How to write a Compelling Personal Narrative Essay

Have you been assigned to write a personal narrative assignment but do not know how to proceed? Do you suck in writing essays and fear that you will fail in your personal narrative essay? Worry no more; we have compiled a helpful guide never seen before on the internet. We understand your pain point and have tried to cover literary every little detail you need to know as you set out on a journey to write.

,

The good thing is that our refined essay writers, who themselves are masters of crafting personal narratives have developed this guide. We sought their input as well as did research on the best practices when writing this type of assignment. As a custom paper writing service, we are so impressed by this guide that we use it in internal training for our new writers.  We, therefore, believe that it is a valuable resource when writing your personal narrative essay.

,

This step-by-step guide to writing a personal narrative essay covers all the critical elements, with practical samples and elaborations as necessary. We are doing this so that you do not dread writing one or cringe when assigned personal narrative essays, as most students do.

,

What is a personal narrative essay?

,

A personal narrative is a story about you. Narrative, from the Latin narrare, means to narrate a tale or a story. The narrative you will write will be a “personal” narrative.  Thus, the story will be written by you, about you, and in many ways, for you. What makes a personal narrative so interesting is that it’s a story with a point or purpose.   In other words, a personal narrative is detailed, descriptive, dialogue-driven, and determined to make a point. 

,

A personal narrative can be a story that conveys your fears, ambitions, passion, sensitivity, humor, excitements, or what makes you sad, angry, or weak, written in prose form. It lets your audience connect with you. Like other stories, personal narratives have the beginning, middle/climax, the end, and characters.

,

Personal narratives are written by those in academic as well as other professions. In the realm of academia, a personal narrative essay tells a story that is personal, experiential, and personal. As an author, you aim to creatively express your thoughts, ideas, feelings, and opinions. Personal narrative essays are usually from 500 words onwards.

,

In the general life arena, personal narratives are a form of journalism or non-fiction works that are part of narrative journalism. You will find pioneer publications like New York Times, Guardian, and Time magazine having personal narrative sections.

,

Overall, a persona narrative covers any reflective and contemplative subject with a unique perspective and a strong voice. You are allowed to write it in using personal pronouns such as “I” or “we.” The story is usually about a memorable moment that is worth recounting.

,

What is the purpose of a personal narrative essay?

,

When a teacher, lecturer, or professor assigns you a personal narrative, there are many things they are testing.

,

Like any form of academic writing, there needs to be a reason for writing the narrative and why the reader should read it.

,

The purpose of the personal narrative is to share a meaningful experience, and the lesson learned from the experience.

,

Specifically, the purpose of this essay is to share a story about a time you experienced gratitude.

,

From the perspective of a professor or lecturer, it is assigned to test your narrative writing skills. It is also meant to assess whether you have a good grasp of following instructions, using proper English, and expressing yourself.

,

So, a personal narrative is not a chance for the professor to fail you. Instead, it is to help you better yourself through honing your writing, creativity, and critical thinking skills, which are equally needed to survive in real-world settings.

,

Who is the audience of a Personal Narrative?

,

In many ways, we write a personal narrative for ourselves to reflect upon an experience, to grow from an event.

,

However, we want you to imagine that your audience is not only you but someone else. Therefore, the writer needs to know who their audience is and how their needs will affect how the narrative is composed and presented.

,

For example, in addition to writing this story as an opportunity for personal reflection, you may also choose a family member or friend group as your real or imagined audience.

,

 Selecting a real or imagined audience will help you develop your essay with the right tone. For example, the tone for a personal narrative can be formal or informal; it really depends on your chosen audience.

,

Steps to take when writing your Personal Narrative

,

If you are assigned to write a personal narrative essay, or you are doing it for a contest, here are some eight must-follow steps to succeed:

,

1. Choose a befitting topic

,

After reading the personal narrative essay prompt, you need to spend your time choosing a good topic to write a story about. We have outlined how to choose a topic in this guide.

,

A good topic makes an essay look good and simplifies the entire writing process. In addition, the topic helps you define the theme that you want to share with your audience. In most cases, the topic for a personal narrative refers to the experiences you have as the writer, so you do not have to use external sources when brainstorming.

,

Because your personal narrative is a reflection of personal experiences, thoughts, and ideas, ensure that you choose an exciting topic. In addition, the topic should match the intended audience because the audience eventually defines the scope of your essay.

,

2. Brainstorm and develop ideas for your essay

,

With the topic, you can create mind maps or create notes brainstorming on how to present your ideas. Next, determine what befits the beginning, middle, and end of your story. Now that you have all the best ideas, you now need to turn them into a plan.

