An autobiographical essay is an essay about something you have experienced. However, writing an autobiographical essay can be quite challenging. You might be writing an autobiographical essay for a school assignment, a job application, or just for personal gratification. Whatever the reason, there are some key concepts and strategies that you should keep in mind as you write them. Keep reading this article to learn more about how to write an autobiographical essay.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Planning an Essay
Step 1. Choose a story you really want to tell
One of the best ways to write a great story is to choose a story that you really want to tell. Remember, you have to write down really specific events, not events that happened during your lifetime. If you tell all the details of your life, the result is a book, not an essay. So choose a topic that you can explain in detail throughout the essay. Some options you can consider include:
- accomplishments such as winning an award, getting a job, or graduating high school.
- trials such as getting a difficult lesson, having an accident, or losing a loved one.
- valuable experiences such as finding a hobby, meeting best friends, or camping.
Step 2. Determine your purpose for writing
Think about what you want to achieve by writing an autobiographical essay. Why do you want to tell this story? What goal do you want to achieve by telling it?
- If you are writing an autobiographical essay as a condition of applying for a job, make sure you read the instructions carefully. If in the requirements there is a question that you must answer, make sure the story you write can answer that question.
- If you are writing an autobiographical essay for a school assignment, make sure you read the writing guidelines carefully. Make sure the story you want to tell fits your assignment. Ask the teacher if you have any questions about the assignment.
Step 3. Pay attention to your readers
Think of the people who will read your autobiographical essay. Consider the needs and expectations of your readers before you start writing. Write down a few things to know about your target audience as you write your autobiographical essay.
- If you are writing an essay as part of a job application requirement, think of something that will interest your readers to read the sequel.
- If you're writing an essay as a school assignment, think about what your teacher expects your teacher to write on the essay.
Step 4. Think of ideas for your autobiography
Before you start writing an essay, take some time to explore ideas and jot down a few things. Activities such as list making, freewriting, grouping, and asking questions can help you develop innovative ideas.
- Try the list making technique. Make a list of autobiographical essay ideas and review the list you have created, then group similar ideas together. Expand the list by adding more ideas or by doing other prewriting activities.
- Try freewriting techniques. Write anything without pausing for 10 minutes. Write whatever you think and don't edit your own writing. Review your writing. Highlight or underline the most important information for your autobiography. Repeat this freewriting exercise using the quotes you've underlined as a starting point. You can repeat this exercise several times to further refine and expand your idea.
- Try the grouping technique. Write a brief description of the subject of your autobiography in the center of a sheet of paper, and circle the explanation. Then, draw at least three lines extending from the circle you created earlier. Write related ideas at the end of each line. Continue to expand your group of ideas until you can make as many connections as possible.
- Try the questioning technique. On a piece of paper, write “Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?". Spacing the questions between two or three lines so that you can write your answers on the blank lines. Respond to each question in as much detail as possible.
Step 5. Outline the essay
After you've written down a few ideas, organize them into an outline before drafting your initial essay. You can create an essay outline to plan your entire essay, develop more ideas, and avoid missing anything.
Part 2 of 3: Drafting an Essay
Step 1. Write the essay from the first person point of view
Use the first person pronoun (I or I) when writing an autobiographical essay. When you write an autobiographical essay, you are sharing a personal experience. So, use the first person point of view.
Do not use the second person point of view (you, you, or you) or alternate between "I" and "you" point of view. Use a first person (me or me) point of view throughout your essay
Step 2. Start with a catchy sentence that outlines your story
Your essay introduction should immediately tell the story you want to tell. Think about what you want to convey in your essay to determine what you should include in the introduction. The introduction should also show the main idea of your autobiographical essay and act as a preview of the whole story.
Get straight to the heart of the story. One way to start a story is to describe something directly, such as, "There I was, standing in front of all the 1st year high school students reading me a story I never wrote."
Step 3. Describe the setting of your story
Use clear details to describe the setting of your autobiography to readers. Provide the context and background they need to know to understand the continuation of your essay.
- Write something that grabs the reader's attention. For example, start by writing, “I never expected as much happiness as I got that day.” Or, “Many things have happened to me, but this incident was the worst.” Make sure the opening section matches the topic of your essay.
- Avoid essay introductions that are too general or broad. Never start with, "Once upon a time…". This type of introduction makes it difficult for readers to understand your story. An overly general introduction is also very boring.
- Don't open your essay with a quote, unless the quote is meaningful and crucial to your story. If you want to include a meaningful quote in your essay, it must be relevant to your story. You must write down the meaning of the quote for yourself if you write it down.
Step 4. Move from the introduction to the main story
Once you've introduced your story and captured the reader's interest, you'll need to make the switch to getting to the heart of your story. End the introduction with a sentence that makes readers want to get on with your story immediately.
You could write, "Under these circumstances, I'm starting the toughest year of my life." Or, "Before this happened, I never knew I could do something great." Choose a transitional sentence that fits the introduction to the story and that will connect the introduction to the essay with the ideas in the next paragraph
Step 5. Tell your story
After you introduce your story, you must tell what happened; step by step. The second paragraph of the essay and the following paragraphs depend on the end of your essay introduction. Make sure you don't miss important details that your readers need or want to read.
Step 6. Conclude your story
The conclusion of the essay should be interesting and impressive. You should end your story by summarizing the events you recounted and writing down how you have reflected from your experiences.
- Tell me why this story is so important to you and the lessons you learned from it.
- Refer to the beginning of the story at the end of the essay by mentioning a very important situation or person at the beginning of the story.
- Tell readers something that emerged from the experience that you didn't expect.
Part 3 of 3: Improving Essay Quality
Step 1. Write down real details and some dialogue if needed
Vivid details and dialogue can bring your story to life for readers. Describe the people, circumstances, and other aspects that are relevant to your autobiography.
- Instead of saying that your teacher is wearing a blue dress, say that it's navy blue with white lace on the sleeves.
- Instead of saying that you're nervous, describe your shaking hands, your tummy tingle, and your weak knees.
- Instead of saying that you said something important to your teacher, it's better to include the conversation you had with your teacher in a dialogue.
Step 2. Organize your stories non-chronologically
Telling your story in the order in which it happened is effective, but there are other ways to organize an autobiography. Think about other arrangement patterns before choosing.
- Tell the story chronologically if you want to start from the beginning and describe the story as it actually happened.
- Tell the story from the middle if you want to put the reader in the middle of the incident and return to the beginning of the story.
- Tell the story from the end if you want to tell the end of your story first, then explain how you got to that point.
Step 3. Be yourself
One of the worst things about writing an autobiographical essay is representing yourself differently than you really are. Make sure your essay truly reflects your experience and personality.
Don't be afraid to show your sense of humor as long as it doesn't interfere with the theme of your essay. In other words, if you're telling a sad story, using sarcasm or making jokes about something serious, it's not worth writing about
Tips
- Summarize your story. When writing a story about your life, it's best to keep it as simple and straightforward as possible. Don't fill your autobiographical essay with unimportant information. Include only the most important details and describe them well.
- Share your writing with your supportive friends and family. Ask for feedback on what they like and how to improve your story.
