
• Most hilarious moments with my siblings.
• An experience that brought our family close together.
• Fun of creating and maintaining the family garden.
• How a dysfunctional family subjected you to depression.
• Challenges I faced while growing up.
• How my grandfather solved most of the family crisis.
• A time when you learned something important about your family.
• Thrill of family game night.

Narrative Essay Topics About Childhood

Childhood is a period characterized by first experiences and bright memories. When selecting topics to write about for a narrative essay, writers reflect on their past and share personal experiences from their younger years. While this stage of life allows you to plunge into numerous memories, it is good to give examples of those happy days rather than sad ones and create a brilliant essay! Examples of narrative essay ideas for childhood memories include:

• Your brightest memories of summer.
• Your first visit to the farm.
• Best memories with your parents in childhood.
• Your childhood best friend.
• My first day in kindergarten.
• Meeting Santa at a mall.
• My biggest childhood dreams.
• Childhood memories that still make you laugh or smile.
• Most difficult lesson in elementary school.
• First trip to the museum.

Friendship Narrative Essay Topics

Topics for writing a narrative essay on friendship focus on a particular friend or a special bond that had an impact on your life. The best ideas for narrative essays should be based on your personal growth, expectations, milestones, and development through friendship. Check this list out:

• Surprise adventure with friends.
• The excitement of surprising a friend with a long-awaited reunion.
• Unexpected kindness a friend showed me during a difficult time.
• An experience with narcissistic friendship.
• Role of mindset in creating lasting friendships.
• When friendship was tested because of social media.
• Impact of a supportive teacher on my friendship with classmates.
• Friendship that has brought you joy and laughter.
• How keeping secrets ruined my friendship.
• Role of social media in forming and maintaining new relationships.

Narrative Essay Topics on Relationship

Topics of narrative essays cover information on various aspects of your relationships.  When selecting a narrative writing topic, you should echo the lessons learned from your past relations and how they shaped your insight into love, trust, and relations. You can write about various forms of relations, examples to follow, and advice learned from books and life coaches on how to nurture them. Relationship essays topics are: 

• How coaching helped me improve my relationship with others.
• Failures and lessons that shaped romantic relationships.
• My first romantic relationship.
• Why my boyfriend is very important to me.
• How my significant other and I address relationship challenges.
• The book about relationships that guides me.
• Best relationship advice from my parents.
• A relationship that was tested and how it was resolved.
• A relationship that taught you forgiveness and acceptance.
• Importance of self-care and maintaining relationships in a demanding college environment.

Narrative Essay Topics About Personality

Good personal narrative topics explore different aspects of individuals: who they are and how they have grown over time. This allows writers to reflect on the impact of their personality on relationships and interactions with others. Here are some examples of personal narrative topic ideas about personality.

• Parental involvement in your personality development.
• An experience that helped shape your personality.
• Personality trait that makes you proud.
• Life events that improved your personality.
• How your personality has affected your relationships.
• Personality traits that have held you back.
• How my personal development plan failed.
• My personal growth story.
• How our community’s traditions influenced my personality.
• Impact of a celebrity on my self-esteem and confidence.

Moral Narrative Essay Topics

While selecting topic ideas for a narrative essay about morals, you should consider various events that inspired your beliefs and values about life. The narrative paragraph topics focus on telling a story through experiences and give insight regarding what you believe to be right or wrong and how you have been affected by ethical dilemmas. Moral narrative essay topics are:

• Decision that you were sure was the right one.
• Challenge of balancing my moral values with other people's expectations.
• Moral lesson you have learned from laziness.
• Role of peer pressure in cheating behaviors.
• How cheating in exams led to school expulsion.
• How respect helped me navigate into a leadership position.
• An experience that challenged your beliefs about fairness or justice.
• Personal achievement that you are proud of and that aligns with your values.
• Role of empathy and compassion in survival situations.
• How the story about Hare and Tortoise changes my perception of people.

Cultural Narrative Essay Topics

In choosing topics to write a narrative essay about culture, focus on experiences and perspectives on traditions, customs, and issues. The narratives to write about should be based on the understanding that culture is essential in fostering intercultural communication and promoting respect for cultural diversity. Here are some examples of essay topics on cultural narratives.

• Cultural challenges you faced in the workplace.
• An experience that encouraged you to embrace your cultural heritage.
• When you had to navigate cultural differences in a new environment.
• When I learned the power of cultural collaboration.
• Important cultural practices that you adopted.
• Attending foreign cultural celebrations.
• Traditions and practices that surprise me.
• Unique traditions in my community.
• Impact of social media on society's cultural narratives.
• Evolution of marriage and family cultural values.

You may also need rhetorical analysis essay topics or definition essay topics for your next work. So, browse our blogs, you will find everything there.

Bottom Line on Narrative Essay Topics

In conclusion, it is important to pick a subject that has significance and meaning to you in learning how to choose a topic for a narrative essay. The bottom line is that in selecting narrative writing essay topics, writers should consider what they want to convey, what story they want to tell, and what message they want to impart to the reader. A good narrative essay should be engaging and meaningful and allow the writer to explore their ideas and emotions.

You can always trust our professionals with your high-school or college assignments. Order essay online at StudyCrumb and our experts would be happy to handle any type of task for you. 

Daniel Howard is an Essay Writing guru. He helps students create essays that will strike a chord with the readers.

You may also like

• Environment
• Information Science
• Social Issues
• Argumentative
• Cause and Effect
• Classification
• Compare and Contrast
• Descriptive
• Exemplification
• Informative
• Controversial
• Exploratory
• What Is an Essay
• Length of an Essay
• Generate Ideas
• Types of Essays
• Structuring an Essay
• Outline For Essay
• Essay Introduction
• Thesis Statement
• Body of an Essay
• Writing a Conclusion
• Essay Writing Tips
• Drafting an Essay
• Revision Process
• Fix a Broken Essay
• Format of an Essay
• Essay Examples
• Essay Checklist
• Essay Writing Service
• Pay for Research Paper
• Write My Research Paper
• Write My Essay
• Custom Essay Writing Service
• Admission Essay Writing Service
• Pay for Essay
• Academic Ghostwriting
• Write My Book Report
• Case Study Writing Service
• Dissertation Writing Service
• Coursework Writing Service
• Lab Report Writing Service
• Do My Assignment
• Buy College Papers
• Capstone Project Writing Service
• Buy Research Paper
• Custom Essays for Sale

Can’t find a perfect paper?

• Essay Topics

100 Narrative Essay Topics

Every month, students start looking for good narrative essay topics, hoping to fulfill their professors’ requirements. Writing assignments is a common academic task all over the world, in every school, college, and university. To get a great grade, in most cases, you have to demonstrate how thorough your research is and how well you understand a complex topic. But narrative papers stand out because of creativity heavily involved in them. There is no need to investigate something — all you have to do is tell a personal story in a compelling way.

Narrative essay prompts are usually autobiographical, so you have to describe your own life. At times, papers could focus on fictional events, but in any case, the most important thing is to disclose the personality of the main character, whether it’s you or some made-up person. Students should describe something that has affected them on a deep level, slowly revealing the lesson they’ve learned. This is the essence of such paper. By analyzing an important situation, writers get a chance to understand how it affected them and what they can do in the future. So, there must be an emphasis on personal growth and an event that caused it. Topics differ — they could include anything from personal life to education, but there are still tips you should follow.

How to Find Personal Narrative Ideas for Best Essay

The first tip lies in understanding the nature of your assignment. Lots of students confuse  narrative essays writing  with short stories writing. Both types are descriptive in nature — they should have vivid details and an alluring style, but the difference is, narration focuses on one specific motif. The point here is to describe what happened and how as well as why it affected you. For choosing an interesting topic, you should think about your past. What made you stronger? What challenge forced you to rethink your life? Perhaps a teacher inspired you to choose a certain profession or a friend’s betrayal made you wary and mistrustful toward other people. Search your mind, consider all relevant happenings, select the most specific and important one, and build solid link between it and its result.

Stimulating your memory is another thing you should keep in mind. Just saying that something happened isn’t enough, you have to describe it as vividly and richly as possible. For that, you should re-create the situation perfectly. Why don’t you discuss it with other involved parties? For example, ask your best friend if they remember how you behaved or what you said during an event. Collect information and add these details to your work, making readers feel as if they were present there with you. Be heartfelt, truthful, follow the standard essay structure, and you won’t face any problems!

100 Narrative Essays Topics for College Students

After hours of creative brainstorming, we created a list with top topic samples for narrative papers. There will be 10 categories with ten themes in each. All of them are interesting and refreshing, and they could serve as an inspiration source for your essay.

Personal Topics

This is the most common category for tasks of this nature. Exploring your inner world and showing what made you the person you are today is extremely interesting, so take a look at these personal narrative topics.

• Being a Betrayer: Reasons, Pain, Consequences, and Remorse
• Fighting for a Personal Opinion Even If People Hate It
• Living in a House Full of Violence
• Learning to Put Others Above Yourself: Long and Troubling Journey
• Hobby That Grew to Be a Profession
• An Unlikely Role Model That Shaped Your Behavior
• The Most Inspiring Moment From Your Life
• The World of Books & Their Influence
• What Is a Soul and How It Affects One’s Personality
• Panic Attacks, Everlasting Fear, & Ways of Fighting It

Technology and Social Media Narrative Topics

These days, finding a person who wouldn’t be interested in technology is a tough task. Check out top topics for narrative essay about this subject below.

• My Favorite Social Media Platform and Problems It Brought
• Being a Young Scientist Among Skeptical Family Members
• Being Popular Blogger: Dream or Nightmare?
• The Moment I Knew My Future Will Be Related to Technology
• Having a Robot for a Pet
• My Amazing/Terrible Experience with Online Dating
• Cyberstalking and Doxxing: Small Mistake with Dangerous Consequences
• Why Sharing Your Password Is a Bad Idea
• The Worst/Best Email in My Life
• The Day I Was Caught Using My Phone During a Lesson

Narrative Essays Ideas For College Students

Some narrative essays topics are suitable for college in particular. If this is what you’re searching for, the ideas are below.

• Public Humiliation and What It Taught Me
• How Undone Homework Ruined My Entire Day
• Looking for Work & Not Hearing Back from Employers
• How I Lost an Important Bet and Had to Face Repercussions
• Staying Friends with People Who Entered Different Colleges
• Chance Meeting and How It Changed Everything
• The Dangers of Plagiarism for College Students
• Doing Something Illegal & Regretting It
• The Most Scandalous Party I Have Ever Visited
• Correcting All Wrongs: Arguing with Professors When It Is Deserved

Narrative Culture Prompts

This is a powerful category with numerous great narrative writing topics ideas. Sample at least some of them.

• Travelling to the Poorest Regions & Impact It Left on Me
• Misunderstanding That Happened Due to Cultural Differences
• Strange Family Traditions We Keep Following
• How Culture Surrounding Me Affected My Personality
• Culture of Music and Its Impacts
• Why I Celebrate Some Holidays Differently From the Rest of the World
• Foreign Culture I Unexpectedly Found Close To My Heart
• Culture and Society: How They Are Related
• Strange Cultural Norms That Shocked Me
• Why Learning Foreign Languages Helped Me Understand Another Culture

Narrative Topics About Love and Friendship

Everyone wants to love or be loved. These personal narrative essay ideas could help you explore some of such wishes.

• How It Felt to Be in Love For the First Time
• Treachery and Betrayals: The Closest People Have Most Power to Hurt You
• Choosing between a Partner and a Friend: Story of Heartbreak and Recovery
• Surviving a Break-Up & Becoming Stronger
• Closest Friends Make the Best Romantic Partners
• Love as It Is Depicted in Movies vs. Reality and Impact This Difference Had
• Experience with Being Unloved
• Having Two Best Friends At Once & Balancing These Relationships
• Age Difference Between Friends & Stereotypes Surrounding It
• Maintaining Long-Distance Relationships After Being Separated

Ideas About Life

Sure, this category is very broad, but that means it has plenty of amazing narrative topics.

• Losing a Loved One and Finding a Way to Move On
• Understanding Death & Planning Life on the Basis of This Notion
• Learning How to Be Happy No Matter What
• My Visit to a Place Devoured by Natural Disaster
• Near-Death Experience and Its Impact on My Further Life
• Dreams and Their Value: Night Is My Favorite Time of the Day
• Surviving Disappointment and Rejection
• Life with Depression
• The Time When You Were Sick and Worried You Might Not Recover
• Role of Fiction in Your Life

Narrative Topics on Education

Getting an education is a difficult stage for some people. Sure, it could be fun, but it could also be brutal, so finding a topic for a narrative essay in this sphere is very easy.

• Teacher Who Hated Me at First Sight
• The Worst Paragraph In Your Life: Redoing It Over and Over Again
• Experience with Writing the Most Complex Essay & What It Taught Me
• Failing At School and Fearing Punishment At Home
• Why Teachers’ Indifference Hurts
• Staying Motivated to Study Despite Personal Problems
• Fears of High Tuition and Inability to Afford It
• Does Not Getting Higher Education Mean You Would Be Unemployable?
• Combining Parties with Studying: Why It Does Not Work
• How Researching a Topic for Academic Project Can Transform One’s Life

Prompts For High School

Some levels of topics are easier than others. Take some of these narrative essay ideas if you’d like to be done with your essay sooner rather than later.

• The Thing I Spent All My Birthday Money On
• Cheating During Exams: What It Could Result In
• The Happiest Holiday In Your Life
• How Having a Pet Has Changed the Course of My Life
• Developing Empathy and Lessons Acquired After This Process
• Why Age-Related Stereotypes Hurt
• Having a Hobby Many People Deem Shameful
• My First Visit to Church & Why It Had a Profound Impact On Me
• Why Childish Dreams Often Lead Nowhere
• How Doing Homework With My Parents Made Me Feel

Suffer from writer’s block?

Your unique essay is just a few clicks away!

Social Issues Topics for Narrative Essay

Our world is full of problems. If this bothers you, too, check the following ideas for narrative essay.

