an accomplishment like winning an award, getting a job, or graduating from high school a trial like a difficult class, an injury, or losing a loved one a meaningful experience like discovering a hobby, meeting your best friend, going away to camp, or learning something about yourself
If you are writing an autobiographical essay for an application, make sure that you read the instructions well. If the application includes a prompt or question that you need to answer, make sure that the story you intend to tell will respond to this prompt or question. If you are writing an autobiographical essay for a class, make sure that you read the assignment guidelines well. Make sure that the story you intend to tell will work for this assignment. Ask your instructor if you have any questions about the assignment.
If you are writing your essay as part of an application, consider what your readers will be most interested in hearing about. If you are writing your essay for a class assignment, consider what your instructor will expect you to include in your essay.
Try listing. List the ideas that you have for your autobiography and then look over the list you have made and group similar ideas together. Expand those lists by adding more ideas or by using another prewriting activity. [5] X Research source Try freewriting. Write nonstop for about 10 minutes. Write whatever comes to mind and don’t edit yourself. Review what you have written. Highlight or underline the most useful information for your autobiography. Repeat the freewriting exercise using the passages you underlined as a starting point. You can repeat this exercise many times to continue to refine and develop your ideas. [6] X Research source Try clustering. Write a brief explanation of the subject of your autobiography on the center of a piece of paper and circle it. Then draw three or more lines extending from the circle. Write a corresponding idea at the end of each of these lines. Continue developing your cluster until you have explored as many connections as you can. [7] X Research source Try questioning. On a piece of paper, write out “Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?” Space the questions about two or three lines apart on the paper so that you can write your answers on these lines. Respond to each question in as much detail as you can. [8] X Research source
Do not use the second person perspective (“you”) or switch back and forth between “I” and “you. ” Use the first person perspective (“I”) throughout your entire essay.
Jump right in. One way to begin a story is to immediately begin describing something that happened, even if it happened in the middle of your story. You might start with something like, “There I was, standing in front of the entire 10th grade reading a story I had written. ”[12] X Research source
Say something tantalizing to your reader. For example, you might start with something like, “I never expected to be as happy as I was on that day. " Or, “Many things have happened to me in my life, but this was the worst. ” Just make sure that the opening fits with your topic. Avoid beginnings that are too general or broad. Never open with, “Since the dawn of time…” This type of opening does not help your reader understand what your story is about. “Too general” openings are boring as well. [14] X Research source Avoid opening with a quote, unless it is meaningful to you and crucial to your story. If you want to include a meaningful quote in your autobiographical essay, it should have something to do with your story. You should talk about what it means to you when you provide it.
You might say something like, “Under these circumstances, I began the most challenging year of my life. ” Or, “Before this happened, I had no idea that I could do something so huge. ” Choose a transition that fits your introduction and that will connect with the ideas in your next paragraph.
Talk about why this story is significant to you and what you learned from it. [17] X Research source Refer to the beginning of your story in the end by mentioning a situation or person that was central to your introduction. [18] X Research source Tell your readers about something that came out of this experience that you were not expecting. [19] X Research source
Instead of saying that your teacher wore a blue dress, say that it was aqua blue with white lace trim on the sleeves. Instead of saying you felt nervous, describe your trembling hands, the knot in your stomach, and the weak feeling in your knees. Instead of saying that you spoke to your teacher about something important, put the conversation that you had with your teacher into dialogue.
Use chronological organization if you want to start at the beginning and describe your story in the order that it happened. Use starting in the middle organization if you want to put your readers into the midst of your story and then go back to the beginning. Use starting at the end organization if you want to tell your readers how your story ended up and then explain how you got to that point.
Don’t be afraid to show your sense of humor, as long as you don’t think it will disrupt the tone of your essay. In other words, if you are telling a sad story, using sarcasm or making a joke about something serious might not be appropriate.