,

3. Write your essay outline/structure

,

The outline of your personal narrative is your blueprint or essay plan. It is an essential component in your preparation and writing phases. An outline helps in organizing the composition, which maintains flow, coherence, and clarity. You can visualize your audience and logically write a paper that meets their expectations with a good outline.

,

4. Begin your essay with a good hook

,

Now that we have the outline write your essay with a good hook statement. A sound hook is a game changer in every aspect. For example, a good hook sentence for a personal narrative essay will signal your reader that they need to keep all their attention to the paper because there is better to come. You can use famous quotes, statistics, current issues or affairs, concepts, anecdotes, verses, or interesting facts. And once you have one, you have the currency to grab your readers’ attention to read your essay entirely.

,

5. Write the essay in the first person, with spice, and descriptively

,

Develop your ideas in the first person or “I,” but avoid overdoing it. A personal narrative allows you the freedom of using the first person since it is personal. Therefore, you should use “I” without switching the perspective to favor someone else when outlining the significance of ongoing events.

,

Also, when writing, describe the places and characters. Giving a vivid description adorns your story as it makes the plot clear. This is specifically big for the people affected by the outcome or those who matter in your story. When mentioning places, ensure you use spatial relations to create the picture in the reader’s mind. Having such information helps shape the perspectives of your readers. It also helps change the attitude of characters and helps them understand your central idea.

,

When writing, spice up the essay by turning things around to make your readers entertained even more. To do this, you can introduce a dramatic or antagonistic character that interferes with the status quo:your purposes. Having such an unpredictable twist can help break the monotony of your audience.

,

6. Edit your essay

,

With your first draft ready, you need to revise it thoroughly to make it presentable, flowing, and worth grading. To edit well, follow these suggestions (our top-rated essay writers do this, and their essays always turn out perfect):

,

Avoid editing your essay immediately after completing the essay. Instead, take some rest, and only edit when you are fresh. It helps you be objective, determined, and fresh enough to spot the mistakes.

,

Simplify the big vocabulary, complicated sentences, and complicated paragraphs for a compelling story.

,

Avoid using terms that can easily confuse your readers

,

Scan your essay for repetitions of ideas, messages, words, and sentences

,

Check if your essay meets the word count, general formatting requirements, and number of paragraphs

,

Review the structure of your essay

,

Check if there are problematic areas and paraphrase

,

A well-edited personal narrative essay is a direct ticket to the best grade.

,

7. Proofread your essay

,

Editing is not proofreading and vice versa. Editing focuses on the content, structure, and style, while proofreading is all about grammar, syntax, and spelling errors. When proofreading:

,

Use a professional proofreader to check your essay. Our custom writing company has the best proofreaders around.

,

You can check your essay for grammar mistakes using applications such as Grammarly, Hemmingway, or Ginger.

,

Ensure that your essay is devoid of spelling mistakes

,

Having someone re-read your essay helps you correct otherwise unnoticeable mistakes. If the personal narrative is for a common APP application or college application, use a credible editing company like Gradecrest.

,

8. Submit for marking/publishing

,

Finally, with everything sitting in its rightful place, it is time to polish up the essay and ensure that the title page is well written. Input your name, professor’s name, date of submission, class name, and code as per the recommended style. Once you have everything labeled as it should, including the filename, you can hit the submit button in your email or on canvas and wait for the best grades.

,

Tips for writing a resounding Personal Narrative Essay

,

,

Choose a focused and narrow experience, as a “too big” experience will result in less development and less detail. Flesh out the details of a “smaller” story, but an important one.

,

Plan your narrative essay and avoid pantsing. Planning a personal narrative means writing a story based on a specific blueprint or roadmap of how you want to tell the story. You first figure out the parts of your story before writing. On the other hand, pantsing is when you write the personal narrative based on a chosen essay topic from the start to the end without planning or thinking things through.

,

Have a clear purpose. The personal narrative essay must mirror a unique perspective on life. Even though this is hard to attain than it sounds, watch your tone in the essay.

,

Be sure to use your introduction to “sell” your audience on your topic. In other words, “HOOK” them into your story by providing an interesting and engaging opening paragraph.

,

Draft your story using the first-person pronoun, “I.” (This is among those assignments where you can use first-person pronouns, so “I” away!). Remember, you are the author. So, take ownership of your story. However, overusing “I” only makes your story redundant and self-centered.

