How to Write a Personal Essay

How to Write a Personal Essay

How do we create an article that best speaks of us and expresses our talent to the readers? Well, a writer could be grappling with is a question. Writing an article this nature is never too complicated when we understand the basic rules, just like mathematical problems, writing academic articles follow some precise formulas. Personal essay writing only requires one to know that the article is about expressing oneself, and for that reason, they need to have everything that best explains their skills and personal issues well.

The idea of a personal essay is to have content that let others know something about us that was not in their mind. We are involved in an exercise of self-disclosure. The substance of self-exposure is to create a great relationship with those we haven’t been within the past or those we are yet to meet so that there will be no any tension when we finally sit face to face with them.

So when creating a great essay, the author should be able to express some scenes about his or her life vividly descriptively. The purpose of the article could be to show one’s experience and skills; therefore, the appropriateness of the writer for consideration comes out through the personal essay. With good explanations and the ability to connect the piece with the writer, the article gets meaning.

Stories about oneself are a little bit perplexing, especially when you consider coming up with an appropriate topic. In most cases, there are no specific topics that apply for this kind of writing, but the writer has to choose one that good and identifies with his or her audience. We can consider the following topics:

  • My First Date With The Supervisor
  • How I Got My First Job
  • The Day I Found Out That I Could Run Short Races
  • My First Computer
  • How I Kept My Education Promise To My Mother
  • The Day I Went Out With My Friends To an Amusement Park

Writing a personal essay is not difficult when we organize it to follow an outline that has an introduction to a body and a conclusion.

Personal Essay Outline

Compared to other types of writings, the structure of an outline for a personal essay is very straight forward. Every paragraph needs to have a maximum of five sentences. This implies that the organization the personal essay outline is not only brief, but it also contains a single lined sentence that explains a point. The total number of paragraphs need for personal essay writing is not more than five. This means that we only have the first paragraph as the introduction of the second, third, and fourth as the body of the essay and the last or the fifth as the conclusion. So then, the opening has to bear very captivating information that immediately draws the attention of the reader to the article. The personal essay introduction should, therefore, be short and sweet with catchy words.

The body for an outline has the gist of the piece. In other words, the organization should contain short sentences explaining the skills of the writer unambiguously. Each paragraph of the body should only have an idea or clarify a point that has not been described in the previous paragraphs. And there should be a very smooth connection between the sections.

The conclusion of a personal essay should summarize all the paragraphs and present them in points. Additionally, the thesis statement that was introduced in the introduction section of the outline is restated and connected to the points covered. The purpose of a conclusion transcends brief presentation but also serves a very important role in terms of reminding the reader of the writer’s special skills as explained in the body.

Usually, writing a personal essay must also be pegged on credibility and this, therefore, means that a writer must cite the sources in accordance to the style recommended by either the professor or the supervisor or generally the institution.

Among the most common styles used in the citation for points, we might include strengthening our essay include:

  • IEEE
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • Harvard
  • ACS

The Organization of a Personal Essay

Just as we have seen in the outline, the final arrangement article takes the shape of the personal essay outline. The creative way to come up with your excellent paper is to adhere to the personal essay outline you have written and expounded more on the points. It is also imperative that a writer does not forget to observe the number of words he or she is supposed to include in the final copy. This will guide the argument and ensure that he or she only sticks to the points. With the knowledge of writing other papers, it should not be difficult to write personal essays.

Introduction for Personal Essay

The content that goes into the introduction is preceded with a strong statement that is also known as an attention grabber or a hook, and it is meant to draw the attention of the reader to the article. More importantly, the first line must be organized in a manner that inspires the reader to read the entire article without any difficulty. The catchy the opening sentence or the introduction is, the higher the chances that the article will be read to its end by the targeted audience. So it is good to start with a bang!

We may be wondering how to create that significant impact that warrants the attention of the target audience to the article. Well, here are some of the techniques that can be sued to make the introduction as attractive, attention catching and as enjoyable as possible:

  • Quotable quotes: not all quotes can be exciting or can add value to personal essay writing. We need to consider using only those that are acceptable.
  • Metaphor
  • Statistics
  • Anecdotes
  • Jokes
  • Similes

Within the introduction of the essay about oneself, it is crucial that we also give a glimpse of the history or the background informing our story. The readers are interested in getting the information that tells them where we began in terms of the exciting skills that we have, and we should not deny them the opportunity to learn about that in the introduction. There are key players in our lives that we should not forget as we write the essay. We should explain who these characters are and how influential they are in our lives. Tell who the main characters are. Additionally, the introduction should not fail to answer the question with regards to who, why where, what, when, and how.