• The Day I Witnessed A Person Being Bullied
• Being Raised in a Homophobic Family & The Wounds It Inflicted On Me
• When the World Is Bitterly Unfair and There Is Nothing You Could Do
• People Eating Meat & Ignoring the Slaughter of Billions of Animals Hurts
• Cruelty Among Teenagers Is Often Worse Than What Adults Do
• Weight Shaming: Why I Used to Be Embarrassed about Being Myself
• How I Learned About Feminism and What It Meant For Me
• Ways in Which Gender Bias Affects Everything I Do
• Story of How I Was Catcalled When Walking Down the Street & Why It Terrified Me
• My Parents Always Violate My Privacy by Looking Through My Things and Online Posts

Funny and Interesting Narrative Prompts

Sometimes nothing is inspiring enough. If this is a problem you’ve faced, look at these interesting narrative ideas!

• Reasons Why All My Closest Neighbors Hate Me
• My Ghost Story: How I Stumbled Upon Something I Cannot Understand
• Winning a Lottery: Delight & Sadness That Came With It
• Being Stranded in the Middle of Nowhere
• The Time I Got Lost in the Woods & How I Escaped
• First Time Being Hospitalized and Why I Never Want to Repeat That Experience
• An Amazing Day That I Would Love to Live Through Again
• Why Few People Know What I Do In My Free Time
• The Most Difficult Decision I Ever Had to Make
• The Time I Cried and Could Not Make Myself Stop

Share a Personal Story and Get Great Results

Narrative papers are something students should enjoy writing. It’s a chance to tell their professors more about themselves and test their creativity. Look for those topics for a narrative essay that make your heart beat faster. Add personal details, describe them, and you’re almost guaranteed to get a positive reaction. But if for any reason you don’t think this is an assignment you could do, it’s not a problem either! We offer professional help with papers of all kinds, and we have experts who could produce a perfect creative narration you and your professor would love. Drop us a word, explain the topic you need (or tell us if we should find it ourselves), and receive an essay that’s ready to be submitted!

Can’t come up with a topic for you paper? We’ve prepared a collection of essay topics for you

Want to write a winning essay but lack experience? Browse our free essay samples

Related Topics

Related essays to narrative essays.

Words: 1133

Got to the bottom and still stuck with essay ideas?

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Student Opinion

650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing

By Michael Gonchar

• Oct. 20, 2016

Update, Sept. 4, 2019: Check out our newest evergreen collection of “ 550 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing ” that includes dozens of new prompts.

Update, Feb. 15, 2019: Learn more about how to use our 1000s of writing prompts by watching our free on-demand webinar: “ Give Them Something to Write About: Teach Across the Curriculum With New York Times-Inspired Daily Prompts. ”

Every school day since 2009 we’ve asked students a question based on an article in The New York Times.

Now, seven years later, and in honor of the Oct. 20 National Day on Writing , we’ve collected 650 of them that invite narrative and personal writing and listed them by category below. Consider it an update of a previous post, and a companion to the list of 301 argumentative writing prompts we published in 2015.

Here is a PDF of all 650 prompts , and we also have a related lesson plan, From ‘Lives’ to ‘Modern Love’: Writing Personal Essays With Help From The New York Times .

Below, a list that touches on everything from sports to travel, education, gender roles, video games, fashion, family, pop culture, social media and more. Like all our Student Opinion questions , each links to a related Times article and includes a series of follow-up questions. All questions published since May 2015 are still open to comment by any student 13 or older.

So dive into this admittedly overwhelming list and pick the questions that most inspire you to tell an interesting story, describe a memorable event, observe the details in your world, imagine a possibility, or reflect on who you are and what you believe.

Overcoming Adversity

1. What Challenges Have You Overcome? 2. What Are Your Secret Survival Strategies? 3. What Do You Do When You Encounter Obstacles to Success? 4. When Have You Failed? What Did You Learn From It? 5. When Have You Ever Succeeded When You Thought You Might Fail? 6. What Life Lessons Has Adversity Taught You? 7. What Work Went Into Reaching Your Most Difficult Goals? 8. How Often Do You Leave Your ‘Comfort Zone’? 9. When Was the Last Time You Did Something That Scared or Challenged You? 10. What Are You Afraid Of? 11. What Are Your Fears and Phobias? 12. What Are Your Personal Superstitions? 13. Do You Like Being Alone? 14. How Often Do You Cry? 15. Do You Ever Feel Overlooked and Underappreciated? 16. How Have You Handled Being the ‘New Kid’? 17. How Do You Deal With Haters? 18. How Do You React When Provoked? 19. What Role Does Stress Play in Your Life? 20. Does Stress Affect Your Ability to Make Good Decisions? 21. How Do You Relieve Stress? 22. How Do You Find Peace in Your Life? 23. Does Your Life Leave You Enough Time to Relax? 24. Do You Set Rules for Yourself About How You Use Your Time? 25. Is ‘Doing Nothing’ a Good Use of Your Time? 26. What Did You Once Hate but Now Like? 27. What Kind of Feedback Helps You Improve? 28. Is Trying Too Hard to Be Happy Making You Sad? 29. Do Adults Who Are ‘Only Trying to Help’ Sometimes Make Things Worse?

Your Personality

30. What Is Your Personal Credo? 31. What Motivates You? 32. What Makes You Happy? 33. What Are You Good At? 34. When in Your Life Have You Been a Leader? 35. How Well Do You Perform Under Pressure? 36. How Well Do You Take Criticism? 37. Are You Hard or Easy on Yourself? 38. How Full Is Your Glass? 39. Do You Have a Hard Time Making Decisions? 40. How Much Self-Control Do You Have? 41. How Good Are You at Waiting for What You Really Want? 42. What Role Does Procrastination Play in Your Life? 43. How Good Are You at Time Management? 44. How Productive and Organized Are You? 45. Under What Conditions Do You Do Your Best Work? 46. How Do You Express Yourself Creatively? 47. Are You a Good Listener? 48. How Competitive Are You? 49. Do You Perform Better When You’re Competing or When You’re Collaborating? 50. How Emotionally Intelligent Are You? 51. Do You Take More Risks When You Are Around Your Friends? 52. Do You Unknowingly Submit to Peer Pressure? 53. Do You Think You’re Brave? 54. How Much of a Daredevil Are You? 55. What Pranks, Jokes, Hoaxes or Tricks Have You Ever Fallen For or Perpetrated? 56. How Impulsive Are You? 57. Are You a Novelty-Seeker? 58. How Do You Deal With Boredom? 59. What Annoys You? 60. Do You Apologize Too Much? 61. Do You Have Good Manners? 62. How Materialistic Are You? 63. Are You a Saver or a Tosser? 64. Are You a Hoarder or a Minimalist? 65. Are You an Introvert or an Extrovert? 66. Are You Popular, Quirky or Conformist? 67. Are You a Nerd or a Geek? 68. What Would Your Personal Mascot Be? 69. What Assumptions Do People Make About You? 70. How Good Are You at Saying Goodbye?

Role Models

71. Who Is Your Role Model? 72. Who Inspires You? 73. Who Are the People – Famous or Not – You Admire Most? 74. Who Are Your Heroes? 75. What Heroic Acts Have You Performed or Witnessed? 76. What’s the Best Advice You’ve Gotten? 77. What Are Some ‘Words of Wisdom’ That Guide Your Life? 78. Who Outside Your Family Has Made a Difference in Your Life? 79. If You Had Your Own Talk Show, Whom Would You Want to Interview? 80. To Whom, or What, Would You Like to Write a Thank-You Note? 81. What Leader Would You Invite to Speak at Your School? 82. What Six People, Living or Dead, Would You Invite to Dinner? 83. Who’s Your ‘Outsider Role Model’?

84. Who Is Your Family? 85. How Do You Define ‘Family’? 86. What Have You and Your Family Accomplished Together? 87. What Events Have Brought You Closer to Your Family? 88. What’s Your Role in Your Family? 89. Have You Ever Changed a Family Member’s Mind? 90. How Well Do You Get Along With Your Siblings? 91. What Are Your Family Stories of Sacrifice? 92. What Possessions Does Your Family Treasure? 93. What Hobbies Have Been Passed Down in Your Family? 94. What’s the Story Behind Your Name? 95. What Are Your Favorite Names? 96. How Have You Paid Tribute to Loved Ones? 97. What Do You Know About Your Family’s History? 98. Did Your Parents Have a Life Before They Had Kids? 99. What Family Traditions Do You Want to Carry On When You Get Older?

Parents & Parenting

100. How Close Are You to Your Parents? 101. How Are You and Your Parents Alike and Different? 102. How Much Freedom Have Your Parents Given You? 103. How Permissive Are Your Parents? 104. Do You Have Helicopter Parents? 105. How Do Your Parents Teach You to Behave? 106. How Do You Make Parenting Difficult for Your Parents? 107. How Often Do You Fight With Your Parents? 108. What Advice Would You Give to Your Mom, Dad or Guardian on How to Be a Better Parent? 109. Is Your Family Stressed, Tired and Rushed? 110. Do Your Parents Try Too Hard to Be Cool? 111. Do You Ever Feel Embarrassed by Your Parents? 112. Do Your Parents Support Your Learning? 113. Do You Talk About Report Cards With Your Parents? 114. Do You Want Your Parents to Stop Asking You ‘How Was School?’ 115. How Much Do Your Parents Help With Your Homework? 116. How Has Your Family Helped or Hindered Your Transition to a New School? 117. Have Your Parents and Teachers Given You Room to Create?

Your Neighborhood

118. How Much Does Your Neighborhood Define Who You Are? 119. What’s Special About Your Hometown? 120. What Marketing Slogan Would You Use for Your Town or City? 121. What Would You Name Your Neighborhood? 122. Who Are the ‘Characters’ That Make Your Town Interesting? 123. Who Is the ‘Mayor’ of Your School or Neighborhood? 124. What Would a TV Show About Your Town Spoof? 125. What ‘Urban Legends’ Are There About Places in Your Area? 126. Do You Know Your Way Around Your City or Town? 127. How Well Do You Know Your Neighbors? 128. What Is Your Favorite Place? 129. What’s Your Favorite Neighborhood Joint? 130. What Is Your Favorite Street? 131. Do You Hang Out in the Park? 132. How Much Time Do You Spend in Nature? 133. What Small Things Have You Seen and Taken Note Of Today? 134. What Buildings Do You Love? What Buildings Do You Hate? 135. What Are the Sounds That Make Up the Background Noise in Your Life? 136. What Sounds Annoy You? 137. What Public Behavior Annoys You Most? 138. Have You Ever Interacted With the Police? 139. What Local Problems Do You Think Your Mayor Should Try to Solve? 140. What Ideas Do You Have for Enhancing Your Community? 141. Where Do You Think You Will Live When You Are an Adult? 142. Would You Most Want to Live in a City, a Suburb or the Country?

143. Is Your Bedroom a Nightmare? 144. What is Your Favorite Place in Your House? 145. How Important Is Keeping a Clean House? 146. Do You Need to De-Clutter Your Life? 147. Do You Plan on Saving Any of Your Belongings for the Future? 148. With Your Home in Danger, What Would You Try to Save? 149. What Would You Grab in a Fire? 150. What Would You Put in Your Emergency ‘Go-Bag’? 151. Who Lived Long Ago Where You Live Now? 152. What Would Your Dream Home Be Like?

Childhood Memories

153. What Was Your Most Precious Childhood Possession? 154. What Objects Tell the Story of Your Life? 155. What Do You Collect? 156. What Were Your Favorite Childhood Shows and Characters? 157. Do You Have Childhood Memories of Being Read Aloud To? 158. What Were Your Favorite Picture Books When You Were Little? 159. What Things Did You Create When You Were a Child? 160. What Places Do You Remember Fondly From Childhood? 161. What Food or Flavor Do You Remember Tasting for the First Time? 162. What Do You Wish You Could See, Hear, Read or Experience for the First Time All Over Again? 163. Have You Ever Felt Embarrassed by Things You Used to Like? 164. Do You Wish You Could Return to Moments From Your Past? 165. Was There a Toy You Wanted as a Child but Never Got? 166. What’s the Best Gift You’ve Ever Given or Received? 167. What’s the Most Memorable Thing You Ever Got in the Mail? 168. Have You Ever Lost (or Found) Something Valuable? 169. What Nicknames Have You Ever Gotten or Given? 170. What Are Your Best Sleepover Memories? 171. What Old, Worn Out Thing Can You Just Not Part With? 172. What Is Your Most Prized Possession?

173. What Have You Learned in Your Teens? 174. What Do You Remember Best About Being 12? 175. What Personal Achievements Make You Proud? 176. What Are Some Recent Moments of Happiness in Your Life? 177. What Rites of Passage Have You Participated In? 178. What Are You Grateful For? 179. What Advice Would You Give Younger Kids About Middle or High School? 180. What Have You Learned From Older People? 181. What Can Older People Learn From Your Generation? 182. What Do Older Generations Misunderstand About Yours? 183. Do You Recognize Yourself in Descriptions of ‘Generation Z’?

184. What Ethical Dilemmas Have You Faced? 185. Have You Ever Had to Make a Sacrifice to Help Someone You Care About? 186. Have You Ever Donated Your Time, Talents, Possessions or Money to Support Anyone in Need? 187. When Is the Last Time You Did Something Nice for a Stranger? 188. Have You Ever ‘Paid It Forward’? 189. How Trustworthy Are You? 190. How Comfortable Are You With Lying? 191. When Do You Lie? 192. Have You Ever Lied to Your Parents or Done Something Behind Their Backs? 193. If You Drink or Use Drugs, Do Your Parents Know? 194. Have You Ever Taken Something You Weren’t Supposed To? 195. Do You Ever Eavesdrop? 196. How Much Do You Gossip?

Religion & Spirituality

197. What Is the Role of Religion or Spirituality in Your Life? 198. How Important Is Your Spiritual Life? 199. Do You Believe That Everything Happens for a Reason? 200. How Much Control Do You Think You Have Over Your Fate? 201. Can You Be Good Without God? 202. Are You Less Religious Than Your Parents? 203. Can You Pass a Basic Religion Test? 204. What Can You Learn From Other Religions?

Gender & Sexuality

205. How Do Male and Female Roles Differ in Your Family? 206. Do Parents Have Different Hopes and Standards for Their Sons Than for Their Daughters? 207. How Do Your Parents Share the Responsibilities of Parenting? 208. Is There Too Much Pressure on Girls to Have ‘Perfect’ Bodies? 209. How Much Pressure Do Boys Face to Have the Perfect Body? 210. How Did You Learn About Sex? 211. What Experiences Have You Had With Gender Bias in School? 212. What Have Been Your Experiences With Catcalling or Other Kinds of Street Harassment? 213. What Does it Mean to Be ‘a Real Man’? 214. Do You Consider Yourself a Feminist? 215. What Does Feminism Mean to You?