,

Mind attention to tenses”when writing a personal narrative, choose to write in the past tense. It helps in separating your current, narrative voice and your past self. You are, in fact, narrating the latter more. However, if you flip the story and decide to use present tense, ensure there is consistency.

,

Be sure that the audience/reader understands precisely what your narrative will be about with the background information to understand that narrative fully. Give the reader appropriate background, but don’t go overboard.

,

Your story should have a point, a message, and/or a clear lesson that the reader can understand. In a personal narrative, the point of your story can also be called a thesis statement. Make sure you make your point or thesis clear to the reader. In a personal narrative, the thesis statement should be located within the introduction:and most commonly, it is usually woven into the introductory paragraph, as the last sentence.

,

Use your conclusion to “wrap up” the topic and the narrative. Be sure to return to what the point of your story is.

,

Ensure that you use proper sentence structure. For example, mix long and short sentences and try as much as possible to avoid run-on sentences.

,

SHOW, Don’t Tell! Since it is a narration, it should show your readers exactly what happened instead of telling them what transpired. You, as the writer, become one of the characters. Showing helps you to shape the perspective and attitude of your readers towards your story. It equally impacts how the audience views your predominant plot. Therefore, do not fall into the temptation of explaining everything descriptively but show your readers some action.

,

Use descriptive language and tone when writing

,

Use vivid language so that your readers can imagine the whole scene.

,

Use sensory-driven details to describe moods, actions, theme, and the overall plot. Adding emotions to your essay helps the reader to know about the feeling. Describe the feelings and emotions using descriptive words.

,

Zoom into the important moments that are the most significant and interesting parts of your story. You must also prove the significance of your experience through adequate personal evidence and examples.

,

Maintain consistency when writing this essay. Any professional essay writer will tell you that consistency is vital. Stay focused on one idea and add as many details that relate to the specific point as possible. Avoid detours into irrelevant details.

,

Features of an excellent personal narrative essay

,

,

When writing your personal narrative essay, ensure that these six personal narrative features are all addressed. The features include:

,

1. Proper Essay Organization

,

The Personal Narrative is organized with a clear beginning, middle, and end like any other story. It should read like a story: with an exposition, a rise action, a climax, falling action, and a resolution or denouement.  While the Personal Narrative is certainly less formal than other academic essays, the point or moral of the story (i.e., the thesis) should be very clear to the reader.

,

2. Description of characters

,

It is vital to develop the characters in the story so that the reader understands the people in the story:even if the one person in the story is YOU. Mainly, doing this helps your reader learn about the characters both by what they say and by what they do.

,

3. Use Transitions

,

An excellent personal narrative utilizes paragraph breaks and transitional words and phrases that help the audience (or reader) flow in and around the story.

,

4. Dialogue

,

You are allowed to include either external or internal dialogue when writing a personal narrative to connect your characters and help propel the story forward. Dialog is instrumental in showing rather than telling the story to the reader.

,

5. Sensory Details

,

As you write the essay, develop some sense of imagery within your story. You can achieve this by using sensory-driven details. You must create a vivid story by helping your reader/the audience perceive, see, hear, taste, touch, and feel as the characters in your story do. The sensory details invite the readers into your world, so much so that they resonate and own the story. In addition, it helps the audience experience the story you are sharing with them in the most intended way.

,

6. Thesis Statement

,

Like all essays you will ever write, a personal narrative has a thesis, the central idea or message that drives the story. Thus, it is a thesis-driven storytelling approach where you share with others, a story about you.

,

A thesis helps to show the significance of themes, events, lessons, or morals from the events. When the purpose of your story is structured as a thesis statement, you convince your readers off the bat. 

,

When writing other academic essays, the thesis appears in the last sentences of the first paragraph. However, when writing your personal narrative, you have the freedom and flexibility to determine where your story’s main point appears.

,

This means that as long as your point of the story is clear, the location of the thesis can vary depending on how to develop the story. If anything, be sure to underline the thesis statement before submitting your personal narrative for grading.

,

Format of a Personal Narrative Essay

,

When you are typing your personal narrative essay, you need to do it in:

,

Times New Roman, font size 12.

,

Double-paces

,

MLA or APA format (depending on your institution or professor)

,

In terms of flow, a personal narrative is written in prose form. It is a piece of writing assignment that uses the story format. This is to say that it has a beginning, middle, and end.

,

When writing it, ensure that you have a clear introduction paragraph with a hook, background story, and thesis. Next, the body of the story develops as body paragraphs. Last, your personal narrative has to have a concluding paragraph.

