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From the 2026 exams onwards, a narrative question in AQA English Language Paper 1, Question 5 will ask you to write just the opening of a story, not the entire thing! In today’s video, I’ll sharing my top 5 things to include in your answer.
Number 1: establish atmosphere. The first thing you want to do in narrative writing is to create a clear sense of atmosphere – you should ask yourself ‘what emotions do I want my reader to feel?’ For example, suspense, tension, fear, excitement. And crucially, this is not something you want to achieve through plot – not through certain things happening, but through description, vocabulary, figurative language, structure – all the writing skills you’ve been studying for section A of the exam. At the top of the mark scheme is the typical feature that students have ‘Subtle and skilful shifts in atmosphere’, so let’s look at how to establish it, and then you can consider how to shift it at different points of your opening.
There is a huge difference between plot and atmosphere. Look at this example from The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge: ‘The boat moved with a relentless rhythm, like someone chewing on a rotten tooth. The islands just visible through the mist also looked like teeth, Faith decided. Not fine, clean Dover teeth, but jaded, broken teeth, jutting crookedly amid the wash of the choppy grey sea. The mailboat chugged its dogged way through the waves, greasing the sky with smoke.’ (Hardinge, F., 2015. The Lie Tree. London: Macmillan Children's Books.)
So what is actually happening here in terms of plot? The character, Faith, is on a mailboat and the water is choppy. But what is the atmosphere? It’s oppressive and disturbing. And how is that achieved? Not through plot! But through language! The simile describing the boat’s rhythm as being ‘like someone chewing on a rotten tooth’ is incredibly disturbing -especially for me with my dentist phobia! Then there’s the emotive language, particularly in the choice of adjectives the author uses: the rhythm is ‘relentless’, the islands are not just like teeth but ‘jaded, broken’ teeth. The sea is ‘choppy grey’. And then look at the verb choices: the mailboat is ‘greasing’ the sky with smoke. What a fantastic choice of verb, with connotations of pollution and contamination - the boat is not just traveling but actively spoiling the environment around it. This adds to the oppressive and unsettling atmosphere. It’s a fantastic piece of writing and in just one paragraph Hardinge perfectly establishes atmosphere – not through plot, but description.
So often, students try to create atmosphere through plot, something like: Faith was on the boat. A huge wave came crashing over the side, drenching her from head to toe. She gripped the rail tightly as the boat lurched to one side, her heart pounding in fear. Lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled in the distance. As she fell into the ocean she saw a shark coming. She reached into her bag and pulled out a stick of dynamite. And this is now an over the top action movie. We don’t need that. For one, when everything we write is plot plot plot, we don’t get to know anything about our characters, or the setting. For the highest marks we want to be subtle, and this is anything but subtle. No, what we want is for something relatively small to happen (for example Faith is on a boat), and to create atmosphere through our description.
Let me show you with the Faith example how things can totally shift, not through changing the plot but through changing the description: ‘The boat moved with a rhythmic grace, like someone humming a calming tune. The islands just visible through the mist looked like pearls, Faith decided. Not the plain, simple Dover pearls, but radiant, unique pearls, shimmering harmoniously amid the dance of the gentle blue sea. The mailboat sailed its steady way through the waves, tracing the sky with wisps of silver.’ See what I’ve done here? I’ve completely transformed the atmosphere by changing the language choices while keeping the basic plot—the boat journey—exactly the same. The original paragraph presents an oppressive, unsettling mood, whilst this new version creates an atmosphere of calm and beauty.
Once you've established an initial atmosphere, the key to making subtle and skilful shifts is through gradual changes in language rather than abrupt shifts in plot. Small tweaks in vocabulary, sentence length, and imagery can help achieve this. For instance, shifting from ‘the waves clawed at the boat’ to ‘the waves lapped against the boat’ instantly alters the tone from hostile to gentle, without changing what’s actually happening. You might start with a tense, claustrophobic setting, using short, sharp sentences and harsh emotive vocabulary, and then slowly introduce gentler language to create a sense of relief or hope. The most effective shifts in atmosphere aren’t abrupt—they unfold, allowing the reader to feel the change rather than be told it’s happening.