Race & Ethnicity

216. What Is Your Racial and Ethnic Identity? 217. Have You Ever Tried to Hide Your Racial or Ethnic Identity? 218. How Often Do You Interact With People of Another Race or Ethnicity? 219. Do You Ever Talk About Issues of Race and Class With Your Friends? 220. Is Your Generation Really ‘Postracial’? 221. What’s the Racial Makeup of Your School? 222. Does Your School Seem Integrated? 223. Have You Experienced Racism or Other Kinds of Discrimination in School?

Money & Social Class

224. What Are Your Attitudes Toward Money? 225. Are You a Saver or a Spender? 226. What Have Your Parents Taught You About Money? 227. Do You Expect Your Parents to Give You Money? 228. How Important a Role Has Money, Work or Social Class Played in Your Life? 229. Do You See Great Disparities of Wealth in Your Community? 230. Can Money Buy You Happiness? 231. What Are the Best Things in Life and Are They Free?

232. Are You Distracted by Technology? 233. Are You Distracted by Your Phone? 234. Are You ‘Addicted’ to Texting? 235. Do You Always Have Your Phone or Tablet at Your Side? 236. Do Screens Get in the Way of the Rest of Your Life? 237. Do You Experience FOMO When You Unplug? 238. Does Your Digital Life Have Side Effects? 239. Do You Spend Too Much Time on Smartphones Playing ‘Stupid Games’? 240. Do Apps Help You or Just Waste Your Time? 241. What Tech Tools Play the Biggest Role in Your Life? 242. What New Technologies or Tech Toys Are You Most Excited About? 243. To What Piece of Technology Would You Write a ‘Love Letter’?

The Internet

244. What’s So Great About YouTube? 245. What Has YouTube Taught You? 246. What Are Your Favorite Viral Videos? 247. What Are Your Favorite Internet Spoofs? 248. What Would You Teach the World in an Online Video? 249. Do You Ever Seek Advice on the Internet? 250. Would You Share an Embarrassing Story Online? 251. How Do You Know if What You Read Online Is True? 252. What Are Your Experiences With Internet-Based Urban Legends? 253. How Much Do You Trust Online Reviews? 254. How Do You Use Wikipedia? 255. How Careful Are You Online? 256. What Story Does Your Personal Data Tell? 257. Do You Worry About the Lack of Anonymity in the Digital Age? 258. Would You Mind if Your Parents Blogged About You? 259. Do You Wish You Had More Privacy Online? 260. Have You Ever Been Scammed? 261. Whom Would You Share Your Passwords With?

Social Media

262. How Do You Use Facebook? 263. What Is Your Facebook Persona? 264. How Real Are You on Social Media? 265. What Memorable Experiences Have You Had on Facebook? 266. Does Facebook Ever Make You Feel Bad? 267. Would You Consider Deleting Your Facebook Account? 268. Do You Have ‘Instagram Envy’? 269. Do You Use Twitter? 270. Why Do You Share Photos? 271. How Do You Archive Your Life? 272. Have You Ever Posted, Emailed or Texted Something You Wish You Could Take Back? 273. Have You Ever Sent an Odd Message Because of Auto-Correct? 274. Would You Want Your Photo or Video to Go Viral? 275. Do You Worry Colleges or Employers Might Read Your Social Media Posts Someday? 276. What Advice Do You Have for Younger Kids About Navigating Social Media?

277. What Are You Listening To? 278. What Songs Are on Your Favorite Playlist? 279. What Musicians or Bands Mean the Most to You? 280. What Music Inspires You? 281. Who in Your Life Introduces You to New Music? 282. How Much Is Your Taste in Music Based on What Your Friends Like? 283. What Role Does Hip-Hop Play in Your Life? 284. Which Pop Music Stars Fascinate You? 285. Who Is Your Favorite Pop Diva? 286. What’s Your Karaoke Song? 287. Which Artists Would You Like to See Team Up? 288. How Closely Do You Listen to Lyrics? 289. What Are Your Earliest Memories of Music?

290. What Are the Best Things You’ve Watched, Read, Heard or Played This Year? 291. What Are Your TV Habits? 292. Do Your Television Viewing Habits Include ‘Binge-Watching’? 293. What Role Does Television Play in Your Life and the Life of Your Family? 294. What Television Shows Have Mattered to You? 295. How Often Do You Watch a Television Show When It Originally Airs? 296. Have You Fallen Into ‘Friends’ or Any Other Older Television Shows? 297. What Old Television Shows Would You Bring Back? 298. Why Do We Like Reality Shows So Much? 299. What Ideas Do You Have for a Reality Show? 300. What Reality TV Show Would You Want to Be a Guest Star On? 301. What Are Your Favorite Cartoons? 302. What Are Your Favorite Commercials? 303. How Much Are You Influenced by Advertising?

Movies & Theater

304. What Are Your Favorite Movies Ever? 305. What Were the Best Movies You Saw in the Past Year? 306. What Movies Do You Watch, or Reference, Over and Over? 307. What Movies, Shows or Books Do You Wish Had Sequels, Spinoffs or New Episodes? 308. Do You Like Horror Movies? 309. What Is Your Favorite Comedy? 310. Who Are Your Favorite Movie Stars? 311. Would You Pay Extra for a 3-D Movie? 312. Where, and How, Do You Watch Movies? 313. What Are the Best Live Theatrical Performances You’ve Ever Seen? 314. Have You Ever Stumbled Upon a Cool Public Performance?

Video Games

315. What Are Your Favorite Video Games? 316. What Have You Learned Playing Video Games? 317. Do You Play Violent Video Games? 318. When Should You Feel Guilty for Killing Zombies? 319. Who Are Your Opponents in Online Gaming? 320. Do You Like Watching Other People Play Video Games? 321. How Excited Are You About the Possibilities of Virtual Reality?

Books & Reading

322. Read Any Good Books Lately? 323. What Are the Best Books You’ve Read This Year? 324. What Are Your Favorite Books and Authors? 325. What Are Your Favorite Young Adult Novels? 326. Do You Read for Pleasure? 327. What Memorable Poetry Have You Ever Read or Heard? 328. What Magazines Do You Read, and How Do You Read Them? 329. Do You Enjoy Reading Tabloid Gossip? 330. When Have You Seen Yourself and Your Life Reflected in a Book or Other Media? 331. Has a Book, Movie, Television Show, Song or Video Game Ever Inspired You to Do Something New? 332. Do You Prefer Your Children’s Book Characters Obedient or Contrary? 333. Do You Read E-Books? 334. Would You Trade Your Paper Books for Digital Versions? 335. To What Writer Would You Award a Prize?

336. Why Do You Write? 337. Are You a Good Storyteller? 338. What’s Your Favorite Joke? 339. Do You Keep a Diary or Journal? 340. Do You Have a Blog? 341. Do You Want to Write a Book? 342. When Do You Write by Hand? 343. Do You Write in Cursive? 344. Do You Write in Your Books? 345. What ‘Mundane Moments’ From Your Life Might Make Great Essay Material? 346. What Is Your Most Memorable Writing Assignment? 347. Do You Ever Write About Challenges You Face in Life?

348. What’s the Coolest Thing You’ve Ever Seen in a Museum? 349. What Are the Most Memorable Works of Visual Art You Have Seen? 350. What Are Your Favorite Works of Art? 351. How Important Is Arts Education? 352. What Has Arts Education Done For You?

Language & Speech

353. What Words Do You Hate? 354. What Words or Phrases Do You Think Are Overused? 355. How Much Slang Do You Use? What Are Your Favorite Words? 356. What Current Slang Words and Expressions Do You Think Will Endure? 357. Why Do So Many People Say ‘Like’ and ‘Totally’ All the Time? 358. Do You Say ‘Kind of, Sort of’ More Than You Realize? 359. How Much Do You Curse? 360. How Good Are You at Coming Up With Witty Comebacks? 361. When Did You Last Have a Great Conversation? 362. How Often Do You Have ‘Deep Discussions’? 363. Do You Wish Your Conversations Were Less Small Talk and More ‘Big Talk’? 364. When Do You Choose Making a Phone Call Over Sending a Text? 365. How Much Information Is ‘Too Much Information’? 366. Do You Sometimes ‘Hide’ Behind Irony? 367. How Good Is Your Grammar? 368. Do You Speak a Second, or Third, Language? 369. When Do You Remember Learning a New Word? 370. What Does Your Body Language Communicate?

371. Do You Like School? 372. Are You Stressed About School? 373. Are High School Students Being Worked Too Hard? 374. What Are You Really Learning at School? 375. What Are You Looking Forward To, or Dreading, This School Year? 376. Would You Want to Be Home-Schooled? 377. Would You Like to Take a Class Online? 378. Would You Rather Attend a Public or a Private High School? 379. How Much Does It Matter to You Which High School You Attend? 380. How Would You Grade Your School? 381. What Can Other Schools Learn — and Copy — From Your School? 382. What Would You Miss if You Left Your School? 383. Is Your School Day Too Short? 384. What Do You Hope to Get Out of High School?

Learning & Studying

385. Do You Have Too Much Homework? 386. Does Your Homework Help You Learn? 387. Do You Participate in Class? 388. What Is Your Best Subject? 389. What’s the Most Challenging Assignment You’ve Ever Had? 390. What Memorable Experiences Have You Had in Learning Science or Math? 391. Are You Afraid of Math? 392. Do We Need a Better Way to Teach Math? 393. What Are the Best Ways to Learn About History? 394. How Would You Do on a Civics Test? 395. Does Your School Offer Enough Opportunities to Learn Computer Programming? 396. Does Your School Value Students’ Digital Skills? 397. Do You Know How to Code? Would You Like to Learn? 398. What Career or Technical Classes Do You Wish Your School Offered? 399. What Was Your Favorite Field Trip? 400. What Are Your Best Tips for Studying? 401. Do You Use Study Guides? 402. Is Everything You’ve Been Taught About Study Habits Wrong? 403. What Would You Like to Have Memorized? 404. How Well Do You Think Standardized Tests Measure Your Abilities? 405. Do Your Test Scores Reflect How Good Your Teachers Are?

406. What Do You Wish Your Teachers Knew About You? 407. When Has a Teacher Inspired You? 408. What Teacher Would You Like to Thank? 409. What Makes a Good Teacher? 410. Have You Ever Been Humiliated by a Teacher? How Did it Affect You? 411. Have Your Teachers or Textbooks Ever Gotten It Wrong? 412. Do Your Teachers Use Technology Well? 413. Do You Have a Tutor?

School Life

414. How Do You Feel About Proms? 415. Do You Want to Be ‘Promposed’ To? 416. Is Prom Worth It? 417. What Role Do School Clubs and Teams Play in Your Life? 418. How Big a Problem Is Bullying or Cyberbullying in Your School or Community? 419. Would You Ever Go Through Hazing to Be Part of a Group? 420. Is Your School a ‘Party School’? 421. Have You Been To Parties That Have Gotten Out of Control? 422. How Common Is Drug Use in Your School? 423. Can Students at Your School Talk Openly About Their Mental Health Issues? 424. How Does Your School Deal With Students Who Misbehave? 425. Do You Know People Who Cheat on High-Stakes Tests? 426. How Much Does Your Life in School Intersect With Your Life Outside School? 427. Do You Ever ‘Mix It Up’ and Socialize With Different People at School? 428. What Fads Are You and Your Friends Into Right Now?

429. Where Do You Want to Go to College? 430. What Are Your Sources for Information About Colleges and Universities? 431. What Role Has Community College Played in Your Life or the Life of Someone You Know? 432. Is College Overrated? 433. How Much Do You Worry About Taking the SAT or ACT? 434. What Personal Essay Topic Would You Assign to College Applicants? 435. What Qualities Would You Look For in a College Roommate? 436. Would You Want to Take a Gap Year After High School? 437. What Makes a Graduation Ceremony Memorable?

Work & Careers

438. What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? 439. Do You Have a Life Calling? 440. What’s Your Dream Job? 441. What Are Your Longtime Interests or Passions? 442. Do You Think You Will Have a Career That You Love? 443. What Do You Want More From a Career: Happiness or Wealth? 444. What Investment Are You Willing to Make to Get Your Dream Job? 445. Would You Consider a Nontraditional Occupation? 446. Would You Rather Work From Home or in an Office? 447. Would You Want to Be a Teacher? 448. What Hidden Talents Might You Have? 449. What ‘Back-to-the-Land’ Skills Do You Have, or Wish You Had? 450. What Skill Could You Teach in Two Minutes? 451. What Have You Made Yourself? 452. Do You Have an Idea for a Business or App? 453. What Would You Create if You Had Funding? 454. How Did You Start Doing Something You Love? 455. Did You Ever Take a Break From Doing Something You Love? 456. What Have You Done to Earn Money? 457. Do You Have a Job? 458. Would You Quit if Your Values Did Not Match Your Employer’s? 459. What Do You Hope to Be Doing the Year After You Graduate From College? 460. Where Do You See Yourself in 10 Years?

461. Do You Have a Best Friend? 462. How Often Do You Spend One-on-One Time With Your Closest Friends? 463. How Do You Feel About Introducing Friends from Different Parts of Your Life? 464. Do You Find It Easier to Make New Friends Online or In Person? 465. How Good a Friend Are You? 466. How Have You Helped a Friend in a Time of Need? 467. Do You Like Your Friends? 468. Is Competitiveness an Obstacle to Making or Keeping Friendships? 469. How Should You Handle the End of a Friendship? 470. Have You Ever Felt Left Out?

471. Have You Ever Been in Love? 472. What Are the Most Meaningful Relationships in Your Life? 473. What Advice Would You Give to Somebody Who Just Started Dating? 474. Are You Allowed to Date? 475. Is Dating a Thing of the Past? 476. Is Hookup Culture Leaving Your Generation Unhappy and Unprepared for Love? 477. What Are the Basic ‘Rules’ for Handling Breakups? 478. What’s the Best Way to Get Over a Breakup? 479. What Are Your Beliefs About Marriage?

