A list of unique personal essay writing ideas
When writing your personal essay, you don’t want yours to sound like everyone else’s. It needs to be unique and stand out from the rest. It gives the reader a look into the life experience you are sharing. Most students will have to compose a personal essay at least once in their academic career. Whether it’s simply a class assignment or a requirement to apply to college, the following list will give you some great ideas to choose from.
- List of personal essay ideas
- Describe a place that’s special to you and why
- How you dealt with a failure in your life
- Your favorite era of time and why
- If you could choose a super power to have
- A life-changing moment you experienced
- If you could hide where would you go
- What animal would you choose to be
- What different country would you choose to live in
- The most tragic loss you have experienced
- Someone that prompted hope in you
- Something you would change about the world if you could
- A choice you made that changed your life
- A certain place that’s special to you
- What would you invent if you could
- The most breath-taking thing you have seen
- The biggest secret of your life
- An event you can’t explain
- One thing you simply can’t resist
- The most difficult news you’ve ever heard
- The biggest challenge you’ve been faced with
- Something you’ve witnessed
Choosing the topic for your personal essay is the first step. After you’ve made the choice, decide what details you will provide. Try to choose something that will evoke emotion in the reader. What makes you happy or sad about your topic? What do you want your reader to feel as they read it? What end result do you want for the reader? Will they remember your personal story? Will they be touched by it?
Because this is a personal essay, it must be personal. It must bring something to light that’s hidden deep inside you. If you aren’t sure where to start, you can try talking rather than writing. Set up something to record and then start telling the story as if you were talking to someone. This might help the thoughts flow more smoothly. When you are done, transcribe your talk and see how you want to organize it into an essay.
After you’ve done your essay have someone else read it for you. This serves two purposes. First of all they can proofread for you and secondly, they can give you some feedback on how your personal story made them feel.