CHARACTER
Your narrative piece should include at least one character, and the top of the mark scheme dictates that they should be convincing. How do we create convincing characters? Well one thing that isn’t convincing with character description is what we might call police report writing- something like this: Tom was tall and thin. He had blue eyes and brown hair. He was wearing a turquoise t-shirt and a pair of black jeans. In his left hand he carried a green Adidas bag. We call this police report character description because it’s a list of physical traits as if someone saw this person rob a bank and is then describing them to the police. It contains lots of physical details but doesn’t give any depth to engage the reader's imagination. It informs us about what the character looks like, but it does nothing to make them interesting or engaging.
No, you want the examiner to be able to visualise your character, but you don’t want to bore them. One way around this is to choose one or two physical character traits to describe that are important to our character in terms of where the story is going. Take a look at this character description from ‘The Revenant’: ‘William H. Ashley slammed his tun cup on the crude slats of the table. The carefully groomed grey of his beard did not conceal the tight clench of his jaw. For its part, the clenched jaw seemed unlikely to contain another outburst, as Ashley found himself confronting again the one thing he despised above all else — waiting.’ (‘The Revenant’, by Michael Punke)
OK, so here the writer describes a couple of physical details about the character related solely to their beard, but somehow we can visualise a full character! And the writer describes something happening, from which we can infer things about the character. What can we infer?
• 1. Frustration: The act of slamming his tin cup on the table indicates that William might be experiencing intense emotions, possibly frustration or anger.
• 2. A Sense of Control: Despite his strong emotions, William maintains a well-groomed appearance, which suggests he values self-control and discipline. His carefully groomed beard indicates that he takes pride in his appearance and may be detail-oriented.
• 3. Age and Experience: The presence of grey in his beard suggests that he is no longer young, and might have a significant amount of life experience, wisdom, or both.
• 4. Physical Tension: The tight clench of his jaw further emphasises the intensity of his emotions. It's a physical sign of restraint, as he's trying to control or suppress his feelings.
• 5. Contrast of Emotions and Appearance: There's an interesting juxtaposition between the sudden violence of slamming the cup and the meticulous grooming of his beard. This might suggest that while William has a controlled exterior, there are strong emotions bubbling beneath the surface.
So we learn a lot about this character from a couple of details. A good question to ask yourself is: what do I want my reader to learn about my character? What is important in terms of where the narrative is going? And remember, keep it in line with the atmosphere you’re trying to create.
SETTING: Top marks students want a detailed and convincing sense of setting in their narrative writing, so the reader can clearly picture it in their mind. One approach is to start with a couple of broad details that establish the overall time and place, then zoom in on a few smaller, focused details to bring the scene to life. Let’s look at an example from Charles Dickens’ ‘Bleak House’: ‘London. Michaelmas term lately over, and the Lord Chancellor sitting in Lincoln’s Inn Hall. Implacable November weather. As much mud in the streets as if the waters had but newly retired from the face of the earth, and it would not be wonderful to meet a Megalosaurus, forty feet long or so, waddling like an elephantine lizard up Holborn Hill. Smoke lowering down from chimney-pots, making a soft black drizzle, with flakes of soot in it as big as full-grown snowflakes—gone into mourning, one might imagine, for the death of the sun. Dogs, undistinguishable in mire. Horses, scarcely better; splashed to their very blinkers.’
So what does Dickens do here? He begins with a couple of broad details that establish the time and place in the reader’s mind, so we can start to visualise the setting: it’s London in November, in Lincoln’s Inn Hall. Then he focuses in on a couple of specific details: smoke from the chimneys, flakes of soot, dogs and horses covered in mud. This is the kind of thing we analyse in paper 1 question 3 isn’t it – it’s a cinematic structure like a movie, starting with a wide establishing shot then zooming in on a couple of close up images.
Now you might be sat there thinking ‘that’s all very well and good, but I’m not Charles Dickens – I can’t write like that. So let’s try and apply that approach to a sample question, taken from my practice papers book. Write the opening of a story based on this picture: OK so let’s first think about the details on setting that we might want to describe: The castle, the dark sky, the trees, the mist. Now let’s think about the atmosphere we want to create – let’s go for something tense and mysterious. And now let’s get writing. I want to start with a couple of sentences that establish this is a castle surrounded by trees, at night. But I want to do more than just list those details – I want to use figurative language like metaphor and personification to create that tense atmosphere. Something like: The castle sat under a bruised sky, its turrets silhouetted against the pale light of the moon. The surrounding trees stood guard all round, their skeletal branches swaying faintly in the whisper of the wind. A creeping mist crouched at the bottom of the hill, spreading its cold fingers across the uneven ground. Faint yellow light spilled from one solitary window, glowing softly against the oppressive gloom.