Sports & Games

480. What’s the Most Impressive Sports Moment You’ve Seen? 481. Who Are Your Sports Heroes? 482. What Sports Teams Do You Root For? 483. Does Being a Fan Help Define Who You Are? 484. How Far Would You Go to Express Loyalty to Your Favorite Teams? 485. Are You a Fair-Weather Fan? 486. When Has a Sports Team Most Disappointed You? 487. Do You Watch the Super Bowl? 488. What Fan Memorabilia Would You Pay Big Bucks For? 489. What Extreme Sports Interest You Most? 490. Why Do You Play Sports? 491. What Rules Would You Like to See Changed in Your Favorite Sports? 492. Do You Enjoy Playing Games or Solving Puzzles? 493. What Are Your Favorite Board Games? 494. What Are Your Favorite Games? 495. What Game Would You Like to Redesign?

496. Where in the World Would You Most Like to Travel? 497. What Is Your Fantasy Vacation? 498. What Would Your Fantasy Road Trip Be Like? 499. What Crazy Adventure Would You Want to Take? 500. What Local ‘Microadventures’ Would You Like to Go On? 501. What’s Your Perfect Family Vacation? 502. How Has Travel Affected You? 503. What Kind of Tourist Are You? 504. What Are the Best Souvenirs You’ve Ever Collected While Traveling? 505. What Famous Landmarks Have You Visited? 506. What’s the Coolest Thing You’ve Ever Seen in Nature? 507. How Much Do You Know About the Rest of the World? 508. Would You Like to Live in Another Country? 509. Would You Want to Be a Space Tourist? 510. If You Could Time-Travel, Where Would You Go?

Looks & Fashion

511. What Is Your All-Time Favorite Piece of Clothing? 512. Do You Have a Signature Clothing Item? 513. What’s Your Favorite T-Shirt? 514. Do You Care What You Wear? 515. Does What You Wear Say Anything About You as a Person? 516. What Does Your Hairstyle Say About You? 517. What’s on Your Fashion Shopping List? 518. How Far Would You Go for Fashion? 519. What Are the Hot Fashion Trends at Your School Right Now? 520. What Current Trends Annoy You? 521. Would You Ever Consider Getting a Tattoo? 522. What Are Your Opinions on Cosmetic Surgery? 523. Do Photoshopped Images Make You Feel Bad About Your Own Looks? 524. Have You Inherited Your Parents’ Attitudes Toward Their Looks? 525. Has Anyone Ever Said That You Look Like Someone Famous?

Exercise, Health & Sleep

526. Do You Like to Exercise? 527. Do You Get Enough Exercise? 528. How Has Exercise Changed Your Health, Your Body or Your Life? 529. How Much Do You Think About Your Weight? 530. How Often Do You Engage in ‘Fat Talk’? 531. Do You Pay Attention to Calorie Counts for Food? 532. Do You Pay Attention to Nutrition Labels on Food? 533. How Concerned Are You About Where Your Food Comes From? 534. Are Your Eating Habits Healthy? 535. Do You Eat Too Quickly? 536. What Are Your ‘Food Rules’? 537. What Are Your Healthy Habits? 538. What Health Tips Have Worked for You? 539. What Rules Do You Have for Staying Healthy? 540. How Careful Are You in the Sun? 541. What Are Your Sleep Habits? 542. How Much of a Priority Do You Make Sleep? 543. Do You Get Enough Sleep?

Meals & Food

544. What Are the Most Memorable Meals You’ve Ever Had? 545. What’s Your Favorite Holiday Food Memory? 546. What’s Your Comfort Food? 547. What Are Your Favorite Junk Foods? 548. What’s Your Favorite Candy? 549. What’s Your Favorite Sandwich? 550. Do You Prefer Your Tacos ‘Authentic’ or ‘Appropriated’? 551. What Food Would You Like to Judge in a Taste-Off? 552. Do You Cook? 553. What Would You Most Like to Learn to Cook or Bake? 554. What Messages About Food and Eating Have You Learned From Your Family? 555. How Often Does Your Family Eat Together? 556. What Are Your Favorite Restaurants? 557. What Restaurant Would You Most Like to Review? 558. What Do You Eat During the School Day? 559. Do You Eat Cafeteria Food? 560. Is School Lunch Really All That Bad?

Holidays & Seasons

561. How Do You Celebrate Your Birthday? 562. Will You Be Wearing a Halloween Costume This Year? 563. Do You Like Scary Movies and Books? 564. Do You Believe in Ghosts? 565. What Are Your Thanksgiving Traditions? 566. What Do You Look Forward to Most – and Least – During the Holiday Season? 567. What Are Your Tips for Enjoying the Holiday Season? 568. How Will You Spend the Holiday Break? 569. What Does Santa Claus Mean to You? 570. Do You Look Forward to New Year’s Eve? 571. Do You Make New Year’s Resolutions? 572. How Do You Fight the Winter Blues? 573. What Would You Do on a Snow Day? 574. What Are Your Experiences With Severe Weather? 575. How Do You Feel About Valentine’s Day? 576. How Do You Celebrate Spring? 577. What Would Your Fantasy Spring Break Be Like? 578. What Are You Looking Forward to This Summer? 579. What Would Your Ideal Summer Camp Be Like? 580. What Are Your Favorite Summer Hangouts? 581. What’s Your Favorite Summer Food? 582. What Is Your Favorite Summer Movie? 583. What’s on Your Summer Reading List? 584. Do You Have a Summer Job? 585. Do You Choose Summer Activities to Look Good on Applications? 586. What Are the Best Things You Did This Summer? 587. How Do You Prepare to Go Back to School? 588. How Can People Make the Most of Long Holiday Weekends? 589. What’s Your Sunday Routine?

590. What’s Your Favorite Store? 591. To What Company Would You Write a Letter of Complaint or Admiration? 592. To What Business Would You Like to Give Advice? 593. Do You Ever Hang Out at the Mall? 594. How Would You Make Over Your Mall? 595. Do You Shop at Locally Owned Businesses? 596. What Are the Best Things You’ve Acquired Secondhand?

Cars & Driving

597. How Important Is It to Have a Driver’s License? 598. Are You a Good Driver? 599. Do You Have a Dream Car? 600. Would You Like to Ride in a Car That Drives Itself?

Animals & Pets

601. What Are the Animals in Your Life? 602. What’s Your Relationship Like With Your Pet? 603. How Well Do You Know Your Pet? 604. What Are Your Thoughts on Cats? 605. Would You Want to Hang Out at a Cat Cafe? 606. Why Do We Love Watching Animal Videos So Much? 607. What Are Your Most Memorable Stories About Wildlife? 608. How Do You Feel About Zoos?

Environmental Issues

609. How Green Are You? 610. How Do You Try to Reduce Your Impact on the Environment? 611. Do You Ever Feel Guilty About What, or How Much, You Throw Away? 612. How Much Food Does Your Family Waste? 613. What Could You Live Without? 614. How Do You Celebrate Earth Day?

Politics & Beliefs

615. How Would You Like to Help Our World? 616. What Cause Would Get You Into the Streets? 617. Have Your Ever Taken Part in a Protest? 618. What Would You Risk Your Life For? 619. When Have You Spoken Out About Something You Felt Had to Change? 620. What Would You Invent to Make the World a Better Place? 621. Given Unlimited Resources, What Scientific or Medical Problem Would You Investigate? 622. What Organizations Do You Think People Should Give to This Holiday Season? 623. Do You Trust Your Government? 624. When You Are Old Enough to Vote, Will You? 625. Do You Consider Yourself a Republican, Democrat or Independent?

History & Current Events

626. What Event in the Past Do You Wish You Could Have Witnessed? 627. What Are the Most Important Changes, in Your Life and in the World, in the Last Decade? 628. What National or International Events That You Lived Through Do You Remember Best? 629. Why Should We Care About Events in Other Parts of the World? 630. What News Stories Are You Following? 631. How Do You Get Your News? 632. Is Your Online World Just a ‘Filter Bubble’ of People With the Same Opinions? 633. Do Your Friends on Social Media All Have the Same Political Opinions You Do?

634. What Would You Do if You Won the Lottery? 635. What Superpower Do You Wish You Had? 636. What Era Do You Wish You Had Lived In? 637. Would You Want to Be a Tween or Teen Star? 638. Would You Want to Be a Child Prodigy? 639. Would You Want to Grow Up in the Public Eye? 640. What Kind of Robot Would You Want? 641. What Would You Outsource if You Could? 642. What Would You Like to Learn on Your Own? 643. What Would You Be Willing to Wait in a Really Long Line For? 644. If You Were a Super Rich Philanthropist, What Causes Would You Support? 645. What Would You Do if You Were President? 646. What Famous Person Would You Like to Visit Your School? 647. Who Would Be the Ideal Celebrity Neighbor? 648. What Do You Want to Be Doing When You’re 80? 649. Do You Want to Live to 100? 650. What Do You Want Your Obituary to Say?

Narrative Essay

Narrative Essay Topics

Best Narrative Essay Topics 2023 for Students

People also read

Narrative Essay - A Complete Writing Guide with Examples

Writing a Personal Narrative Essay: Everything You Need to Know

10+ Interesting Narrative Essay Examples Plus Writing Tips!

Crafting a Winning Narrative Essay Outline: A Step-by-Step Guide

Are you a student in 2023, looking for some awesome narrative essay topics that are easy to grasp and fun to write about? 

You're in luck! Narrative essays let you share your stories, making them a perfect choice for students. 

In this guide, we've put together a list of the best narrative essay topics for 2023. 

Whether you're an experienced writer searching for fresh ideas or a student hunting for an exciting topic for your next assignment, we've got your back. These topics will ignite your imagination and captivate your readers. 

So, let's dive in!

• 1. Narrative Essay Topics for Students
• 2. Unique Narrative Essay Topics for Students
• 3. How to Choose a Topic for a Narrative Essay?
• 4. Tips for Writing Narrative Essays

Narrative Essay Topics for Students

If you're a student looking for a diverse range of topics, we've got you covered with a diverse selection of narrative essay topics. 

Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 5

• My First Day at a New School
• The Time I Learned to Ride a Bike
• A Visit to a Haunted House
• The Day I Met a Real-Life Superhero
• My Most Memorable Family Vacation
• A Surprising Encounter with an Animal
• The Mystery of the Missing Homework
• The Best Birthday Party I Ever Had
• When I Lost a Tooth
• My Adventure in a Fantasy World

Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 6

• An Unforgettable Camping Trip
• The Day I Discovered a Hidden Talent
• A Mysterious Letter and Its Consequences
• A Time I Had to Stand Up for What's Right
• The Thrilling Mystery of a Forgotten Diary
• A Memorable Encounter with a Famous Person
• My Journey Through a Fantasy Land
• The Day I Learned a Valuable Life Lesson
• An Unexpected Act of Kindness
• A Secret Adventure in an Abandoned Place

Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 7

• The Most Exciting Adventure of My Life
• The Day I Overcame a Fear
• A Memorable School Field Trip
• The Strangest Mystery I Ever Encountered
• An Unforgettable Encounter with Wildlife
• A Life-Changing Decision I Had to Make
• The Best Book I Ever Read and Why
• A Day in the Life of a Time Traveler
• The Importance of Friendship in My Life
• A Valuable Lesson Learned from a Mistake

Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 8 

• A Time I Faced a Difficult Moral Dilemma
• The Most Memorable Summer Vacation
• The Impact of a Life-Altering Decision
• An Unexpected Act of Kindness I Received
• The Day I Stepped Out of My Comfort Zone
• A Historical Event I Would Like to Witness
• A Special Family Tradition and Its Significance
• A Personal Achievement I'm Proud Of
• A Challenging Obstacle I Overcame
• A Journey Through My Creative Imagination

Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 9

• The Transition to High School: Challenges and Triumphs
• A Life-Changing Encounter with an Inspiring Mentor
• My First Part-Time Job and What I Learned
• The Day I Realized the Power of Empathy
• The Impact of a Personal Passion or Hobby
• An Unforgettable Travel Experience Abroad
• A Meaningful Community Service Project I Participated In
• The Role of Technology in My Life
• A Defining Moment in My Cultural Identity
• My Vision for the Future: Dreams and Aspirations

Narrative Essay Topics for O-Levels 

• The Day I Took a Leap of Faith
• An Unforgettable Journey into the Unknown
• A Life-Altering Decision I Made in High School
• An Encounter with a Stranger That Changed My Perspective
• The Role of Resilience in Overcoming a Personal Challenge
• The Impact of a Cultural Exchange Experience
• A Lesson Learned from a Unique Life Experience
• The Importance of Perseverance in Achieving a Goal
• My Most Memorable Academic Achievement
• A Glimpse into My Future: Aspirations and Ambitions

Narrative Essay Topics for Highschool

• The Moment I Discovered My Passion
• A Life-Changing Journey Abroad
• A Challenging Decision That Shaped My Future
• An Unexpected Act of Kindness That Touched My Heart
• The Role of Resilience in Overcoming Adversity
• A Personal Experience That Shaped My Values
• The Impact of Technology on My Generation
• A Time I Took a Stand for a Cause I Believe In
• A Memorable Leadership Role I Assumed
• A Glimpse into My Ideal Future: Aspirations and Goals

Narrative Essay Topics for College

• The Journey to Finding My Academic Passion
• A Life-Altering Study Abroad Experience
• The Transformational Impact of a Challenging Decision
• Navigating the Transition from College to the Professional World
• An Unforgettable Encounter with a Mentor or Role Model
• The Role of Adversity in Shaping My Personal Growth
• A Significant Ethical Dilemma I Faced in College
• How My College Experiences Have Shaped My Worldview
• The Impact of Technology on My College Education
• A Personal Reflection on My Career Aspirations and Goals

Narrative Essay Topics for University

• The Evolution of My Academic and Career Goals at University
• An Eye-Opening Internship Experience That Impacted My Future
• A Transformative Study Abroad Journey
• Navigating the Complexities of Balancing Work, Academics, and Social Life at University
• The Role of a Unique Research Project in My Academic Growth
• A Personal Account of Overcoming a Significant Academic Challenge
• A Meaningful Leadership Role in a University Organization
• The Journey of Self-Discovery Through Elective Courses at University
• The Impact of Peer Relationships and Networking at University
• How My University Education Has Shaped My Perspective on Global Issues

Unique Narrative Essay Topics for Students

We've gathered distinct narrative topic ideas to fuel your creativity. Let’s look at some personal narrative ideas to inspire your narrative writing.

