A narrative is a story; therefore, narration is storytelling. Think about all good stories you have heard, from jokes to descriptions of events, and you will realize something--they all contain (in some form) these elements:
What appears in the introduction?
Think of this in terms of the questions associated with news reporting:
What appears in the body? This is the "meat" of the story--the action. The body contains the events of the story which propel it along towards its outcome. There are normally three elements in the body: the rising action, the climax, and the falling action. The first event in the body of the story is usually the shift from "balance" to "change." Something happens to move the story onwards and upwards, and this "thing" is the first point in the rising action. Each piece of the story is then told, the action becomes more intense or the stress becomes greater, until the most explosive event occurs (the climax). Then, the story slows down and the action or stress moves towards its new level of balance (the conclusion). The body may also answer questions not covered in the intro, as long as these answers occur fluidly while the story constantly moves towards its natural ending.
What appears in the conclusion? The outcome of the story—the consequences of the action related in the body of the story. Realizations are made (or not made) by the narrator, lessons learned (or not learned) by the participants, and the audience sees the story come to its natural end. This is usually where "the point" becomes evident to the audience.
A narrative can be real or imagined, long or short. One example of a short narrative is the anecdote. An anecdote is a short, entertaining account of a single incident, often used to illustrate a point the author is trying to make. Anecdotes often feel like asides, or tangents, but they usually make the overall point of the author clearer. In doing this, they usually contain vivid description, and are oftentimes deeply revealing--that is what makes them stand out and be remembered.
Just as anecdotes serve a very specific purpose, so must the entire narrative. Remember, all stories have a point. This point can be as formulaic as a moral, as spiritual as an epiphany, or as simple as a punchline--but the point, the purpose, of telling a story is always clear. In a formal essay, the point is considered the thesis, but in stories, there is no thesis. The entire story itself serves the purpose of getting the purpose across. The purpose of telling a story is usually recognized by the audience only after the story has been told and they have a chance to look back at the whole narrative and draw their own conclusions. In other words, the "moral" of the story, what the author wants the audience to "get," is usually left unsaid. Audiences are smart, and they generally like to be challenged, so by leaving the "moral" of a story unstated, the author allows each audience member to draw his or her own conclusions after the story has been told.
Who tells the story? The narrator—you. There are three styles of narrating (three points of view):
The third person is a somewhat dry route to take—no one is directly involved in the story and its action. The story will read as if a fly one the wall has written it. For example, "As Jake hit the patch of ice driving too fast, Gwen knew they were going to hit the tree next to the road." There is no sense of immediacy here because the reader is not a character in the story. If the reader is too far removed from the action, it does not "feel" like action at all.
The second person is more immediate—but remember, no one likes being told what to do or what he or she is doing or has done. For example, "As you hit the patch of ice while driving too fast, it seems that Gwen has realized you are going to hit the tree next to the road." It is hard for readers to be in the instantaneous action of the story here.
The first person is usually the best style of narration to employ. The reader becomes the main character in the story, but they are not forced into this role—they can still retain a level of objectivity that the third or second person point of view does not offer. For example, "I hit the patch of ice driving too fast, and as I looked at Gwen, it seemed that she knew we were going to hit the tree next to the road." This writing style generally allows the greatest number of readers to accept and appreciate a narrative.
One last thing to keep in mind with narration is the "Scene vs. Summary" approach. It is up to the writer to determine which parts of his or her story deserve emphasis. The easiest way to determine this is for the writer to ask him- or herself, "What would interest me if I were listening to or reading this story myself?" Summarize the slow, insignificant, or unnecessary parts of a narrative. If a story deals with one crucial moment in a day, summarize the day’s events leading up to the specific moment. When the moment is reached, however, express it in a scene. A scene consists of the important, necessary details of the crucial moment in the story. Lay everything out for your readers so that they can "see" exactly what happened with no margin for error. If you "show" a reader what occurred (using thorough description) in a scene, you will avoid simply "telling" the reader what occurred (with brief, shallow description) as you would in a summary.
Remember: a narrative is simply a well-told story, and who better to tell it than the person who lived it—you!