So what have we got here? Rather than just being a dark sky, I’ve described it as ‘bruised’. This is an example of a metaphor, because of course the sky isn’t literally bruised. But I’ve used that word because of its connotations of danger and pain and it helps to create that tense atmosphere. In fact, a lot of the atmosphere is created through the adjective choices – the words describing the nouns. So the sky is bruised, the light is pale, the branches are skeletal, the mist is creeping, the fingers are cold, the ground is uneven, and on it goes. But a word or warning here – don’t give adjectives to every single noun, else it’ll be overkill, but choose perhaps a handful that can really develop the atmosphere you’re aiming for. And of course then there’s personification of the mist, with cold fingers, and the wind with its whisper. And none of this comes naturally – you need to actively practise this approach of describing setting and using figurative language like metaphor, personification, simile, pathetic fallacy, to create atmosphere. So in describing setting I’ve started with a couple of broad details, then zoomed in on a few more, filling the whole thing with atmosphere creating adjectives, metaphors, personification and the like. Look how my final sentence zooms in on one window. That’s going to lead nicely to the next paragraph where something happens!
And just to say, we could rewrite this completely if we wanted to create a calm and inviting atmosphere. Remember, the picture is just a starting point – a jumping off point for your own creativity. We don’t have to stick religiously to every detail of the picture. We could rewrite our description of setting perhaps like this: The castle rested serenely under the clear night sky, its turrets gently catching the silvery moonlight. The trees, tall and steadfast, formed a quiet circle around it, their branches still in the calm evening air. A soft mist curled at the foot of the hill, like a cat sat in front of a glowing fire. Warm golden light shimmered from a window, casting a peaceful glow that contrasted with the tranquil night. In this version, the adjectives are softer and more soothing – ‘serene,’ ‘gentle,’ ‘quiet,’ ‘calm,’ and ‘soft’ – to create a more peaceful atmosphere. There's no tension or danger here, just a sense of quiet calm. The mist is no longer creeping and cold, but curled up like a cosy cat, and the light is warm and inviting. So, whether you’re aiming for tension, mystery, peace, or comfort, the key is to use your setting to help create that atmosphere, with the careful choice of adjectives and figurative language.
INCITING INCIDENT
Once you’ve established setting and character, it’s time to think about your inciting incident. In terms of whole text structure, an inciting incident is something that happens that introduces the central conflict or challenge that drives the narrative forward. My main advice is it’s not a huge thing – this isn’t an action movie. Let me give you some examples from the Literature texts you study, to make that point: In ‘Macbeth’, the inciting incident is when Macbeth meets the witches and they give him their prophecies. In ‘A Christmas Carol’, the inciting incident is the visit of Marley’s Ghost. In ‘Romeo and Juliet’ the inciting incident is when Romeo and Juliet first meet at the Capulet ball. So the inciting incident is not the big event in the story – it’s the thing that happens that will ultimately lead to the big event, or the climax. And because you’re writing the opening of a story, you’re not going to write that climax, but you might want to include the inciting incident.
So if we go back to our sample question here, let’s imagine our idea here is our protagonist notices the spooky mansion on the foggy hill. And we learn a bit about that protagonist. Well the inciting incident could be that he sees this woman beckoning to him, and decides to investigate. And that’s it! Where the story goes from there – strange things happening inside the mansion, confronting the ghostly woman, whatever else, isn’t going to be in your answer. You’re writing the opening!
Now one word of caution here: this still needs to be an extended piece of writing. It’s a 40 mark question – that’s half the marks of the entire answer! We are advised to spend about 45 minutes on it and even if we allow 5 minutes for planning and 5 for checking at the end, that still leaves us with 35 minutes of writing. So yes we’re only writing the opening, but we need to do that in detail. So if our inciting incident in this example is seeing the woman beckoning to him, our opening might end when he reaches the door of the house – ending on a cliffhanger.