Descriptive Narrative Essay Topics

• A Peaceful Day by the Riverside
• Exploring a Haunted House
• My Favorite Childhood Memory
• A Walk Through an Ancient Forest
• The Perfect Winter Wonderland
• An Evening at a Carnival
• A Visit to a Vibrant Art Gallery
• The Spectacular Colors of Autumn
• A Day in the Life of a Beach
• An Exciting Night in the City

Personal Narrative Essay Topics

• A Life-Changing Decision I Made
• A Moment of Personal Triumph
• Overcoming My Greatest Fear
• A Meaningful Lesson from a Personal Challenge
• The Role of a Special Friend in My Life
• A Time When I Broke a Personal Record
• The Impact of a Mentor on My Life
• My Journey to Self-Discovery

Literacy Narrative Essay Topics

• My Earliest Memory of Learning to Read
• The Book That Sparked My Love for Reading
• A Life-Changing Experience in a Library
• The Impact of a Special Teacher on My Writing Skills
• How Technology Has Shaped My Writing Habits
• A Personal Reflection on My Writing Journey
• The Role of Literature in Shaping My Perspective
• Writing as a Tool for Self-Expression and Healing
• How I Overcame Writer's Block
• The Significance of Storytelling in My Life

Engaging Narrative Essay Topics

• The Mystery of a Lost Treasure Map
• An Unlikely Friendship That Changed My Life
• A Day in the Life of a Professional Athlete
• The Journey of Starting My Own Business
• A Haunting Experience in a Historic Place
• A Memorable Road Trip with Friends
• My Encounter with a Famous Celebrity
• The Day I Conquered My Greatest Fear
• An Adventure in a Foreign Land
• A Life-Altering Decision at a Crossroads

How to Choose a Topic for a Narrative Essay?

Choosing the right topic for your narrative essay can be a daunting task. Before you start writing, it is important to invest some time in researching and brainstorming. 

Here are a few tips to help guide you in selecting an interesting and engaging narrative essay topic: 

• Reflect on Your Personal Experiences: If you are writing about a personal narrative topic, consider the impactful moments in your life and think about experiences that have left a strong impression on you.
• Identify a Clear Message or Theme: Determine the central idea or theme of your narrative. Decide what lesson, insight, or emotion you want to convey.
• Engage Your Audience: Consider your target audience and what will resonate with them. Choose a topic that captures their interest and keeps them engaged.
• Play with Different Perspectives: Explore the option of incorporating different viewpoints. Combining personal and external perspectives can add depth to your narrative.
• Test Your Idea: Get feedback from a friend or classmate. Assess if your chosen topic is likely to resonate with your audience.
• Stay True to Your Voice: Balance considering your audience with being authentic. Let your unique voice and storytelling style shine through in your writing

Tips for Writing Narrative Essays

Once you have selected a topic for your narrative essay, it is time to start writing. 

Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you write your story: 

• Start with a Strong Hook: Begin your narrative essay with a captivating hook, such as an engaging anecdote, a thought-provoking question, or a vivid description. 
• Follow a Clear Structure: Organize your narrative essay outline with a clear structure. Most narratives follow a chronological order, but you can also use flashbacks or nonlinear storytelling when it serves your narrative. 
• Build Tension and Conflict:  Create tension and conflict in your narrative to add depth and maintain reader engagement. Whether it's a personal struggle, a moral dilemma, or an external challenge, these obstacles will keep readers eagerly anticipating what comes next.
• Revise and Edit:  After completing your first draft, take the time to revise and edit your work. Review it for grammar and spelling errors, but also examine the overall structure and flow of your narrative.
• Practice, Practice, Practice:  Like any form of writing, improving your narrative essay skills takes practice. Keep writing and experimenting with different topics, styles, and approaches to develop your storytelling abilities.

Before you start writing, make sure you read some narrative essay examples to learn how to organize your thoughts and structure your story.

In summary, no matter the type of essay you are writing about, you need a topic to start with. Our collection of narrative essay topics offers fresh, distinct ideas. 

These topics are crafted to ignite your creativity and captivate your audience. They cover a diverse range of experiences, making it easier for you to connect with your readers on a personal level.

Still, struggling to write a compelling narrative essay? MyPerfectWords.com  is here to help you out!

We stand as the most reliable narrative essay writing service with a specialized focus on crafting exceptional essays designed for high school and college students. Our customer support team is also available 24/7, request write my essays online whenever you need assistance.

Frequently Asked Questions

How are narrative essay topics different from other essay types.

Narrative essay topics are usually based on personal experiences, so they are more emotional and creative than other types of essays. Also, they are often more open-ended, so you have more freedom to choose what to write about. 

Where can I find good narrative essay topics?

There are a few ways to find good topics for your narrative essay. You can look through books or magazines for ideas, or search online for inspiration. You can also brainstorm with friends or family members to come up with ideas. 

What do I write a narrative essay about?

You can write a narrative essay about anything, but it is usually based on personal experience. Try to recall interesting incidents from your life to develop a narrative about. 

Write Essay Within 60 Seconds!

Caleb S. has been providing writing services for over five years and has a Masters degree from Oxford University. He is an expert in his craft and takes great pride in helping students achieve their academic goals. Caleb is a dedicated professional who always puts his clients first.

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That’s our Job!

Keep reading

Narrative Essay Topics: Best Ideas List

When a lecturer assigns a narrative essay, some college students think they have to air out their personal stories, but that’s often not the case. You can create an interesting paper by making up a story, describing a memorable event, or writing about your role model. To create a masterpiece, take your time to come up with the right topic. There are numerous essay ideas you can find online, but none match our selection below. Before you come up with your own topic idea, check our list of the best narrative essay prompts that will inspire you in ways you’ve never imagined. Once you pick your topic, perform thorough research and ensure your content is 100% original. Don’t copy an example directly from the internet. Instead, cite your sources to demonstrate your competence as a student. Focus on the topic and take your reader through your best memories. If you allow your words to flow naturally, you will create a fascinating story. It is your responsibility to ensure that your narrative essay makes a great impression on the reader.

Choosing narrative essay topics is a great way to show your creativity and find an individual approach to the assignment. Fortunately, there are numerous inspiring topics to choose from, but even so, the selection process can be daunting. To make your life easier, you can always rely on the custom essay papers writing service and get the desired result.

Why is it important to come up with good narrative essay writing topics?

When students write a narrative essay, they typically choose between two options:

• Use the topic their instructor proposed, or
• Come up with their own topic

A strong topic choice determines the success of the whole essay. In the event you cannot do it yourself, you can find college essay help by clicking that link.

No matter what your institution assigns, a complete paper must be interesting to read. The best way to ensure that is to choose an essay topic you will want to write with passion. Narrative essay writing is the only genre of academic writing that allows the writer to explore their imagination and creativity to the fullest. While writing these essays you may omit strict structure regulations. That is why students like this essay sub-genre the most.

Narrative essay writing is the only genre of academic writing that allows the writer to expand his imagination and creativity to the fullest. While writing these essays you may omit strict structure regulations. That is why students like this essay sub-genre the most.

Finished papers

Customer reviews

Narrative essay topic ideas

1. experience.

The objective of the narrative essay is to teach you how to write about your experiences in a literary manner. To write a good essay, you have to brainstorm all thoughts concerning your life experiences with both negative and positive examples. Try to describe your experiences in as much detail as possible to attract the reader’s attention.

View All Essay Examples on Life Experience

• The most embarrassing experience of your life
• A frightening experience you’ve had
• An experience that taught you real-life values
• An experience that taught you to appreciate life more
• An experience that helped you overcome fear
• An unpleasant personal experience
• An event that taught you to appreciate what you have
• The most embarrassing moment of your life
• Memorable days with family members
• A success story

2. Childhood

Childhood is a period of bright memories and first experiences. As children are naive and sincere, they have a tendency to get involved in ridiculous situations. We are sure you have something of interest to tell the world about your childhood years. Let these next topic ideas jog your memories of childhood situations that can make a good foundation for your narrative essay writing.

View All Essay Examples on Childhood Memory

• Write about a time you got hurt on the playground. What happened?
• Talk about a childhood experience that helped you grow up
• Did you have a memorable birthday party? Share what made it memorable
• Who you dreamed to be when you were a kid?
• What was your favorite game during childhood and why?
• Talk about a time you were hurt playing with your friends
• What you miss about your favorite childhood games
• Your most valuable childhood possession
• What you loved about crafts when you were young
• Your favorite childhood fairytale characters or shows

3. School years

School is a path to adulthood, where children gain essential knowledge and experience. School years present challenges that contribute to the development of personality. Your school experience and the challenges you overcame are unique. That is why your unique journey through school would probably make a great narrative essay.

View All Essay Examples on School

• What was/is your favorite subject in school and why?
• Did some teachers become your role models? Show some examples
• Talk about the first time you took part in a big school event
• The most disastrous thing that ever happened in class
• Write about a teacher you would like to be friends with
• What subject did you love most in your elementary school?
• A childhood teacher you are still friends with
• How your best friend in primary school has influenced your life
• Did your teachers contribute to the person you are today?

4. Relationships

Everybody has personal memories of family, friends, and loved ones. Your story about them will always be personal, so if you are asked to write a narrative essay, your relationships are an endless source of unique ideas.

View All Essay Examples on Relationships

• Write about a friendship breakup you have experienced
• Talk about the person you are most afraid to lose
• An occasion when you experienced rejection
• A joke or ridiculous misunderstanding with another person
• Talk about the worst argument you’ve ever had with your parents
• How long can you be in love with someone?
• Talk about your first experience with love and its impact on you
• Discuss loyal and trustworthy friends in your life

5. Morality

In every country, people obey laws. But, there are other laws that regulate people’s lives on a larger scale. They are the laws of ethics and morality. In most situations where your morality is tested, you’re given a choice. You can either do the right thing or the wrong thing for your own personal reasons. Morality essay topics are a great choice because they are always interesting.

View All Essay Examples on Morality

• An example of a difficult decision you had to make
• An example of a rebellious act from your life
• Write about morality problems that bother you and why
• A moral choice that you regret
• Write about a recent personal morality challenge
• How many lies have you told in your life?
• How do you treat strangers?
• Have you ever eavesdropped?

6. Interests

Your interests will impact nearly everything you create. To write a narrative essay about your interests, ask yourself:

“What do I enjoy doing?” “What music do I like to listen to?” “How do I prefer to spend my free time?”

If you can speak passionately about it, you can write passionately about it. This is why your interests make a great source for essay ideas.

• Talk about a movie you watched that impressed you
• Write about a song that usually touches you emotionally
• What talent have you always wanted to have and why?
• Which book character do you see yourself as or relate to?
• If you were a director, what movie would you want to shoot?
• When did you discover that you had a particular talent?
• If you were a TV character, who would you be?
• TV stars you want to meet in real-life
• What’s your perspective on sports?

7. Traveling

Every new place you visit unlocks a new experience and a new story, no matter how many times you visit the seaside or mountains. You have your own journey with your own impressions. Why not share them with your readers? The narrative essay format allows you to write the second Odyssey – briefly, of course.

• Write about your first visit to the countryside (or a large city, depending on where you’re from)
• Your favorite mode of traveling
• What are your must-have items when taking any trip?
• Where would you like to travel if you had a large sum of money?
• What is the best place to take a vacation?
• The funniest way you met a friend
• Describe a day you were traveling and something bad happened
• What would you change if you revisited a camp with your classmates?
• The trip you loved the most

8. Student life

Life in college differs from high school. It is more adventurous and enriched with new experiences. You are introduced to new people, new routines, new subjects, new expectations, and new independence. All of these things combine to create epic stories! Student years are considered to be the best in one’s lifetime. So, why not write about them in your narrative essay?

• Talk about your most exhausting exam
• Write about a lecture that left a lasting impression on you
• Talk about the first day you moved into a dorm
• What was the most impressive hang-out during your college years?
• Write about times you felt depressed in college
• Do you mix well with students from different cultures?
• Who influences your social life in school?

9. Imagine if…

A narrative essay topic starts with the words “Imagine If…” and usually requires you to create a story about an alternate universe, or what your life could be like in the future. This subtopic is one of the most popular among students because it allows us to make up anything. The only limits are your imagination!

• Imagine you had a time machine. What time would you travel to?
• Imagine you were an animal. What animal would you like to be and why?
• Imagine you were born in another country. Where would you like to be born and why?
• Imagine you were filthy rich. What would you spend your money on?
• Imagine you were a comic book character. What superpower would you like to have and why?

Choosing a topic for your narrative essay or dissertation can be challenging. It is important to select a topic that aligns with your interests, has a significant research gap, and has the potential to contribute to your field of study. Furthermore, you may even consider the option of paying for a dissertation if you are unable to decide on a suitable topic or do not have the time to complete the research.

New And Outstanding Narrative Essay Topics [2022]

Finding a good topic is not easy. That’s why we have researched the most common categories and come up with a list of narrative essay topic examples to inspire you. This will make it easier to find the theme you are looking for.

• My Favorite Family Time
• The One Thing I Would Change in My Life
• Your First Day at a New Job
• My Time of Getting in Trouble Because of a Friend
• If Only I Could Turn Back Time
• My Most Impressive Prize Ever
• The Weirdest Thing I’ve Ever Seen in My Life
• My Best Memory With My Friend
• My Biggest Regret Is
• The Most Disastrous Moment I’ve Ever Experienced
• My First Encounter With Fear
• My First Time When Getting a Pet
• The Best Achievement I’ve Ever Accomplished
• The Most Annoying Habit I Have
• My Experience in Concluding a Relationship
• The Time I Shared a Secret With My Friend
• How Do You Differ From Your Parents?
• My First Love and the Experience I Got
• What Was the Most Joyful Moment of Your Life?
• How Good/Bad Are You at Time Management?
• The First Time I Experienced Love
• How Much Time Do You Spend Alone?
• The Most Memorable Day of My Life
• What Valuable Lessons Have You Learned From Adversity?
• The First Fight I Had With My Girlfriend/Boyfriend
• Do You Feel Pressured to Obtain a Perfect Body?
• My Grandma and the Family Food Traditions
• The Most Embarrassing Day in My Life

I have chosen the topic for my narrative essay. What’s next?

After you have found the best essay topic for your writing , study the instructions from your institution carefully. Be aware of the paper’s length and start writing the narrative essay outline . Also, check out the following writing tips that will make the writing process easier.

