Introductory Paragraphs to a Personal Narrative

Leads

Typical

It was a day at the end of June. My mom, dad, brother, and I were at our camp on Rangeley Lake. We had arrived the night before at 10:00, so it was dark when we got there and unpacked. We went straight to bed. The next morning, when I was eating breakfast, my dad started yelling for me from down at the dock at the top of his lungs. He said there was a car in the lake.

Action: A Main Character Doing Something

I gulped my milk, pushed away from the table, and bolted out of the kitchen, slamming the screen door behind me. I ran down to the dock as fast as my legs could carry me. My feet pounded on the old wood, hurrying me toward the sound of my dad’s voice. “Scott!: he bellowed again.

“Coming, Dad!” I gasped. I couldn’t see him yet – just the sails of the boats that had already put out into the lake for the day.

Dialogue: A Character or Characters Speaking

“Scott! Get down here on the double!” Dad bellowed. His voice sounded far away.

“Dad.” I hollered. “Where are you?” I squinted through the screen door but couldn’t see him.

“I’m down on the dock. MOVE IT. You’re not going to believe this,” he replied.

Reaction: A Character Thinking

I couldn’t imagine why my father was hollering for me at 7:00 in the morning. I thought fast about what I might have done to get him riled. Had he found out about the way I talked to my mother the night before, when we got to camp and she asked me to help unpack the car? Did he find the fishing reel I broke last week? Before I could consider a third possibility, his voice shattered my thoughts.

“Scott! Move it! You’re not going to believe this!”