,

Although personal narratives are less formal compared to traditional academic writing, your story must have a thesis statement to allow your readers to understand the focal point in your story.

,

Outline of a Personal Narrative

,

When doing any piece of writing, having an outline makes work easier. It enables you to determine the flow of ideas and plan the organization of your content.

,

A personal narrative essay follows the five-paragraph essay structure. That means that it has: the introduction paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph.

,

Introduction

,

In a personal narrative essay, the introduction is as essential a paragraph as with conventional essays. It is the first impression on your reader, which can be used to judge if the essay is worth their time. It further defines the quality and scope of your essay. Therefore, it has to beckon your readers by grabbing their attention-stealing them off their feet.

,

Begin the introduction with a hook that catches the attention of the reader and sets the scene.

,

Where is the event set?

,

When did the event occur?

,

How old were you when this occurred?

,

After your hook, present some background of the story or the setup of your story. Finally, round up the essay by stating the thesis: What did you learn, or how did the event become significant in your life?

,

Body Paragraphs

,

Your essay can have three significant moments from the beginning, middle, and end of the event. As you write the body paragraphs, show and don’t tell. Use spatial relationships, sensory details, and transition words to mark the passage of time.

,

Each body paragraph should have an outstanding topic sentence followed by a detailed explanation and a concluding sentence.

,

Ensure that every paragraph focuses on a specific encounter chronologically. Also, place your characters in an excellent position to tell your story for a better flow.

,

Conclusion

,

In the conclusion of your personal narrative conclusion, provide the climax of the story. Wrap up the entire story and do not introduce new ideas or points either.

,

In your conclusion, analyze and reflect on the story’s action, including letting the reader know what the event taught you or how it is important/significant to you.

,

Your conclusion should be satisfying enough so that your readers find your personal narrative unforgettable, relatable, and exciting. Ensure that you reiterate the climax of your story to make it more interesting.

,

Write the lessons learned or takeaways from your story without forcing them on your readers. Instead, show and don’t tell. For example, instead of telling your readers what you learned, narrate to them how different you are now or how the encounter contributed to who you are today. Doing this helps build the moral of your story without forcing issues.

,

Anatomy/Structure of a Personal Narrative Essay

,

INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH

,

Hook.

,

Setting the scene.

,

Thesis

,

BODY PARAGRAPHS

,

Body Paragraph #1

,

Topic sentence.

,

Detail 1

,

Detail 2.

,

Detail 3.

,

Closing sentence.

,

Body Paragraph #2

,

Topic sentence.

,

Detail 1

,

Detail 2.

,

Detail 3.

,

Closing sentence.

,

Body Paragraph #3

,

Topic sentence.

,

Detail 1

,

Detail 2.

,

Detail 3.

,

Closing sentence.

,

CLOSING PARAGRAPH aka. CONCLUSION.

,

State your thesis differently

,

Close with an interesting parting shot.

,

How to choose a personal narrative topic

,

To choose a great personal narrative topic, you need to brainstorm and then evaluate the personal narrative topic you’ve chosen.

,

Brainstorming means walking through your life, encounters, and experiences and choosing one that you want to share with your readers. Here are some questions to help you:

,

What memorable encounters have occurred in your life?

,

What challenges have you faced so far in life?

,

Are there any important memories that you have?

,

What are some of the saddest or happiest events that have occurred in your life?

,

What obstacles or challenges have you faced in life?

,

What stories matter the most to you as a person?

,

What memories define you?

,

When brainstorming, you can list such topics; you are sure to come up with vivid and outstanding topics. You can equally select personal narrative topics from the personal narrative essay prompts from class. Furthermore, if our list of 50 plus personal narrative topics does not resonate with a personal narrative you want to write, you can use an essay writer who will brainstorm and develop a great topic.

,

When brainstorming, use divergent and convergent thinking. Divergent thinking helps generate as many ideas as possible, whereas convergent thinking helps you narrow down to the best ideas.

,

Having chosen a topic, evaluate if it is the best you can tell your story through. If a story is boring to you, it will most likely be boring to your audience. This is enough a signal to change the personal narrative topic.

,

With the topic, write an outline with your beginning, middle, and end of the story. We are saying that you need to critically and deeply analyze the personal narrative ideas developed when brainstorming to help you write a great essay.

,

Some valuable tips for choosing the topics

,

Avoid overdone topics. Instead, come up with fresh ideas.