Tips on narrative essay writing:

• Focus on specific details that are essential to cover the topic. Try to avoid mentioning irrelevant off-topic information.
• Do not lie or embellish facts. Dig deep into your experience. Readers value sincerity.
• Connect your ideas. Use transition words to make your text coherent and easy to read.
• Do not omit the conclusion. No matter your topic, write a wrap up to state what you got from the experience.
• Keep things interesting to read. If you don’t like writing it, chances are good the text is not worth the attention of the audience.
• Be detailed and specific, but don’t overload your reader with information.
• Be creative. In a narrative essay, you can write in the first person and use different stylistic devices.
• Pay close attention to your instructor’s instructions when writing a narrative essay. Although it is a flexible type of writing, it still needs to be structured according to certain guidelines. Therefore, it is important to edit your paper meticulously, paying particular attention to spelling, grammar, syntax and punctuation to ensure the highest quality of writing. Edusson can edit any paper, so make your work flawless!

Related posts:

• Reaction Paper Writing: Travel Essay Topics

Reflection Paper Topics: Art

• 150 Informative Essay Topics To Create A Good Paper
• Problem-Solution Essay Topics: Effective Strategies to Tackle Modern Challenges

Improve your writing with our guides

Psychology Essay Topic: Theories Explaining Human growth and Development

200 Best Ideas for Research Paper Topics in 2023

Get 15% off your first order with Edusson

Connect with a professional writer within minutes by placing your first order. No matter the subject, difficulty, academic level or document type, our writers have the skills to complete it.

100% privacy. No spam ever.

Narrative Essays: Examples And Topic Ideas For Students

Writing a narrative essay is a great way to share your life with others. Here, we’ll explore topics that will set you up to write a great narrative essay.

If you’re searching for a list of personal narrative essay topics, you’re likely writing a middle school, high school, or college essay. A personal narrative describes your life experience, usually from the first-person point of view.

There are many different approaches to take to writing a narrative essay. Good narrative essay topics are engaging and can be either serious or silly. A personal narrative is not an argument essay or a persuasive essay; rather, it tells a story from your point of view.

Narrative essay writers are constantly on the lookout for things that happen in their lives that teach a lesson, make a point, or tell a funny story. When brainstorming for the best topic for your narrative essay, think about something that happened in your life that you love sharing with others, and work to translate your story into written prose that will hook your readers.

Here, we’ll explore some of the best narrative essay topic examples and ideas, helping you get your writing started right.

For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers

Narrative Essay Examples

1. the power of potstickers by lauren brown, 2. everyone should have a best friend 30 years older than them by lucy holden, 3. all it takes is a small act of kindness by maddie huiras, 4. a reflection on working in labor & delivery by dr. amos grunebaum, md, 5. pressures of being a first generation american-born citizen by helen bezikyan, narrative essay topic ideas, 1. your first day of high school, 2. how you met your best friend, 3. your best birthday party, 4. your favorite (or most difficult) childhood memory, 5. your most embarrassing moment, 6. how you made a difficult decision, 7. an act of kindness, 8. a tribute to your first pet.

Although I find the exact measurements of recipes comforting, I do my best to add a pinch of this and a dash of that in my meals every so often. It’s how I get to go outside my comfort zone every day. And I see in myself a newfound wisdom: it’s ok to go off the beaten path, you can experiment, compromise can lead to something new and beautiful. My mother’s cooking taught me that and I expect to bring that with me wherever I may go.

In this food-based tribute to her mother’s ingenuity, Brown discusses important family memories while sharing lessons from her mother that she now carries through everyday life. The combination of rich descriptive language with an explanation of how the experience of cooking with her mother shaped her life draws the reader in, helping them to feel like they’re in the kitchen with Brown and her mother.

In short, we adopted each other as confidants and met regularly to discuss life in general. He was more supportive than anyone else I met during the whole three years and stepped out of his remit to give me tailored advice that definitely helped me to get a job in journalism. It was clear from the start that he cared more about what was right for me than what was right for the university league tables, perhaps because he actually knew me. When I told him I was worried that the long days I was doing in the student newspaper office would take a toll on my degree, he told me I could get a first if I wanted one, but thought the student paper stuff would help my career much more. 

It can be hard to find a friend who knows you better than yourself, and Holden discusses that phenomenon in their essay on friendship. She discusses how her friend affected her life during their time together and how he affected her after being separated by distance. In this narrative essay, the author works to describe the feelings she experienced through the ups and downs of their friendship, writing about universal truths that all humans experience in relationships. 

Throughout his life, he had gotten used to dealing with Dyskeratosis congenita, and as life went on, he eventually developed cancer; but even while battling cancer, my dad showed kindness. In fact, on the night before he passed away, even though he knew he wouldn’t be with us for much longer, he tried his best to focus on the positive stuff. 

In this essay, Huiras reflects on the life and death of her father and celebrates his commitment to kindness to others throughout his life. While Huiras narrates the events that led to her father’s death, she also describes how his actions and character significantly affect her life, helping her grow into the woman she wants to be.

Labor & Delivery is getting tears in your eyes when you watch a couple you’ve connected with welcome their baby into the world. Even though you’ve just met and will likely never see each other again, there’s something special about sharing that experience that makes you feel like you’ve known each other forever. Labor & Delivery is a place full of opposites. A woman grieving a devastating loss can be in the room next door to a family celebrating a new addition and 14-year-old mother can be in the room next door to a 45-year-old mother. Regardless of the circumstances, each family that walks through the L&D doors will be forever changed.

In this essay on life behind the doors of the delivery room, Dr. Grunebaum shares what it’s like to both celebrate and grieve with families and how difficult it can be to manage both the chaos and joy that comes with the birth process. If you choose to write an essay about a process so personal as birth, leave out any details that could identify the people involved, as Grunebaum does in this essay. 

The struggles that come with having immigrant parents may include constant seeking of approval, always having to be responsible, as well as immigrant parents discussing the future that they may have already planned for their child. More often than not, immigrant parents constantly remind their child, or children that they expect big and great things from them in the future, which is part of why they came to this country.

In this essay, Bezikyan discusses the unique pressures of being a first-generation American-born citizen. In addition to offering her perspective, she also offers the opinions of others in similar circumstances. This helps to support her opinion and help others see the shared experience of people born to immigrant parents.

Whether you’re a college or high school student, you likely remember your first day of high school—stepping away from middle school and becoming a young adult. The first day of high school is rife with emotion, and describing your experience can provide your reader with an interesting perspective on how you deal with transition and change.

When describing the big day, use details. Explain how you felt as you walked toward the door, how you felt when you struggled to find your classes, and what it was like opening your new locker for the first time. As you write, you may find it helpful to avoid technical details (like the minute-to-minute scheduling of your classes) and instead focus on unique or tough moments or how accomplished you felt by the end of the day.

Your best friend has been there for you through thick and thin, and writing about how the two of you met can be a fun narrative essay topic, no matter your age or writing level.

As you tell the story of how you met your best friend, describe how your connection grew over time. Perhaps you were thick as thieves right away, or you needed some time to realize that you’d met a lifelong friend. For some inspiration, reach out to your best friend and ask them what they remember from the day you met—it can be fun and fresh to get their perspective on how your first meeting went.

Birthdays are a time to celebrate, and writing about a particularly excellent birthday can be a great topic for your narrative essay. When discussing your best birthday party, include all details, including who you invited, what you ate, and how you celebrated with family and friends.

You may also want to talk about why that particular birthday was so meaningful to you. If it was a landmark birthday (like your sweet 16) or a special event (like your last birthday party at home before you left for college), be sure to mention this, so your reader understands why this event was so significant in your life.

There’s no way around it: traumatic things happen in childhood, and wonderful things happen. Writing about childhood memories can be relatable and provide an instant connection with your readers.

When choosing a favorite childhood memory to write about, think back to memorable times in your life because they’re connected with strong emotions. Perhaps you want to write about when your baby sibling came home from the hospital or your first baseball game.

If you choose to write about a difficult childhood memory, the process for choosing a topic is still the same. Think back to a childhood memory that evokes strong emotion. While writing about a negative childhood memory can be an excellent way to write a compelling personal essay, it can also bring up challenging thoughts and may feel traumatic.

Have a particular time that made you red in the face? Writing about an embarrassing moment is relatable and can provide a humorous topic for your narrative essay.

When writing about your embarrassing moment, it can be helpful if you’re willing to laugh at yourself and find the humor in the situation you went through. Be sure to describe what happened from start to finish, painting a clear picture of the moment for your readers. Describe your emotions as the embarrassing moment occurred, and talk about what happened after the moment was over.

Wrestling with a difficult decision can feel impossible at the moment, and reflecting on the experience of making a difficult decision to your readers can make for an excellent narrative essay topic.

When you’re talking about a difficult decision in your narrative essay, give plenty of background information so that the reader fully understands why you’re wrestling with a tough choice. Don’t give away your decision at the start of the essay; rather, take the reader through your thought process as you had to decide what to do.

Sharing an act of kindness you did with someone else—or a random act of kindness that someone did for you—can provide a warm, fuzzy topic for your narrative essay. When writing about an act of kindness, focus on how the act made you feel, whether you were the giver or the receiver of the act.

Much like writing about meeting your best friend for the first time, it can be helpful to talk about your state of mind before and after the act of kindness occurred. Perhaps you were going through a tough time, and the act of kindness helped to boost your mood. Explaining the emotions that came with the act of kindness and the facts of the situation can help your reader feel connected to your story.

Whether you have a dog, a cat, or something more exotic, many readers will be able to connect with the love that a kid has for their first pet. When writing a narrative essay about your first pet, please explain how you felt the first time you laid eyes on them. This may mean describing when they were first presented to you as a kitten or a puppy or the first time you saw your older rescue pet.

Talk about the qualities you loved most about your pet, whether that was their ability to comfort you after a bad day or how they were never too old or tired to go outside and play frisbee. Focus both on the descriptive qualities of your pet that allow your reader to imagine what they looked like and the emotional qualities that keep your first pet near and dear to your heart to this day.

If you have a pet currently, you can mention them in your narrative essay about your first pet, talking about their qualities that remind you of your first pet. While it can tug at your heartstrings to describe the memory of your first pet, writing about the love you have for an animal is nearly universally relatable, and your readers will love hearing about your fond memories of your furry friend.

Tip: If writing an essay sounds like a lot of work, simplify it. Write a simple 5 paragraph essay instead.

If you’re still stuck, check out our available resources for  essay writing topics .

Bryan Collins is the owner of Become a Writer Today. He's an author from Ireland who helps writers build authority and earn a living from their creative work. He's also a former Forbes columnist and his work has appeared in publications like Lifehacker and Fast Company.

View all posts

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

37 Student Narrative Essay Examples

The pot calling the kettle black….

“You aren’t acting normal,” my dad said with a dopy, concerned look on his face. He was a hard-working, soft and loving man. He was smaller than my mother, physically and figuratively. She sat beside him. She had a towering stature, with strong, swimmers’ shoulders, but she was hunched often. She didn’t really have eyebrows, but she didn’t need them. She had no problem conveying emotion on her face, especially negative ones.

“What’s wrong?” my mother asked. She took my hand frantically. Not the way one might take someone’s hand to connect with or comfort them. She needed reassurance more than I did.

My parents were sitting across from me on cushioned, bland-colored chairs in my dad’s office, while I sat on a rickety, torturous wooden chair. My dad’s office generally utilized natural light due to the expansive glass windows that allowed the light to drown the room, enclosing us in the chamber. I felt like an inmate being prepped for lethal injection. The weather was particularly gray and dismal. Perhaps it was the ambiguous, gray, confusing feelings I was breathing through. My parents had somewhat regular “interventions” to address my somewhat regular (sometimes public) emotional breakdowns, my self-medicating habits, and my general shitty attitude.

This week in particular, I had purposely destroyed two of my mother’s collectible horses. She had a maniacal obsession for them. She also maniacally collected sunflower artwork, which was the one obsession, of many, I found endearing. My old babysitter noted at one point there were 74 collectible horses in the house. After my outburst, there were 72.

I could see behind my parents, through the glass-paned door, my two younger sisters were secretly observing the altercation from the dining room, hiding under the table. They were illuminated by the ominous weather, which was also watching in on the dismal conversation through the windows. I was envious, jealous even, of my spectating sisters. My sisters didn’t have overflowing, excessive emotions. They didn’t have emotions that were considered “excessive.” I felt like an offender being put at the stocks: my parents were the executioners, and my sisters were the jesters.

“I’m angry.”

“What about?” my dad asked, puzzled. “Did someone do something to you?”

“Honey, were you—” my mother looked to my dad, then concealed her mouth slightly with the other hand, “ raped ?”

I couldn’t help but raise my voice. “No, Mom, I wasn’t raped, Jesus.” I took a moment to grind on my teeth and imagine the bit I was chomping at. Calm, careful, composed, I responded. “I’m just angry. I don’t feel—”

“What don’t you feel?” She practically jumped on me, while yanking my imprisoned hand toward her. She yanked at my reins.

“I don’t feel understood!” My mind was bucking. I didn’t know why I needed to react by raising my voice. It felt instinctive, defensive. Shouting forcefully, I jerked my hand away from her, but it remained in her clutches. I didn’t feel satisfied saying it, though what I said was the truth.

“What are you talking about?” my dad asked mournfully. I knew he felt betrayed. But he didn’t understand. He didn’t know what it’s like for things to be too much. Or to be too much. My dad looked at me longingly, hoping I would correct what I had said. He looked lost, incapable of understanding why I was doing what I was doing. My mother interjected, cutting off my dad’s hypnotic, silent cry for connection.

“You’re crazy!” she said, maintaining eye contact. My mother then let go of my hand, flipped it back to me. She reclined in her chair, retracting from me and the discussion entirely. She crossed her legs, then her arms. She turned her head away, toward the glass windows, and (mentally) left.

I was and am not “too much.”

I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 18 years old.

I had just stepped off a squealing MAX line onto a broken sidewalk slab, gnarled from tree roots, when I felt my phone buzz rhythmically.

“I need you to come to the hospital. Mom had a little accident.” My dad’s voice was distant and cracking, like a wavering radio signal, calling for help.

“What’s going on? Is she okay?” I asked while making my way to campus.

“Where are you?” He wasn’t going to tell me anything over the phone. Adrenaline set in. I let him know I was downtown and headed to campus, but that I would catch a Lyft to wherever they were. “We’re at Milwaukie Providence. How soon can you get here?

