Genre Guide

How to Write a Narrative for the NSW Selective Writing Test (With Example)

Written by Hao, a Sydney data analyst and parent of a 2025 NSW Selective student. Last updated 21 June 2026.

Narrative writing is one of the most common tasks in the NSW Selective Writing Test. In this guide, you will learn the structure of a high-scoring narrative, see a Band 6 example with score breakdown, and discover common mistakes students make.

Narrative is one of three possible genres in the test (the others are persuasive and informative). For test structure and how the genre is revealed on the day, see our full Selective writing test guide. For exactly how a marker scores a narrative across the six rubric dimensions, see the NSW Selective marking criteria guide. For 8 original narrative prompts to practise on, see our NSW Selective writing topic bank.

When You Cannot Think of Anything to Write

The biggest trap in the exam room is freezing while you hunt for an exciting story. Markers do not reward drama, they reward a single moment written with depth and honesty, and the easiest place to find one is your own life. Three moves that generate a story in under a minute:

• Shrink it. A grand event ("the day we won the grand final") forces shallow, fast writing. A small one ("the moment I noticed my grandfather's hands") lets you slow down and show. Smaller is almost always better.
• One object, one person, one change. Pick a real object (a scar, a worn toy, a lost key), a real person you once misjudged, or one small thing that changed how you saw something. Any of the three is enough for a whole narrative.
• Use a "first time" or a "last time". The first time you were trusted with something, the last time you saw a place before it changed. These arrive pre-loaded with feeling.

Build a small bank of your own seeds before the exam, so on the day you are choosing, not inventing, under pressure: a scar and how you got it, something you lost, a person you read wrong, a first or a last time, a small kindness, an argument that mattered. When the prompt appears, take its key word and reach for the seed that touches it. The prompt "a moment that changed how you saw someone" does not need a stranger or a hero. A grandfather in a garage is more than enough.

Even prompts that look like they want a made-up story almost always bend back to a real seed. "A door that leads somewhere impossible" is really about stepping somewhere new, or into a place you were afraid to enter. The true memory underneath beats the invented surface, because the small details are already real.

Narrative Writing Structure for Selective Test

A well-structured narrative for the selective writing test follows a clear arc that can be completed in 30 minutes. Students preparing for the selective school exam should learn how to write a narrative that fits this pattern:

1. Introduction (Hook + Setting): Open with an engaging moment, action, dialogue, or a vivid image. Establish the character, place, and mood within the first 2–3 sentences.
2. Rising Action (Problem): Introduce a challenge, conflict, or unexpected event. Build tension through specific sensory details and character reactions.
3. Climax (Turning Point): The moment of highest tension where something changes. This should feel like the most important moment in the story.
4. Resolution (Ending): Resolve the situation and end with a reflective thought, a return to the opening image, or an emotional insight. Avoid rushing the ending.

Time tip: Spend 2 minutes planning these 4 stages before you start writing. This prevents wandering and ensures a satisfying ending.

Here is what a real 2-minute plan looks like for the prompt "a moment that changed how you saw someone". It is not a neat outline, it is fast notes that give you a spine to follow:

Two minutes of this turns a blank page into a path. Notice it already fixes the ending ("slow" becomes "careful"), which is exactly what stops a narrative from wandering.

High-Scoring Narrative Features (Band 5–6)

Here is what markers look for in a high-scoring narrative, tied to the 6 scoring dimensions used in the selective writing test:

• Content & Detail: Focuses on a single event explored in depth. Uses specific sensory details (sights, sounds, textures) rather than general statements. Shows original thinking and personal voice.
• Structure & Cohesion: Clear 4-part arc (intro, rising action, climax, resolution). Smooth transitions between paragraphs. A satisfying ending that connects to the opening.
• Style & Vocabulary: Ambitious word choices that fit naturally. Uses "show don't tell" techniques, metaphor, simile, personification. Consistent narrative voice and appropriate tone.
• Sentence Variety & Control: Mix of short punchy sentences for tension and longer flowing sentences for description. Deliberate use of sentence fragments or one-word sentences for effect.
• Punctuation: Correct use of commas, dashes, and ellipses. Dialogue punctuated accurately. Internal punctuation that aids readability.
• Spelling: Accurate spelling of ambitious vocabulary. No homophone errors.

The High-Scoring Techniques, Step by Step

It is one thing to be told to "use emotional restraint", another to know what to type. Here is the executable version of each high-scoring technique.

Show, don't tell (the process, not the slogan)

Everyone says "show don't tell". Almost no one says how. The process is three steps:

1. Name the feeling you want the reader to have (fear, pride, grief).
2. Delete the feeling word from your sentence.
3. Replace it with one of: a body sensation, an action you cannot control, or a change in what the character notices.

"I was nervous" becomes "My fingers would not keep still" (body), or "I read the same line four times" (action), or "Suddenly the clock was very loud" (noticing). Pick one. You do not need all three.

Emotional restraint

The strongest narratives never name the biggest emotion. Find the one feeling at the heart of your story and refuse to write the word for it. Write a body reaction, an object, or something the character suddenly sees instead. In the example below, the writer never types "I loved him" or "I was moved". The birdhouse and the light on the carved petals do that work.

Circular structure (write the last line first)

A satisfying ending almost always echoes the opening, changed. The fastest way to build one is to write your last line before you write the body. Take an image or a single word from your opening and bring it back at the end, transformed by the story. The example opens on "slow" and closes on "careful": same word family, completely changed meaning. That is the whole move.

One event, zoomed all the way in

If your story spans a week, you will write fast and shallow. Zoom in until the entire narrative happens in one place, over a few minutes, in real time. A birdhouse being carved in a garage is plenty. The depth comes from slowing down, not from covering more ground.

