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As the name suggests, a personal essay is a personal story from an experience that can be connected with social, environmental or political causes to engage with a larger audience. One can share their relevant story through personal essays, which could speak to others who face a similar fate.
Since it is personal, one has the liberty to compose it on any topic, talk about the situation, give examples and offer a solution. However, the entire work should be unbiased and rather forced to spread information and let readers make up their perceptions.
The tone here is conversational. It primarily focuses on engaging with the adinkra nod to have their attention.
While, we hear so much commotion around narrative and descriptive essays, we rarely hear about personal essays, particularly the Professional Personal Statement. But why so? Personal essays are some of the best ways of dealing with your emotions while sharing your experience with others who might be going through the same case.
Personal essays are not fully memoirs or autobiographies which is why they are usually overlooked in the writing department. But, if done beautifully, it can speak to many people and create a huge impact.
The personal writing style may not be for everyone since it involves creativity and vulnerability. The writer must plate their grief, disappointment, failures and hurdles on the plate to let readers perceive them. However, this is a great insight into the writer and can help one be more intelligent emotionally and accept and be exposed to all parts of life.
Personal essays are a form of self-expression, eliminating any scope of fiction. This makes it more realistic, which attracts audiences more. It creates a certain depth filled with words calling in the reader to flow.
When we hear the term essay, we think of introduction, body and conclusion, but what factors matter if you want your essay to stand out?
Here are the tips you need to follow for writing a remarkable personal essay:
You will hear your professors and other exceptional writers emphasize about the importance of choosing the right personal essay topic. But how do you do so? There are manykind of essay types, and picking the right topic for a particular one is quite confusing. Here is how you can pick the right topic for personal essays:
There are highs and lows in every body’s life. Some rides are fun, while others are sad, exhaustingand often seems troublesome. But reflecting on good and bad memories can help us reminisce about old times.
If you want to reflect on old stories that shaped your mindset and personality or taught you a lesson, then a personal essay is the best way to do that.
Selecting a topic is easy when you know what you want to talk about. Pick out a theme. It can be sad, life-changing, happy, fun facts etc. Once you have selected them, you can focus on certain stories which fit the genre to work on it.
Most students make the mistake of picking up an interesting or tough topic without putting themselves in the reader’s shoes. Think about what your readers would like to read. Think of stories they would relate to, which will keep them on the tip of their foot. Once you find the answer to this, you will have a compelling story in the end.
In any writing task, thinking about the audiences likes and dislikes can help one create masterpieces and estimate how much they will be loved or hated. Consider their viewpoint on your topic before proceeding.
If you are starting with zero ideas, try free writing. Free writing is writing on anything that comes to your mind. Take a pen and paper and jot down anything. After that review the work and you might find interesting slants to help you make up a story.
You can also practice mind mapping. Try to visualize scenarios in your head, and eventually, you will develop a story.
The next step is to organize your thoughts and ideas. If you have too much on yourmind, then simplify them. Record, prioritize and separate your thoughts to find something fruitful to work on.
And once you have the idea in your mind, it is time to give it a shape by creating a personal essay outline. For example, if you want to talk about your first driving experiment. Then start with your age, what inspired you to drive a car, what you learnt and things which scare you, etc.
Outlinedifferent sections, later you can fill them up with different parts of your story.
It is a quite common notion that the body is the main part of any writing task. But wise people know that introductions also form a big part of leading readers towards the main body.
Here are a few points which you should keep in mind while working on the introduction:
Create hook in the very beginning though questions, statements or facts, or readers can easily feel disconnected.
Think of why your introduction is dull or lese you can lose potential readers. What can you add to make their eyeballs grow wider? If you can crack this code, you will easily find the hook, which creates tension among the readers.
The next goal of an introduction is to give brief background information on the topic to the readers. We all need a certain backdrop before getting on the main story. This builds up the momentum of the work. A concise and balanced overview of the published work helps readers know what to expect.
A thesis statement is wherein the writers give their thoughts on the entire work and address the areas they will destroy in the entire paper. For example, after giving slight information on your work, you can state your objectives and thoughts and how you will be justifying about in your entire work.
These three tips are enough to create an introduction which builds the hype.
Personal essays usually have only five paragraphs. Now the question is what to pour in these paragraphs. Here is what you can add to them:
Add in supporting evidence and examples of your work. If your story is about you learning to swim, then add information like when you started, how many years it has been since you have been swimming and more.
With personal essays there is so much scope to narrate a story and provide examples through storytelling to keep it relatable.
Be vivid with your descriptions, and make your scenes explanatory. If your work could have people glued from the beginning to the end and evoke some feeling in them then, you know that you have done a good job.
People should be able to imagine the scene while reading it, so be very descriptive and use words which do justice to the story.
You can pour incredible information into yourwork but, if you mess up with organization, youare giving away your chance to be the next topper of your class.
