- Narrative storytelling is a writing style that presents a story, whether fictional or nonfictional, in a structured form. The narrative encompasses several factors that determine the style, including point of view, tense and use of symbolism and figures of speech. Both the text and subtext are taken into account when discussing a narrative. Within the context of a narrative, you will often find descriptive writing, used to put readers in a setting, and expository writing, used to tell the backstory or to give readers information about plot or characters. In narrative writing, the phrase "show don't tell" instructs writers to rely more on narrative action rather than expository writing.
- An expository essay is different from fiction. It is built upon facts and, according to Standford University, written as if "the reader or listener has prior knowledge or prior understanding of the topic that is being discussed." All expository essays are meant to teach and inform, so they will be fact based and typically presented in third person. Expository essays often include lists or bullet points to reinforce the topic.
- Descriptive essays are similar to expository essays in that they describe something. The primary difference between the two is purpose. While an expository essay describes an event or task and seeks to inform or teach, a descriptive essay can have no other purpose but to place the reader somewhere. The author may describe a vacation spot or personal feelings about being pregnant. Unlike expository writing, the descriptive essay can include personal opinions and does not have to be fact-based. This is why description is such an important element in narrative fiction.
- A fictional narrative is composed of action, dialogue and description. Description and exposition are often used interchangeably. Action and dialogue move a story forward. Description and exposition do not. Both description and exposition are needed in fiction, but too much of either will cause the story to go stale. Description should be used sparingly to set the time and place of a story. Exposition should be used to give details of plot that can't be shown with action or dialogue. In an expository essay, the roles are reversed. Narrative has a place only when it serves to reinforce the facts presented. For instance, the author of an expository essay may relate an anecdote that illustrates or strengthens something previously described in the essay, assuming the anecdote is directly related to what was written and helps teach or inform.
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