Ambitious words that actually fit

The most common ceiling on Style is the forced "big word". The test for any ambitious word is one question: is it doing a job a simple word could not? "He walked slowly" does not need to become "He perambulated languidly". But "slow" becoming "deliberate" earns its place, because "deliberate" adds the intention that "slow" does not carry. Reach for precise, not impressive.

The climax: slow the most important second down

Most Band 4 narratives die by writing the one moment that matters too quickly. When you reach the turning point, do the opposite of speeding up: break that single second into several sentences, and move from what is happening outside to what is happening inside the character. The reader should feel the moment stretch.

Band 6 Narrative Writing Example

Prompt: Write about a moment that changed how you saw someone.

I had always thought of Grandpa as slow. Slow to walk, slow to answer, slow to laugh. He moved through the house like a shadow that had forgotten how to leave. But that Saturday morning, everything shifted. We found him in the garage, hunched over a wooden frame, hands trembling but precise. Curls of pale timber littered the floor. He was building something, a birdhouse, I realised, with tiny carved flowers along the roof. "I used to make these for your grandmother," he said without looking up. His voice was quiet, but steady. I watched his fingers work, guiding the chisel with a patience I had never noticed before. Each cut was deliberate. Each flower was different. When he finally held it up to the light, the shadows of the carved petals danced across the wall. He handed it to me. "For your windowsill," he said. And for the first time, I saw the artist behind the silence, a man who had spent decades shaping beautiful things for people he loved, asking for nothing in return. I carried the birdhouse to my room and set it by the window. The light caught the petals every morning after that, and each time, I thought of his hands, not slow, but careful.

Score: 24/25 (Band 6)

Dimension	Score	Commentary
Content & Detail	4/5	Single event explored with depth and original imagery ("curls of pale timber", "shadows of carved petals"). Held one mark short of full: the scorer runs strict on strong writing, and the central revelation, though moving, follows a familiar arc.
Structure & Cohesion	5/5	Clear arc from misperception to revelation. "But that Saturday morning" pivots effectively. Circular ending connects to the opening.
Style & Vocabulary	5/5	Sophisticated word choices ("deliberate", "precise") and figurative language ("shadow that had forgotten how to leave"). Strong, consistent reflective voice.
Sentence Variety	4/4	Excellent mix: short fragments ("Slow to walk, slow to answer, slow to laugh") balanced with longer descriptive sentences. Rhythmic, controlled.
Punctuation	3/3	Dashes, commas, and dialogue punctuation all accurate. Internal punctuation enhances readability.
Spelling	3/3	Accurate throughout, including ambitious words like "deliberate" and "chisel".

These scores are from EurekaWrite's own scorer, which is calibrated against 42 human-marked essays (including NSW's published samples) and runs deliberately strict on strong writing, which is why a polished piece like this lands at 24 rather than a flat 25. The method and the numbers are on our accuracy page.

What Makes This Band 6

This essay demonstrates the qualities that separate Band 6 from Band 5 in narrative writing for the selective test:

• Originality: The metaphor of the grandfather as a "shadow" is unexpected and sustained throughout
• Restraint: Emotions are shown through actions and images, never stated directly
• Circular structure: The concept of "slow" is reframed as "careful" at the end, providing genuine insight
• Precise vocabulary: Every word is chosen deliberately, "trembling but precise", "guiding the chisel"

The Same Story at Band 4

My grandpa was always quite slow and quiet. He walked slowly, talked slowly, and didn't do very much around the house. One Saturday morning, I went to look for him and found him in the garage. He was making a birdhouse out of wood, and it had little flowers carved on the top. "I used to make these for your grandmother," he told me. I watched him for a while and I could tell he was really good at it. He worked hard, and when he finished, it looked amazing. I felt proud of him. He gave the birdhouse to me to put on my windowsill. I learned that day that you should never judge someone too quickly, because there is always more to a person than you first think.

A typical Band 4 version, around 15/25. The spelling and punctuation are clean, so no marks are lost on mechanics. They are lost on execution, which is where almost the entire gap to Band 6 sits.

Notice what did not change: the story, the events, even the dialogue are identical to the Band 6 version. The only variable is the moves. Three beats show the whole gap, and each one maps to a technique from the section above:

This is the delta that actually moves a score. If your draft reads clean but flat, the fix is almost never a better story. It is these moves, applied to the story you already have.

Common Mistakes in Narrative Writing

1. Starting with "One day...": Generic openings lose marks in Content and Style. Start with action, dialogue, or imagery instead.
2. Covering too much time: Trying to tell a week-long story in 200 words leads to shallow writing. Focus on a single scene or moment.
3. Telling emotions instead of showing: "I was scared" is weaker than "My hands went cold." Show the reader what fear looks like.
4. Rushing the ending: "And then I woke up" or "It was the best day ever" are weak conclusions. Plan your ending before you start writing.
5. No sensory details: Writing that lacks sight, sound, touch, or smell scores lower on Content & Detail. Use at least 2–3 senses in every scene.

See all 10 common mistakes with examples →

On the Day: A Quick Checklist

• Keep dialogue to one or two short exchanges. It reveals character fast, but too much slows the story down.
• Watch your pacing. Most students overfill the opening and run out of time for the climax, the one part that needs room. Keep the setup tight, and aim for roughly 250 to 350 words.
• Mix sentence lengths on purpose: a short sentence right after a long one lands hard. Save that move for the turning point.
• Keep the last 3 minutes to proofread. A missing comma or a misspelled common word is the cheapest band to lose.