“I’ll let you know soon.” My assumption was that my parents had been in an argument, my mother left the house in a rage, and crashed her car. She’d been an erratic driver for as long as I could remember, and my parents had been arguing more than usual recently, as many new “empty-nesters” do. The lack of information provided by my dad, however, was unsettling. I don’t really recall the ride to the hospital. I do remember looking over the river while riding from the west to east side of town. I remember the menacing, dark clouds rolling in faster than the driver could transport me. I remember it was quick, but it was too much time spent without answers.

When I arrived at Providence, I jumped out of the sedan and galloped into the lobby of the emergency room like a race horse on its final lap. My younger sister and Dad were seated on cushioned, bland-colored chairs in the waiting room. There were expansive glass windows that allowed the light to drown the room. The weather was particularly gray and dismal. Perhaps it was the ambiguous, gray, confusing feelings I was breathing through. I sat down beside my dad, in a firmer-than-anticipated waiting room chair beside him. He took my hand frantically. He took it in the way one might take someone’s hand to connect with or comfort them. He needed reassurance more than I did.

“Where did she get in the accident?” I asked.

My sister, sitting across from me with her head in her knees, looked up at me with aquamarine, tear-filled eyes. She was staring through me, an unclouded window. “Mom tried to kill herself.”

“What?” My voice crescendoed from a normal volume to a shriek in the span of a single word. My mind felt like it was bucking. I grabbed at my hair, pulling it back tight with my spare hand. The tears and cries reared, no matter how hard I yanked my mane.

“We got in another argument this morning, and she sent me a message saying she didn’t want to be in pain anymore. She told me to tell you girls she’s sorry. I’m so sorry.” I’d never seen my dad cry before; I didn’t know he could. I didn’t know his tears would stream like gushing water from a broken dam. He looked lost, incapable of understanding why she was doing what she was doing. I looked from my dad to my sister to my hands. One hand remained enveloped by my dad’s gentle palm. At this point in life, I had not yet learned to be gentle with myself, or others. I cut off my dad’s hypnotic, silent cry for connection.

“She’s crazy!” I let go of my dad’s hand, flipped it back to him. I reclined in the

chair, retracting from the situation entirely. I crossed my legs, then my arms. I turned my head away, toward the glass windows, and (mentally) left.

“Crazy” is a term devised to dismiss people.

My mother was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 50 years old.

Teacher Takeaways

“This essay makes excellent use of repetition as a narrative strategy. Throughout the essay, terms and phrases are repeated, generally with slight alterations, drawing the reader’s attention to the moment in question and recontextualizing the information being conveyed. This strategy is especially powerful when used to disclose the separate diagnoses of bipolar disorder, which is central to the narrative. I also appreciate the use of dialogue, though it mostly serves an expository function here. In itself that’s effective, but this narrative would be strengthened if that dialogue could serve to make some of the characters, especially the mother, more rounded.”

– Professor Dunham

My College Education

The following essay, “My College Education” is from Chapter 15.2 – Narrative Essay , Writing for Success , University of Minnesota Libraries.

The first class I went to in college was philosophy, and it changed my life forever. Our first assignment was to write a short response paper to the Albert Camus essay “The Myth of Sisyphus.” I was extremely nervous about the assignment as well as college. However, through all the confusion in philosophy class, many of my questions about life were answered.

I entered college intending to earn a degree in engineering. I always liked the way mathematics had right and wrong answers. I understood the logic and was very good at it. So when I received my first philosophy assignment that asked me to write my interpretation of the Camus essay, I was instantly confused. What is the right way to do this assignment, I wondered? I was nervous about writing an incorrect interpretation and did not want to get my first assignment wrong. Even more troubling was that the professor refused to give us any guidelines on what he was looking for; he gave us total freedom. He simply said, “I want to see what you come up with.”

Full of anxiety, I first set out to read Camus’s essay several times to make sure I really knew what was it was about. I did my best to take careful notes. Yet even after I took all these notes and knew the essay inside and out, I still did not know the right answer. What was my interpretation? I could think of a million different ways to interpret the essay, but which one was my professor looking for? In math class, I was used to examples and explanations of solutions. This assignment gave me nothing; I was completely on my own to come up with my individual interpretation.

Next, when I sat down to write, the words just did not come to me. My notes and ideas were all present, but the words were lost. I decided to try every prewriting strategy I could find. I brainstormed, made idea maps, and even wrote an outline. Eventually, after a lot of stress, my ideas became more organized and the words fell on the page. I had my interpretation of “The Myth of Sisyphus,” and I had my main reasons for interpreting the essay. I remember being unsure of myself, wondering if what I was saying made sense, or if I was even on the right track. Through all the uncertainty, I continued writing the best I could. I finished the conclusion paragraph, had my spouse proofread it for errors, and turned it in the next day simply hoping for the best.

Then, a week or two later, came judgment day. The professor gave our papers back to us with grades and comments. I remember feeling simultaneously afraid and eager to get the paper back in my hands. It turned out, however, that I had nothing to worry about. The professor gave me an A on the paper, and his notes suggested that I wrote an effective essay overall. He wrote that my reading of the essay was very original and that my thoughts were well organized. My relief and newfound confidence upon reading his comments could not be overstated.

What I learned through this process extended well beyond how to write a college paper. I learned to be open to new challenges. I never expected to enjoy a philosophy class and always expected to be a math and science person. This class and assignment, however, gave me the self-confidence, critical-thinking skills, and courage to try a new career path. I left engineering and went on to study law and eventually became a lawyer. More important, that class and paper helped me understand education differently. Instead of seeing college as a direct stepping stone to a career, I learned to see college as a place to first learn and then seek a career or enhance an existing career. By giving me the space to express my own interpretation and to argue for my own values, my philosophy class taught me the importance of education for education’s sake. That realization continues to pay dividends every day.

Model Student Essay

Innocence again.

Imagine the sensation of the one split second that you are floating through the air as you were thrown up in the air as a child, that feeling of freedom and carefree spirit as happiness abounds. Looking at the world through innocent eyes, all thoughts and feelings of amazement. Being free, happy, innocent, amazed, wowed. Imagine the first time seeing the colors when your eyes and brain start to recognize them but never being able to name the shade or hue. Looking at the sky as it changes from the blackness with twinkling stars to the lightest shade of blue that is almost white, then the deep red of the sunset and bright orange of the sun. All shades of the spectrum of the rainbow, colors as beautiful as the mind can see or imagine.

I have always loved the sea since I was young; the smell of saltiness in the air invigorates me and reminds me of the times spent with my family enjoying Sundays at the beach. In Singapore, the sea was always murky and green but I continued to enjoy all activities in it. When I went to Malaysia to work, I discovered that the sea was clear and blue and without hesitation, I signed up for a basic diving course and I was hooked. In my first year of diving, I explored all the dive destinations along the east coast of Malaysia and also took an advanced diving course which allowed me to dive up to a depth of thirty meters. Traveling to a dive site took no more than four hours by car and weekends were spent just enjoying the sea again.

Gearing up is no fun. Depending on the temperature of the water, I might put on a shortie, wetsuit or drysuit. Then on come the booties, fins and mask which can be considered the easiest part unless the suit is tight—then it is a hop and pull struggle, which reminds me of how life can be at times. Carrying the steel tank, regulator, buoyancy control device (BCD) and weights is a torture. The heaviest weights that I ever had to use were 110 pounds, equivalent to my body weight; but as I jump in and start sinking into the sea, the contrast to weightlessness hits me. The moment that I start floating in the water, a sense of immense freedom and joy overtakes me.

Growing up, we have to learn the basics: time spent in classes to learn, constantly practicing to improve our skills while safety is ingrained by our parents. In dive classes, I was taught to never panic or do stupid stuff: the same with the lessons that I have learned in life. Panic and over-inflated egos can lead to death, and I have heard it happens all the time. I had the opportunity to go to Antarctica for a diving expedition, but what led to me getting that slot was the death of a very experienced diver who used a drysuit in a tropic climate against all advice. He just overheated and died. Lessons learned in the sea can be very profound, but they contrast the life I live: risk-taker versus risk-avoider. However, when I have perfected it and it is time to be unleashed, it is time to enjoy. I jump in as I would jump into any opportunity, but this time it is into the deep blue sea of wonders.

A sea of wonders waits to be explored. Every journey is different: it can be fast or slow, like how life takes me. The sea decides how it wants to carry me; drifting fast with the currents so that at times, I hang on to the reef and corals like my life depends on it, even though I am taught never to touch anything underwater. The fear I feel when I am speeding along with the current is that I will be swept away into the big ocean, never to be found. Sometimes, I feel like I am not moving at all, kicking away madly until I hyperventilate because the sea is against me with its strong current holding me against my will.

The sea decides what it wants me to see: turtles popping out of the seabed, manta rays gracefully floating alongside, being in the middle of the eye of a barracuda hurricane, a coral shelf as big as a car, a desert of bleached corals, the emptiness of the seabed with not a fish in sight, the memorials of death caused by the December 26 tsunami—a barren sea floor with not a soul or life in sight.

The sea decides what treasures I can discover: a black-tipped shark sleeping in an underwater cavern, a pike hiding from predators in the reef, an octopus under a dead tree trunk that escapes into my buddy’s BCD, colorful mandarin fish mating at sunset, a deadly box jellyfish held in my gloved hands, pygmy seahorses in a fern—so tiny that to discover them is a journey itself.

Looking back, diving has taught me more about life, the ups and downs, the good and bad, and to accept and deal with life’s challenges. Everything I learn and discover underwater applies to the many different aspects of my life. It has also taught me that life is very short: I have to live in the moment or I will miss the opportunities that come my way. I allow myself to forget all my sorrow, despair and disappointments when I dive into the deep blue sea and savor the feelings of peacefulness and calmness. There is nothing around me but fish and corals, big and small. Floating along in silence with only the sound of my breath— inhale and exhale . An array of colors explodes in front of my eyes, colors that I never imagine I will discover again, an underwater rainbow as beautiful as the rainbow in the sky after a storm. As far as my eyes can see, I look into the depth of the ocean with nothing to anchor me. The deeper I get, the darker it turns. From the light blue sky to the deep navy blue, even blackness into the void. As the horizon darkens, the feeding frenzy of the underwater world starts and the watery landscape comes alive. Total darkness surrounds me but the sounds that I can hear are the little clicks in addition to my breathing. My senses overload as I cannot see what is around me, but the sea tells me it is alive and it anchors me to the depth of my soul.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: “The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood.” … In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man in spite of real sorrows….” The sea and diving have given me a new outlook on life, a different planet where I can float into and enjoy as an adult, a new, different perspective on how it is to be that child again. Time and time again as I enter into the sea, I feel innocent all over again.

Write What Matters Copyright © 2020 by Liza Long; Amy Minervini; and Joel Gladd is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

• Scriptwriting

Narrative Essay Topics — Prompts & Ideas For All Grade Levels

N arrative essays can present a serious challenge for even the most seasoned of writers, but fear not, we’ve compiled some great narrative essay topics to inspire your next paper! Follow along as we explore prompts relating to life, school, and more. By the end, you’ll be prepared to tackle narrative essays from a variety of different angles.

Good Narrative Topics

What is a narrative essay.

Before we jump into our narrative essay topics, we have to first answer the question: what is a narrative essay ? A narrative essay is a prose-written story that’s focused on the commentary of a central theme.

Narrative essays are generally written in the first-person POV , and are usually about a topic that’s personal to the writer.

Everything in a narrative essay should take place in an established timeline, with a clear beginning, middle, and end. 

For more on narrative essays, check out this video on literacy narrative topics and structure:

Narrative Essay Topic Ideas  •  Narrative Essay Titles

In the world of literature, narrative essays are held to a rigorous structure. We’re not going to enforce that rigor here! So, follow along as we (hopefully) inspire you with a variety of narrative essay topics and argument essay ideas. 

Narrative Ideas

Narrative essay ideas for kids.

Narrative essay topics for kids usually focus on family, school, and friends.

Here are some easy narrative essay topics that work well for kids:

• Describe your most recent birthday party.
• Tell the story of your first day of school.
• Who is your best friend?
• Have you ever helped others?
• Describe your favorite animal(s)
• What is your dream for the future?

This next video from “Teaching Without Frills” explores narrative essay topics for kids in further detail. 

Narrative Essay Ideas  •  Titles of narrative essays

Sometimes it can help to visualize narrative essay topics with pictures, especially for younger kids. If you’re a teacher, consider using pictures to inspire your students!

Narrative essay ideas for teens

Middle school and high school students are often asked to write narrative essays too. But whereas narrative essay topics for elementary school students are usually structured around simple, positive topics, narrative essay topics for teens are generally more contemplative.

Here are some personal narrative essay topics that work well for teens:

• Describe a moment of loss.
• Describe a moment of serenity.
• Recount the story of a lost friend.
• Detail your greatest creation.
• Tell the story of your favorite teacher.
• How would you change the world?

Remember: not every person has the same circumstances as others. That's why they're called personal narrative essay topics.

It’s important to frame narrative essay topics for kids in a way that every kid can relate. For example: the prompt “a lost friend” could mean a friend who moved away or a dead pet. Make sure to word your prompts in such a way that participants can glean their own interpretation.

Related Posts

• What is a Narrative? →
• What is Narrative in Film? →
• FREE: The Ultimate Storyboard Creator →

Narrative Essay Ideas

Narrative essay ideas for young adults.

Young adults are sometimes asked to write narrative essays for school and or job applications. Narrative essay reviewers typically want to see writers demonstrate maturity and growth in their work. As such, their questions are generally structured around challenges and problem management.

Here are some narrative argument essay topics for young adults:

• Have you ever failed at your job?
• If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be?
• What is something you take pride in?
• Describe your childhood.
• How will you grow this year?
• What is the most important element of success?

Of course, the topics above are mostly focused on success and failure. Young adults can certainly respond to the other prompts too!

Narrative essay ideas for adults

Adults aren’t generally tasked with writing narrative essays unless they’re writers. But that doesn’t have to be the case! There are a lot of positives to writing narrative essays, whether you’re a literary professor or a wrestler looking to articulate your thoughts.

So, here are some things to write a narrative essay about for adults:

• What was your worst job?
• What (or who) was your first love?
• Who do you take care of?
• What is your most prized possession?
• If you could tell somebody who’s now gone from your life one thing, what would it be?
• Paint a picture of where you find peace.

Narrative essay titles  •  Easy narrative essay topics

In recent years, companies have been selling books with narrative essay prompts for adults (particularly elderly adults) to reflect on their lives.

