anecdote vs narrative

anecdote

noun
  • A short account of a real incident or person, often humorous or interesting. 

  • A previously untold secret account of an incident. 

  • An account which supports an argument, but which is not supported by scientific or statistical analysis. 

verb
  • To tell anecdotes (about). 

narrative

noun
  • A manner of conveying a story, fictional or otherwise, in a body of work. 

  • The systematic recitation of an event or series of events. 

  • That which is narrated. 

  • A representation of an event or story in a way to promote a certain point of view. 

adj
  • Of or relating to narration. 

  • Overly talkative; garrulous. 

  • Telling a story. 

How often have the words anecdote and narrative occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )