Personal narrative

Personal narrative is the way a person tells his or her own story and gives meaning to experiences.

Definition

Connects past experiences, current identity, and anticipated future into a coherent story. It can strengthen the meaning, agency and continuity of oneself, but it can also lock one into the role of a victim, failure or eternal outsider. Working with narrative is about distinguishing facts from interpretations.

Key ideas

Missing key ideas.

Practice and life

Write a short version of your current story, then highlight: facts, interpretations, omitted resources, and a possible next chapter.

Common misunderstanding

It is a mistake to pretend that you can rewrite the past at will. The second mistake is to treat the old narrative as a verdict for the future.

Questions for self-reflection

No questions for self-reflection.

Sources

No sources.