Evenif you have a good plot, you need to create a flow using proper organization.Thinkof good outlines that build suspense to compel readers to move on to the next paragraph.
Share personal insights by reflecting on your personal growth and development throughout the essay. Discuss how your experiences have shaped your beliefs, values, or perspective. Analyze the changes or transformations you have undergone and the lessons you have learned.
Go beyond describing your experiences and delve into the analysis of the lessons learned. Discuss the impact of these lessons on your life and how they have influenced your actions or decisions. Consider the broader implications of your experiences and explore the insights gained from them.
Demonstrate self-awareness in your essay by reflecting on your thoughts and emotions. Discuss your strengths, weaknesses, and personal challenges. Show introspection and insight into your character, showing the reader that you have learned from your experiences and developed a deeper understanding of yourself.
Be it college personal essay or of high school we all gain inspiration from personal stories which is why this tip never fails.
After you are done writing the body part, now comes the conclusion. Conclusioncomes in the typical format of essay writing, but let’sbe honest, not much priority is given to it. Studentsare exhausted after writing the entire body and have no energy or interest in being loyal to a good conclusion.
If you are out of ideas on how to frame a good conclusion and, keepaudiences interested till the end, and then here is how you do it:
Summarize all the main points which you have covered. This is the jest of the entire thing without repeating the entire body but keeping it small and crisp. It is more like an overview that gives subtle hints of the entire work to connect all the dots together.
Take a moment to reflect on your journey or any transformation resulting from the experiences you shared in your essay. Discuss how these experiences have shaped you, influenced your perspective, or contributed to your growth. This reflection will show your readers the depth of your introspection and add a sense of closure to your essay.
And finally, end the last few lines of your work with a bold statement, questions, or statisticsthat leaves a long-lasting impression. Take time and develop a good ending that will linger in the readers’ minds.
Hopefully we gave you some ideas on how to frame an excellent conclusion for the next time.
Here comes the most overlooked part of any writing essay i.e. editing and proofreading. The power of editing is such that it can make bland papers unique if you know the right tactics.
Here are some key points to keep inside while editing your work:
Personal essays work best when they feel like a story. While reviewing your work, check the clarity and coherence of your work. Often while adding transitional elements, the storyline gets disrupted. Organize all the elements in flow to make sense and have no loopholes.
Grammar and spelling errors are the most common. However, this looks very unprofessional. This is the most basic mistake which is unacceptable for readers, professors and a wide range of audiences. It is constantly icky, so correct that silly mistake which that can weigh your paper down.
The process of editing and proofreading is not just sitting down with it but also inviting others to your desk to give suggestions. Let your siblings, friends and even professors go through your work. Their suggestions will help your paper to reach the level of perfection with zero flaws.
Just like any other form of writing, these three tips are all you need to edit your bland papers into perfection.
Now that you are done doing the editing part, here are some of the last things which you need to do to finalize your work:
Review your work with a gentleoverview to check if things are in place. Add finishingtouches, and see if you have any missing elementsare leftbehind which still need work.
Format your entire work and organize it in sections. Organization can either jumble up your work or give them a crisp ending.
And now comes the part of framing the main title. Some studentscompose the title in the first. The problem arises when the paper has more than what is said in the title which seems out of context.
After completing the entire work come up with a suitable title which does justice to your written content.
Follow this with your personal essay format and writing will be so much easier to you now.
In the conclusion of your essay, begin by summarizing the key points and insights you have discussed throughout the essay. Remind the reader of your shared main ideas and experiences, emphasizing their significance in your chosen theme or message.
End your essay with a final thought or call to action that leaves a lasting impression on the reader. This could be a thought-provoking question, a powerful statement, or an invitation for readers to reflect on their lives or take action based on your shared insights. The goal is to leave the reader with resonance and significance.
Throughout the conclusion, ensure consistency with your essay’s overall tone and voice. If your essay has been introspective and reflective, maintain that tone in the conclusion.
Similarly, if your essay has been humorous or light-hearted, you can end on a lighter note. The conclusion should harmonize with the rest of your essay and provide a satisfying ending.
Once you have written your conclusion, review the entire piece. Check for any grammatical or structural errors and make necessary revisions. Pay attention to the clarity and impact of your conclusion, ensuring that it effectively wraps up your essay and leaves a lasting impression on the reader.
The conclusion is your final opportunity to leave a strong impression on the reader and reinforce the significance of your essay. Take the time to craft a conclusion that effectively summarizes your main points, reflects on your journey, and leaves the reader with a memorable takeaway.
And now you know how to write a personal essay with ease. Follow these tips and you will end up writing remarkable piece which leaves your readers in awe.
Feel free to use any of the topics to create unique pieces of the personal essay. Employ the tips and place the essay a notch higher. Make a powerful impression on the college assessment board with your personal essay and get promoted.
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