,

Narrow down to a topic you are comfortable writing about

,

Do not choose a topic that triggers stress in your life

,

Choose a topic you relate with, know about, and care to share about

,

Choose a topic about something you are passionate about

,

Have a topic you can relate to at a personal level

,

Choose a topic you are sure will interest the audience

,

51 Personal Narrative Topics to consider in your assignment

,

1. My favorite pet
2. A teacher I will never forget
3. A memorable high school encounter
4. My first job
5. A memorable childhood experience
6. A memorable music concert I attended
7. How I developed the love for football
8. When I found my passion for gymnastics
9. A story of how I lost a close friend
10. A memorable sporting events
11. A birthday surprise party I will never forget
12. Why I visit the park often
13. Personal advice to my generation
14. What I regret the most
15. When I learned to control my anger
16. My favorite movie
17. My favorite subject
18. My dream job
19. An encounter with my model celebrity
20. The most important principle in my life
21. How I balance between family and professional life
22. The first time I drunk
23. The most challenging decision I ever made
24. My most memorable loss
25. Celebrities that inspire my life
26. My favorite congressperson
27. My favorite president
28. The day I first voted
29. An encounter with a stalker
30. My pains as a child who was neglected
31. My experience as an orphan
32. My experiences as an adopted child
33. An embarrassing moment in my life
34. An inspirational class I took online
35. When I got lost when camping
36. How I fell in love with riding bikes
37. The most memorable volunteering activity
38. An unforgettable encounter with thieves
39. The day I brushed shoulders with death
40. The day I had a date with death
41. The day I woke up in a hospital
42. My immigration story
43. When I discovered a nasty family secret
44. A day I felt alone and scared
45. First time I cooked a meal for my parents
46. When I bought my first shares
47. First time I learned how to play the piano
48. An encounter that changed my life perspective
49. A story about a personal failure that inspired your resilience
50. A first love that never was
51. The stepmother from hell
52. The day death robbed my family
53. The day I learned the hard truths about my birth

,

My favorite pet

,

A teacher I will never forget

,

A memorable high school encounter

,

My first job

,

A memorable childhood experience

,

A memorable music concert I attended

,

How I developed the love for football

,

When I found my passion for gymnastics

,

A story of how I lost a close friend

,

A memorable sporting events

,

A birthday surprise party I will never forget

,

Why I visit the park often

,

Personal advice to my generation

,

What I regret the most

,

When I learned to control my anger

,

My favorite movie

,

My favorite subject

,

My dream job

,

An encounter with my model celebrity

,

The most important principle in my life

,

How I balance between family and professional life

,

The first time I drunk

,

The most challenging decision I ever made

,

My most memorable loss

,

Celebrities that inspire my life

,

My favorite congressperson

,

My favorite president

,

The day I first voted

,

An encounter with a stalker

,

My pains as a child who was neglected

,

My experience as an orphan

,

My experiences as an adopted child

,

An embarrassing moment in my life

,

An inspirational class I took online

,

When I got lost when camping

,

How I fell in love with riding bikes

,

The most memorable volunteering activity

,

An unforgettable encounter with thieves

,

The day I brushed shoulders with death

,

The day I had a date with death

,

The day I woke up in a hospital

,

My immigration story

,

When I discovered a nasty family secret

,

A day I felt alone and scared

,

First time I cooked a meal for my parents

,

When I bought my first shares

,

First time I learned how to play the piano

,

An encounter that changed my life perspective

,

A story about a personal failure that inspired your resilience

,

A first love that never was

,

The stepmother from hell

,

The day death robbed my family

,

The day I learned the hard truths about my birth

,

5 Examples of Personal Narrative Essay Prompts

,

We have compiled some of the personal narrative essays prompts we came across as we researched, interacted with the content, and from works that our writers have completed. Here some examples:

,

1. Experiencing Gratitude

,

For this assignment, you will write a personal narrative:a story:illustrating an event, moment (or series of moments), or experience exemplifying gratitude. Share a story about a moment, experience, or event where you experienced gratitude either during the experience itself or after the experience took place.  

,

2. A Favorite School Memory

,

Write a story about your favorite school memory. Who was there? Where was it? How did it happen? How does it end? Focus on one single event. For example, if you played the violin in school, you could tell a story about playing the violin in a concert. Or, if you played on a soccer team, you could tell the story of your tryout.

,

3. Unresolved personal experience

,

Describe something that happened to you but where there’s no resolution. What was the experience, and how did it occur? What don’t you understand or know about the experience? Then, instead of having a resolution to the story, convey how you feel about not knowing what happened.

,

4. Family Story