A personal narrative is a prose narrative that tells a story about ones own experiences, usually in the first person. It can be a complete life story, a single chapter of someones life, or even describe a single event. Personal narratives are nontraditional in the sense that they do not fit into traditional literary genres. They can include any part of life history, from significant turning points to insignificant details in family life, occupation, entertainment, celebration, religion, crisis, illness, and travel.

According to William Labov, personal narrative can be broken down into subcategories such as the abstract, orientation, complication, resolution, evaluation, and coda. The abstract is the summary of the story that usually comes at the very beginning of a story. Personal narratives are an important social resource for creating orderliness to unordered experiences, reflecting social organization and cultural values, and are intertwined with social evaluation of people and their actions.

A personal narrative is usually a true story, but it can also be a fictional account that reads like a true story. The main focus of a personal narrative is to say something about the writers life, role in society, a movement, an event, or a discovery. Personal narratives can focus on growth and development, and they can be used effectively in presentations to build rapport with an audience.

To write a personal narrative, one should brainstorm ideas and choose a topic that has lots of interesting details. The story should have a clear focus on the central idea, theme, or message based on a specific and significant event so that the writer can share why it was important or meaningful to them. The events should show a change from start to finish, and the narrative should be told in the first person.