One of the main things we want to avoid when describing action is listing. Something like: He walked up the hill. He was feeling anxious. He climbed over the gate. He slipped on the stones and picked himself up, feeling embarrassed. If we just list our plot like this, not only is it dull, it doesn’t allow us to show our best writing skills, AND it finishes very quickly. The key with plot is the idea of show me don’t tell me. Here’s a quotation attributed to Chekov: ‘Don’t tell me the moon is shining. Show me the glint of light on broken glass.’ And this is what show me don’t tell me is all about. DESCRIBE things happening.
One simple way to do this is with character traits – don’t tell me the protagonist is anxious – describe it through physical tells: what does it look like? Maybe trembling hands, sweat, shallow breathing, tense shoulders. Then we can describe that: His hands trembled as he wiped them on his trousers, damp with sweat despite the chill in the air. His breath came quick and shallow, each inhale catching slightly in his throat. He continued slowly up the path, his shoulders tensed as though bracing for an unseen blow. Now rather that one sentence, I’ve got one paragraph, and the reader is engaged because rather than tell me what is happening: ‘He is feeling anxious’, I am describing the character and the reader has to work it out.
We can also describe action taking place. Rather than write ‘Claire searched for her medication’, describe it happening: Claire’s eyes searched quickly, flitting around the room: it had to be here somewhere. Her heartbeat hammered away – the familiar signal from her body that time was running out. Beads of sweat rolled down Claire’s forehead as she overturned cushions and tore open empty cupboards. She reached for her bag but knew already what she would find inside: nothing. She screamed a desperate scream. So when you’re writing plot, you want to make sure you show not tell. As I explained when talking about atmosphere, you don’t want too much to happen –you want to avoid a complex plot line and make our writing engaging through creating atmosphere.
STRUCTURE:
This might come as a surprise, but another thing you want to deliberately think about in your narrative writing is structure – a Convincing sequence of events is another typical feature of a top marks answer. Just like with the extract we analyse in paper 1 section A, you want to make deliberate structural choices for effect. There are lots of ways to do this, so let me go through a few examples:
Number 1: Flashback or Flash-forward, when we move to a past or future moment to reveal key information to build suspense and add depth to characters or plot. For example, when our protagonist sees the woman beckoning to him and has to decide what to do, maybe we could have a flashback that helps us understand his uncertainty: maybe he remembers a moment in his past where he made a choice he later regretted. Perhaps he once ignored a call for help and regrets it, or maybe he trusted someone who led him into danger. This flashback not only deepens our understanding of the character but also gives an emotional weigh to the current moment. If you’ve ever watched the TV show Lost you’ll know what I mean – flashbacks to develop character but also increase tension because we want to know why a polar bear just walked out from the bushes on a tropical island.
I won’t read it – you can pause and do that, but here’s an example of a flashback we might include in our mansion story: He hesitated. He’d been eight years old when his family’s car had broken down on a cold winter’s night. The rain had come suddenly, hammering against the windows as his father swore under his breath and climbed out to look at the smoking engine. The boy had watched his mother pace nervously by the roadside, her voice rising each time she spoke on the phone. “The castle on the hill,” she had said to the man on the other end. “That’s where we’ll wait.” They had made it halfway up the path when the first scream echoed from the stone walls. Notice how the flashback isn’t just randomly placed? It serves a clear purpose at that exact moment - : to hint at the traveler’s fear. We aren’t told exactly what happened after the scream, leaving the reader intrigued and wanting to know more.
Another popular structural device is a circular or cyclical structure, ending the story where it began or revisiting an idea, image, or line from the start. For example, opening our narrative with: The storm raged outside the castle, but he didn’t care. Not yet.’ And ending it with ‘This time, the storm raged inside him, and he cared too much.’
4.Zooming In and Out, moving between a wide perspective and a close-up focus can create a cinematic effect and emphasises key details. We saw an example in the Bleak House opening earlier. In our story we might start with a wide shot of a stormy scene, then zoom into a character holding a photo in their trembling hands.
Now remember, there are a possibly 16 marks available for technical accuracy, so spelling punctuation and grammar is key to your writing – more videos to come on that soon, so if you found this useful please do subscribe to the channel!