Choose the subject for the personal essay by writing down a series of the most important events in your life. Look for something memorable you can delve into deeply in a short amount of writing. Remember that you don’t need to relate everything, but rather focus on the highlights and the thematic significance.
Open your essay with the beginning of the experience about which you are writing. Use the first person perspective, incorporating the pronouns “I” and “me.” Decide on whether to present the information chronologically or by a more creative method.
Add physical details about the event to make it more concrete in the mind of the reader. Make your readers see elements that are important to the narrative. For example, describe the color and texture of objects. Add vital details about people and other elements to provide the reader with fuller imagery.
Include sensory details to make the setting come to life. Describe the weather conditions to make the reader imagine the heat of midsummer or the bone-chilling cold of a snowy day. Emphasize memory senses to recreate significant smells and textures.
Incorporate dialogue to increase the reality of the story. Make sure that your dialogue sounds like real people talking. Avoid formal dialogue that sounds fake and forced.
Insert personal reflections and opinions into the essay that provide insight into the significance of the central event. Avoid writing merely a description of what happened by making the reader understand why it was important in your life. Recount how the event changed the direction of your life or how a smaller incident led to a more significant occasion like a wedding or being hired. Tell how the experience brought you to a realization that dramatically changed your perspective on a larger concern, like gay rights, gun ownership or political affiliation.
Look over your completed essay to make sure it describes the event in a clear, logical and easily followed sequence. Link each paragraph to the succeeding paragraph so that the essay flows as if you were actually describing the events. Avoid inserting irrelevant or unrelated actions, descriptions and proceedings. Utilize precise words that convey meaning as well as description.