The ultimate goal of narrative writing is to tell a story. A narrative piece has characters, a setting and a distinctive plot, complete with rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. The story in a piece of narrative writing can be something that happened to you, something that happened to a person you know or a story you make up. The story can be about anyone or anything, as long as it's there.
Narrative writing should have a clear purpose. Someone who reads your narrative piece should discern a unifying idea, or theme, that the piece sends. This theme can be implied or openly stated. It should reflect the plot of the story and the trials the characters faced, perhaps representing a lesson they learn at the end of the story. Strong narrative writing should send the reader a message through the story.
One of the great things about narrative writing is its flexibility. Narrative pieces can be written in first, second or third person. They can be told from the point of view of a person, a cat, a tree or any other narrator imaginable. Narrative writing can even alternate between narrators, telling one story from multiple perspectives. A major goal of narrative writing is to immerse the reader in one or more distinct perspectives.
The different types of styles and techniques you can use to write a narrative piece have no limits. Narrative writing is the perfect place to explore different creative writing styles. As long as you follow the basic story structure of a narrative piece, you're free to go wild with details, vocabulary, sentence structure and dialogue. Narrative writing should captivate a reader with interesting, unique writing styles that keep them hooked on the piece.