how to start off personal essays

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Academic Writing

How to Start a Personal Narrative

Last Updated: October 4, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Grant Faulkner, MA . Grant Faulkner is the Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and the co-founder of 100 Word Story, a literary magazine. Grant has published two books on writing and has been published in The New York Times and Writer’s Digest. He co-hosts Write-minded, a weekly podcast on writing and publishing, and has a M.A. in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 118,923 times.

A personal narrative also called a personal essay, should engagingly tell a personal story. You may be writing a personal narrative for a college application, for a class, or your enjoyment. A good personal narrative will entertain the reader and offer insight into an idea or theme. To get started on a personal narrative, choose a story idea, and structure the essay so you know where you’re headed. Then, craft a strong opening for the narrative to draw your reader in.

Choosing a Story Idea for the Narrative

Step 1 Think of a meaningful event in your life.

Choose an event that feels full of meaning and significance to you personally. These events usually make the best story ideas for a personal narrative.
For example, if your narrative focuses on your intended career path as a teacher, you could write a narrative about how a youth coaching experience showed you the importance of making a positive impact on children.
Alternatively, if you’re writing about how you came to choose a college major in medical science, your narrative could focus on a wonderful volunteer experience you had as a child that made you want to help other people.

Step 2 Pick a personal story with a moral or lesson.

For instance, you may pick an experience where you lost an important match, only to learn the value of failing and do better. Or you may choose an experience where you made a moral decision to help someone, which then leads to positive outcomes for you and the person.

Step 3 Focus on an idea that fits a theme.

For example, you may choose a theme like love and use it to explore your experience of love growing up in a family with two fathers. Or you may choose a theme like freedom and use to explore your struggles with freedom as a refugee.

Structuring the Narrative

You may need to use a mixture of tenses throughout the narrative. For instance, the answer to the prompt or the narrative you discuss may be written in the present tense, while an anecdote or narration of a story may be written in the past tense, as it has already happened.

The thesis statement in a narrative essay can explore the events of the story in a brief way. Or it can tell the reader about the moral or lesson learned through the personal experience. You can also present the main theme in the essay in the thesis statement.
For example, if you are writing an essay about your personal experience as a refugee, you may have a thesis statement that presents the theme of freedom. You may write, “My journey is just one of many. We all came to a new country carrying nothing more than hope and memories of the past.”

Step 3 Include supporting body paragraphs.

For example, you may have three supporting body paragraphs where you tell your narrative based on the theme of your essay. You may start with your experience of “freedom” in your home country in the first paragraph, followed by your experience of the same theme in your new country in the second paragraph.

Step 4 End with the moral of the narrative.

For example, you may end the essay by stating the lesson or moral you learned from the personal experience. Or you may note how the experience has positively affected your life now.

Creating a Strong Opening for the Narrative

The hook is usually not longer than 1 to 2 sentences. It starts your introductory paragraph and can take the form of a scene, question, interesting fact or statement, or even an anecdote.

Step 2 Set the scene to offer specific details and strong imagery.

For example, you may wish, “I huddled under my Disney Princess bed cover as my father banged on my bedroom door. As I listened to his muffled screams, I wondered if it was possible to simply disappear, away from my lonely home life and my failing high school grades.”

Step 3 Pose a question if you want to get the reader thinking.

For example, you may start with a question like, “Have you ever wondered how it might feel to leave your home forever?” or “Have you ever felt like a stranger in your own country?”

Step 4 Use an interesting fact to connect to your personal experiences.

For example, you may start with an interesting fact about lawnmowers if your narrative is about how mowing lawns as a kid taught you the value of hard work. Or you may choose a funny statement about winning and losing if your essay is about learning how to accept failure.

Step 5 Start with an anecdote to connect to the larger theme or story.

For example, if you are writing about learning how to accept failure, you may start with an anecdote about your father telling you not to lose a softball game as a kid.
Or if you are writing about your personal experiences as a refugee, you may use an anecdote on a moment of acceptance you experienced in your new country.

Expert Q&A

Don’t forget to revise your essay and make any necessary changes! Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

↑ http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules-and-tips/tips-for-writing-a-personal-narrative-essay.html
↑ https://www.kibin.com/essay-writing-blog/how-to-start-a-narrative-essay/
↑ Grant Faulkner, MA. Professional Writer. Expert Interview. 8 January 2019.
↑ http://www.artsyqr.com/crafting-a-personal-narrative-essay-starting-out/