Creative Writing Prompts & Exercises

Now that you're brainstorming good titles for personal narrative, time to learn about other forms of creating writing. A narrative essay is just one type of essay – there are dozens more! In our next article, we break down more creative writing prompts and exercises, including those suited to fantasy, romance, horror, and more. By the end, you’ll know a ton of different ways to approach your next story.

Up Next: Creative Writing Exercises →

Write and produce your scripts all in one place..

Write and collaborate on your scripts FREE . Create script breakdowns, sides, schedules, storyboards, call sheets and more.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

• Pricing & Plans
• Product Updates
• Featured On
• StudioBinder Partners
• The Ultimate Guide to Call Sheets (with FREE Call Sheet Template)
• How to Break Down a Script (with FREE Script Breakdown Sheet)
• The Only Shot List Template You Need — with Free Download
• Managing Your Film Budget Cashflow & PO Log (Free Template)
• A Better Film Crew List Template Booking Sheet
• Best Storyboard Softwares (with free Storyboard Templates)
• Movie Magic Scheduling
• Gorilla Software
• Storyboard That

A visual medium requires visual methods. Master the art of visual storytelling with our FREE video series on directing and filmmaking techniques.

We’re in a golden age of TV writing and development. More and more people are flocking to the small screen to find daily entertainment. So how can you break put from the pack and get your idea onto the small screen? We’re here to help.

• Making It: From Pre-Production to Screen
• TV Script Format 101 — Examples of How to Format a TV Script
• Best Free Musical Movie Scripts Online (with PDF Downloads)
• What is Tragedy — Definition, Examples & Types Explained
• What are the 12 Principles of Animation — Ultimate Guide
• What is Pacing in Writing — And Why It’s So Important
• 0 Pinterest

55 Narrative Essay Topics for College Students: Enjoy College Classes to the Fullest

Narrative essays can be difficult for students to write. This is often because of how personal they are compared to other types of essays. Most essays are written about history or literature, which don’t require much opinion and narration.

Narrative essays revolve around personal experiences, which is why some students might be uncomfortable with them. This can easily be resolved by choosing a topic that you feel comfortable sharing.

Remember that narrative essays need to outline your personal experience with something. They are often used to tell a story. It should be written in chronological order and be very factual. Your narrative essay should make a clear point and include specific details.

Issues to Discover in Narrative Essay Topics

• An interesting situation
• A strange encounter
• A dangerous experience
• A life-changing experience
• The time that you heard the best news
• The time that you heard the worst news
• Your earliest memory
• A challenging decision you had to make
• A time when you were lost
• A major discovery
• The first time you were away from home
• A vacation you went on when you were young
• When you got a childhood possession
• One of your proudest moments
• Describe your best day so far
• Describe your worst day so far
• How does your family influence your life?
• What is “home” to you?
• What is a defining childhood moment?
• The time that you discovered your talent
• A time when you were kind to someone
• A time when you had a fresh start
• A time when looks were deceiving
• A time when you met someone significant
• The first time you got pulled over for speeding
• A time when your viewpoint or stance was changed
• When you met a friend
• When somebody died
• Two accounts of a single event
• Your first day at a new job
• Your first day at a new school
• An embarrassing moment
• A time when you broke the rules and got caught
• The end of a friendship
• The time you got a new pet
• A time when you grew closer to your parents
• A time when you felt truly alone
• A time when you made the wrong choice
• An experience that is unique to you
• A time when someone betrayed you
• A genuine connection you’ve made
• A time when you broke a bone
• A difficult misunderstanding
• A time when you experienced history
• A rejection
• An acceptance
• Your best sports, dance, musical, etc. performance
• A frustrating situation
• What makes you feel alive?
• What is most important in the friendship?
• Which of your own characteristics is the most important to you?
• If you could undo one experience in your life, what would it be?
• Which of your past houses is the most “home” to you?
• Have you been treated differently because of your looks?

After you select one of these narrative essay topics, make sure you run it by your teacher if that is a requirement. As you begin writing, it can be helpful to work with a professional writer from a Master’s thesis writing service or another cheap essay writing service . These professional writers will create an essay that you can follow when it comes to writing your own.

Having a professionally written essay in front of you can help make sure you know the proper structure and organization of a narrative essay. It’s better to use this as a guide, but don’t turn it in as your own work. It can save you a lot of time and research if you have worked with a cheap dissertation writing service or writer before.

Narratives might be tricky to get started on, but you will get the hang of it and feel more comfortable soon enough!

Published by

Angelina Bennett

Angelina Bennett is a college adventurer, shopaholic and dreamer. She has, perhaps, the widest circle of offline friends, but despises aggressive online presence. “Be true” is her motto. She explains her life philosophy in her personal blog at CheapEssay.net – a website for international students. View all posts by Angelina Bennett

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I Know Where To Look For Custom University Essay

Discover High Quality College Papers

We Offer High School Papers For Any Occasion

It takes just a few minutes!

View the progress and communicate with support

Approve the completed order and download the assignment

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

50 Engaging Narrative Essay Topics for High Schoolers

Do you know how to improve your profile for college applications.

See how your profile ranks among thousands of other students using CollegeVine. Calculate your chances at your dream schools and learn what areas you need to improve right now — it only takes 3 minutes and it's 100% free.

Show me what areas I need to improve

What’s Covered:

Narrative essays vs. analytical essays, how to pick the right narrative essay topic, elements of a strong narrative essay, engaging narrative essay topics for high schoolers, where to get your narrative essay edited for free.

Narrative essays are an extensive form of writing that gives readers the opportunity to follow along as a person goes through a journey or sets of experiences. Rather than providing analytic insight, narrative essays simply share a story and offer a first-person account. These essays may seem easy to write at first, but it takes a certain finesse to write a narrative essay that is interesting, cohesive, and well-researched. Whether you’re looking for a unique topic to write about, or just want some new inspiration, CollegeVine is here to help! These 50 narrative essay topics are engaging, unique and will have you writing in no time.

A narrative essay is a great way to express your personal experiences and opinions, but it is important to remember that this type of essay is different from an analytical paper. In a narrative essay, you do not need to provide background information or explain your thoughts and feelings; instead, you simply tell a story. It’s important to avoid too much telling in your writing; instead, use creative details and vivid imagery to make readers feel as if they are actually right there with you.

Where You Will Encounter Narrative Essays

This type of essay is typically encountered in high school, where students may be required to write personal statements to prepare for their Common App essay . Narrative essays are also commonly seen in AP Language and Composition. Therefore, it’s important you are aware of the style because you are bound to have a narrative essay assignment.  

Of course, before you start writing, it is important to pick the right essay topic. There are many factors involved in the process of picking the perfect narrative essay topic for your story.

You should always choose a topic that you are passionate about, since writing on something you care about will make the process much easier. Not only will it be more interesting to create your paper around something that truly interests you, but it will also allow you to fully express yourself in your essay. You also want to be sure that the topic has enough material to work with. If your chosen topic is too short, you will not have enough content to write a complete paper. For example, if you are writing about your experience getting lost at the mall, make sure that you have enough information to work with to craft an engaging narrative. 

The best topic for an engaging narrative essay is one that focuses on showing versus telling, has a clear structure, and provides a dialogue. These elements come together to form an engaging narrative essay. Regardless of what subject you pick, any topic may be turned into a fascinating, A+ worthy narrative using the tips below.

Show, Don’t Tell

To write a good narrative essay, it’s important to show, not tell. Instead of simply informing your audience, show them what you mean. For example, instead of saying “I was nervous,” you could say “My heart began to race and my stomach filled with butterflies.” Also make sure to use sensory details, such as sights, sounds and tastes, and include a personal reflection at the end of your narrative. 

Begin with a Strong Opening Line

A good narrative essay will begin with an attention-grabbing opening line. But make sure to avoid common clichés, such as “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Instead, come up with something original and specific to you and your situation. For example: “My pre-calc teacher was obsessed with circles. I mean, he even used circular note cards.” Or, “It all started the day my mom brought home a guinea pig.”

Follows a Three-Act Structure

A strong narrative essay follows the same three-act structure as other essays. But in order to make it interesting, you’ll need to come up with a creative way to break things down into sections. For example, using the guinea pig example from above, you could write the following:

• Act 1 – Introduction: The day my mom brought home a guinea pig.
• Act 2 – Conflict: The day I had to say goodbye to my beloved pet.
• Act 3 – Conclusion: Looking back at how much I miss him now that he’s gone.

Conclude with Personal Reflection

To conclude your narrative essay, you’ll want to explain what this specific experience taught you or how you’ve changed. For example, upon realizing that her pre-calc teacher was obsessed with circles, the writer of the previous example begins to notice circular shapes everywhere. Another way to conclude your narrative essay is by touching on how this experience impacted you emotionally. For example, after losing his guinea pig, the writer explains how much he missed it.

Use Dialogue

Include a conversation in your essay to make it come alive. For example, instead of simply saying that you met a new friend, talk about how you introduced yourselves or what they were wearing when you met them.

Discover your chances at hundreds of schools

Our free chancing engine takes into account your history, background, test scores, and extracurricular activities to show you your real chances of admission—and how to improve them.

The following list of 50 narrative essay topics is divided into categories. This will make it easier to find a topic that fits your writing style.

1. What is a childhood song that still sticks with you today?

2. Your first day of Kindergarten

3. Talk about a time when you’re siblings looked up to you

4. Describe the best birthday party you’ve ever had

5. Talk about the best day you ever spent with a childhood friend

6. Explain your first childhood hobby

7. Describe your first halloween costume

8. A family vacation gone wrong

9. Your first family reunion

10. Describe a tradition that is unique to your family

11. Describe your family to a person who’s never met them before

12. What frustrates you most about your family

13. If you could only keep one memory of your family, what would it be and why?

14. Describe a time your family embarrassed you in public

15. The most beautiful place in the world

16. Your favorite season and why

17. If you were a part of nature, what element would you be? Why?

18. When you go outside, which of your senses are you most thankful to have?

19. Describe the first time you witnessed a tornado 

20. Write a poem about your favorite season

21. Describe yourself as one of the four seasons

22. Describe a time in which you felt connected with nature

23. Describe the first time you played an instrument and how you felt

24. What major event would be much worse if music was removed, and why?

25. If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

26. What would a life without music look like?

27. If you could master one instrument, what would it be and why?

Relationships

28. What if you had never met your best friend?

29. Describe a time when you fixed a broken relationship

30. Talk about a movie that defined a relationship for you

31. Describe your first date

32. Describe the first time you made a friend

33. Describe your relationship with your parents

Self Reflection

34. Have you ever fooled someone? If so, describe what happened and how you felt about it

35. What is the worst thing you’ve done to someone else?

36. Write about the difference between how things seem and how they really are. 

37. Have you ever been embarrassed in some way? If so, describe the situation and how it affected you as well as those around you

38. Have you ever witnessed something really beautiful? Describe it

39. Is your glass half empty or half full?

Overcoming Adversity 

40. Have you ever been very afraid of something but tried your hardest to appear fearless? If so, describe that experience

41. When have you ever succeeded when you thought you might fail

42. What are your secret survival strategies?

43. Describe the last time you were stressed and why?

44. Describe a time when you were discriminated against

45. The most memorable class you’ve had and why

46. Your favorite study abroad memory

47. Describe your kindergarten classroom

48. Describe your first teacher

49. The first time you experienced detention

50. Your first field trip

Hopefully these topics will get you thinking about a personal experience that could make for a thoughtful and engaging narrative essay. Remember, a strong narrative essay must contain relatable details and a clear flow that keeps the reader entertained and engaged to read all the way to the end.

If you need some additional guidance on your narrative essay, use CollegeVine’s free peer review essay tool to get feedback for free!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Reading Worksheets, Spelling, Grammar, Comprehension, Lesson Plans

50 Narrative Essay Topics

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but a narrative essay can also tell an exciting story and create vivid pictures in the reader’s mind! We’ve got 50 narrative essay topics designed to prompt students to craft memorable written narratives. These can be modified for students in elementary, middle and high school. Feel free to print the entire narrative essay topics list for plenty of inspiration for your next narrative essay assignment!

Narrative Essay Topics

• Your first day of school.
• Your most exciting day of school
• A field trip that your class took.
• Your favorite summer vacation.
• A trip that included something unexpected or surprising.
• A time that you experienced something spooky.
• A time that you experienced something truly frightening.
• A time that you learned something new that changed you in some way.
• The moment when you met someone who changed your life.
• The day that you got your first pet.
• A move from one place to another.
• Something funny that happened to you.
• Something funny that happened to one of your family members or friends.
• Something embarrassing that happened to you.
• Your favorite birthday party.
• A birthday that was disappointing.
• A big storm (rain, snow or even a tornado!).
• A time that the power went out.
• A summer day when the temperature got much higher than expected.
• A time when you went to an amusement park.
• A time when you got lost somewhere.
• A memorable experience with a favorite family member.
• A sad experience with someone about whom you care.
• Your most exciting moment playing sports.
• Your most exciting moment performing in a play, singing, playing music or dancing.
• An experience that left you feeling frustrated.
• An experience that was hard but ended up being worth it.
• A time that you experienced rejection.
• A weird encounter with a stranger.
• A random act of kindness.
• A time that you took a stand for someone or for an issue that you care about.
• A moment when you thought you might get hurt but didn’t.
• Breaking a bone (or otherwise suffering an injury).
• Your first time away from home for the night (or longer).
• A time when you experienced a historic event.
• Where you were when a major event happened. (Note: You don’t need to have been at the site of the event; this prompt is about where you were when you found out about the event and how you reacted.)
• A time when you rebelled against your parents or teacher.
• A dangerous experience.
• A misunderstanding between yourself and someone else.
• A difficult decision that you had to make.
• The end of a friendship or relationship.
• The beginning of a friendship or relationship.
• A time when you judged someone first and then realized that you were wrong about the person.
• A time when someone judged you first and then realized that he or she was wrong about you.
• A moment when you felt that you were starting to grow up.
• A time when you saw one or both of your parents in a different light.
• A time when you looked up to your older sibling.
• A time when your younger sibling looked up to you.
• A time when you were grateful to be an only child.
• An experience that you think has only ever happened to you!

Looking for more essay topics? Compare and Contrast Essay Topics Descriptive Essay Topics Cause and Effect Essay Topics Persuasive Essay and Speech Topics