The closing sentence for the introduction in our case should be a persuasive thesis statement. More so, the last sentence should usher in the subsequent paragraph in a very smooth way. We may consider using a transitional word to make it as exciting as possible. That is how to start an essay about myself!

The Key Points to Consider When Writing the Body of Our Personal Essay

As we write the body paragraph, we need to bear in mind that the body paragraphs should contain no more than three paragraphs of five sentences. The personal essay should also explain the details of the points and elaborate on the topic vividly to the readers. They should be able to understand the writer’s life clearly. Notably, the body should support the thesis statement as outlined in the introduction.

The starting sentence known as the topic sentence is an introductory sentence that explains the topic just as its name suggests. The body should also be filled with nothing but factual information which is grounded on evidence.

The writing should be focused on the theme of the article, and it also needs to address the interest of the reader even though it is a personal essay. Well, the main reason why this article is written is to explain oneself, but that does not exclude the expectation of the reader. Each sentence within the body should emphasize the writer’s life and lead to a climax. Just as the introduction, the author must use persuasive words and avoid redundant words that might kill the whole essay. As we work on the body of the personal essay, it is essential to take note of the fact that writings are goal oriented. They should, therefore, focus on meeting the specific goal set by the writer.

The conclusion of the article is the climax of the piece, and the section must be characterized by well-crafted sentences that draw their main conclusive sentiments from the other parts of the essay. Also, the personal essay conclusion must address, albeit in short sentences, the significant points in addition to reiterating the thesis statement. The last paragraph should not detach from the theme of the article and should reflect the best personal essay examples that are there.

Writing Personal Essay, the DO’s and the DON’T’s

The points outlined here presents some of the major tips and clues that will help us to create an excellent personal essay that aligns to some of the best personal essay examples that are there. To have an excellent paper, we need to:

  1. Maintaining truthfulness: this implies that the author should only put into their article the real events and experiences without exaggeration.
  2. Prepare well in advance: just as indicated earlier, writing a personal essay is not easy, and for this reason, the author needs to take his or her time in digging out for the facts and most critical points that ought to be included in the article.
  3. Follow the instruction and stick to them: it is important not to deviate from an instruction especially if it comes to the college professor or the admission board
  4. Keep it short and sweet: the best way to tell about your story is to get straight to the point without beating around the bush. Readers are only interested in the thing that defines you and for that reason, you need not fetch around for everything that may not be necessary.
  5. Establish the connection of the paper to yourself: once again, the writer must remember that the document is about him or her, and it should not deviate from that.
  6. Remain positive always: the readers are your key audience when the writer exudes confidence through the expressions, albeit via the words, the readers will equally be proud of him or her. Staying positive always is essential.
  7. Balance the emotion and never go too extreme: in writing, this is called consideration. The writer must respect the reader by balancing his or her arguments.

The following are some of the things that a good writer for a personal essay must avoid as much as they can:

  1. Consider the word count and do not go over the limit stated in terms of word count.
  2. Avoid arbitrary use of language; it is imperative to keep focus and consider only words that are explicitly addressing the issue
  3. Never Ignore critical information given in advance with regards to the personal essay you are writing
  4. Never get scared of telling it as it is by stating personal successes and failures.

Conclusion

Appreciating personal essay examples that are out there for us to learn from is the beginning of writing excellent essays about ourselves. The most crucial point to remember when we are writing a personal essay is that the organization of the document is essential if it is to attract the attention of the audiences it is addressing. More so, personal essay writing cannot be complete without the provision of special skills or personal statement that draw connections to the writer. If the document seems detached from its creator, then it ceases from being a personal essay. Also, it is paramount to take note of the fact that articles of this nature take time to write; therefore, the author must prepare well and sort out the significant points to put into the document. Remember to use a personal essay outline to guide the process.