Cathy A.
Cathy A.

Personal Narrative Essay - Easy Guide & Examples

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Published on: Apr 18, 2020

Last updated on: Jan 3, 2023

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Essay writing is something that a student can never avoid by any means. Every student must have to write essays at different stages of academic life.

When it comes to writing a personal narrative essay, students love to do it. It is one of the easiest types of essays. This essay does not confine you to a boundary, in fact, it allows you to openly use your thoughts.

Also, in a personal narrative essay, you can write a personal life experience. Even something fictional that you think would entertain the readers.

In a personal narrative essay, you are basically telling the readers about your story. You need vivid language to make things easily understandable for the reader.

Here in this blog, you will find everything that you need to know about a personal narrative essay.

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Personal Narrative Essay Definition

A personal narrative essay is also referred to as short storytelling. It depends on the writer what type of story they want to tell to the readers. Moreover, this type of essay can be composed of the personal experience of the writer.

A personal narrative essay is usually written in the first person participle. It helps to depict a clear narrative that’s focused on a specific moment.

High school students are usually assigned to write such essays. This essay type helps them to enhance creative writing skills. Also, they help to provide insight into a student’s personal life.

To write a personal narrative essay, the writer specifies a plot around which the entire essay revolves. It also discusses the characters that have played some part in the story.

How to Write a Personal Narrative Essay

A personal narrative essay is considered very good when it is expressive, and the reader enjoys your personal narrative. The key to writing an amazing personal narrative is to use sensory details as much as possible. An excellent narrative essay doesn't tell what happened. Instead, it shows what happened precisely and how you have felt at that moment.

Here is how you can write a personal narrative essay:

  1. Choose the Right Topic

    A good topic can not just make your essay look good, but also it will make the writing process much easier. Since personal narrative essays are written on personal experiences and thoughts, make sure that you choose your most interesting experience.

    Keep in mind that the topic you choose matches the intended audience. It is the reader who decides the scope and success of your essay.

  2. Create an Outline

    Once you have your topic, it is time that you create an outline for your essay. The essay outline is an essential element of an essay. It keeps the whole composition in an organized order.

    Also, it helps the reader through the essay. With the help of an outline, a writer can provide logic for the essay.

  3. Start With a Good Hook

    For any type of essay, a hook statement can be the game-changer. But, particularly for a personal narrative essay, hook sentences are very important.

    Usually, the introduction of the essay starts with this sentence. You may use a famous quotation, verse, or an interesting fact for this purpose. This sentence helps to attain the reader’s attention and persuade the reader to read the entire essay.

  4. Vivid Description

    For a narrative essay, it is a must to be vivid enough to let the reader imagine the whole scene. This is why it is necessary that the reader uses as much descriptive language as possible.

    You must wonder which element is not required for the personal narrative essay? For your information, the element not required for such an essay is the research. Since it is a personal essay and you do not need any reference from any source. And since you do not need references, you do not need to conduct research.

  5. Use Transition Words

    For any essay, be it an argumentative essay, descriptive, or a personal narrative essay. It is very important to have some transition sentences and words. These transition words help to make a logical connection in all parts of the essay.

    In other words, the transition words help to make links between the storyline. You may use transition words like this, however, whereas, therefore, moreover, etc.

  6. Add Emotions

    The purpose of a personal narrative essay is to show the reader what and how you have felt. Hence don't forget to add the emotions, as you have to make the reader know about the feelings. Describe all of the emotions and feelings using very descriptive words.

  7. Be Consistent

    Consistency is the key to writing an essay in a professional way. Make sure that you don't get distracted by any irrelevant details. Stay focused on one single point, and add details related to that specific idea of yours.

    Make sure that you inter-link all the events of the story in a regular manner. This will help the reader to relate all the events. Also, use first-person impressions as you are writing a personal narrative.

    You also want to show the reader that you are telling your own story. Make sure that you follow the same participle in the entire essay.

  8. Prove the Significance of Your Experience

    You know that behind every event, there is a reason. Similarly, let your readers know the reason behind your essay and its significance. Also, mention that the story you just told it was so important to share.

    As it is a personal narrative, you don't have to provide evidence to prove the significance of your story. Rather, you have to convey a broader message through your story.

  9. Proofread

    Once you are done with writing your personal narrative essay. It's time that you put a little effort into making it error-free. Proofread the essay more than once and look for minor spelling mistakes and other grammatical mistakes.

    This will ensure that you have written an essay like a pro. You can do this yourself or you may ask a friend to do it for you.

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Personal Narrative Essay Outline

Being a student, you must know how important an outline is for an essay. It provides an organization with the whole content.

To create an outline for a personal narrative essay, you need to follow the following traditional method.

  1. Introduction
  2. Body
  3. Conclusion

These three major elements of a narrative essay are further elaborated down below.

Introduction

The introduction is the most important part of essay writing. It is the first impression on the reader and by reading this part, the reader decides the quality of the essay. This part should be the most attention-grabbing part.

Another thing that makes it a significant element in an essay is the thesis statement. The thesis statement is the essence of an essay. It is a sentence or two that explains the whole idea of your essay.

The thesis statement is mentioned somewhere before the last sentence of the introduction.

You should also know that the introduction should always end with a transition sentence. This will make a logical connection with the rest of the essay.

Body Paragraphs

After the introduction, the body paragraphs are written. These paragraphs help you to explain the key elements of your personal narrative essay.

In a standard personal narrative essay, there are usually three body paragraphs. These paragraphs help the writer to describe the subject of the essay in all possible aspects.

With the help of these paragraphs, the writer describes their point of view to the readers. To support the essay, the time and place of the event happening are also mentioned. Moreover, these paragraphs have all the information about the characters.

Keep in mind that a body starts with a topic sentence. This sentence is a kind of introductory sentence for that particular paragraph.

Another important thing that you need to keep in mind is the order in which you will be presenting the details. Make sure that you use chronological order for this purpose.

Conclusion

In conclusion, you need to provide the climax of the story. In this section of a personal narrative essay, you should wrap up the whole story. Do it in such a way that you provide a summary of the entire essay.

Make sure that you do not add any new points in this part. It will not give the reader a sense of accomplishment and will leave them in confusion.

Personal Narrative Essay Examples

Examples help you to understand things better; here are a few well-written narrative essay examples. Read them thoroughly and use them as a guide to writing a good essay yourself.

Personal Narrative Essay 750 words

Personal narrative essays can be long or short. It depends on the writer how they want to elaborate things.

Personal Narrative Essay Examples for High school Students

Personal narrative essays are often assigned to high school students. If you are a high school student and looking for some good examples, you are exactly where you should be.

Personal Narrative Essay Examples for College Students

Being a college student, you will get to write personal narrative essays very often. Here are a few examples of well-written personal narrative essays to guide college students.

Personal Narrative Essay Topics

It is important to choose a good topic before you start writing. Here are some interesting narrative essay topics you can choose from for your essay.

  • My worst childhood memory
  • My favorite summer activities during vacation.
  • The first time I had a serious argument with my best friend
  • The first time someone broke my heart.
  • Things I could tell myself.
  • How I balance my family life and my professional life.
  • The most important rule in life
  • Teachers who inspired me in my college.
  • Why I love to write a diary
  • My favorite verse.
  • My favorite movie.
  • Personal advice for the youth of today.
  • How I overcame my stage fear.
  • The toughest decision I have ever made.
  • What I regret most

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Personal Narrative Essay Writing Tips

You need to follow a few things in order to start your personal narrative essay in a proper way. Those significant things are as follows:

  1. Think of a memorable event, an unforgettable experience, or any that you want to tell the readers.
  2. Plan your narrative essay. Make yourself clear on the order in which you want to mention all the details.
  3. Start your personal essay with a hook sentence. This will help you to grab the attention of the readers.
  4. Use vivid language so that the reader can imagine the whole scene in mind. Describe the actions, mood, theme, and overall plot.
  5. Make sure that you use descriptive language.
  6. Use proper sentence structure.

Writing a personal narrative essay can be daunting for many students. We have an extensive team of professional writers at CollegeEssay.org. You can ask them, “help me write my narrative essay” and they will help you write your college essay and deliver it right in time.

We have a customer support team available 24/7 to attend to all queries related to your assignments. So place your order now and let all your stress go away.

Cathy A.

WRITTEN BY

Cathy A. (Literature, Marketing)

For more than five years now, Cathy has been one of our most hardworking authors on the platform. With a Masters degree in mass communication, she knows the ins and outs of professional writing. Clients often leave her glowing reviews for being an amazing writer who takes her work very seriously.

For more than five years now, Cathy has been one of our most hardworking authors on the platform. With a Masters degree in mass communication, she knows the ins and outs of professional writing. Clients often leave her glowing reviews for being an amazing writer who takes her work very seriously.

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