To grab the readers’ attention,
we have to come up with a hook that will arouse their interest,
and leave them ask questions.
Then,
how to write attention-grabbing beginnings?
There might be many ways.
Here we're going to learn two creative ones.
One way is to write an "Unexpected" beginning.
Another is to write a "Puzzling" beginning.
An unexpected beginning is unexpected
because it begins with an unusual action, or conflict.
e.g.
"Every summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village
to divorce his wife, Shuyu."
How could a man "divorce his wife" "every summer"?
Such an "unexpected" beginning
may make us curious about what might come next.
A puzzling beginning is puzzling
because it creates a self-contradictory scene for the readers.
e.g.
"It was a bright cold day in April,
and the clocks were striking thirteen."
The beginning creates a puzzling scene
because clocks don’t strike thirteen times.
Clocks only strike twelve and then start over at one strike.
So,
if you hear a clock strike thirteen,
something might go wrong.
Now let’s look at the body: focusing on specific experience(s).
Before you choose the most suitable experiences,
ask yourself the following questions from "where you stand":
Why was that experience important to you?
How did it change you?
What did you learn?
In the meantime,
you should also think about "What you expect":
Will your experience also be important for your readers?
What can they learn from it?
And how can they put your lessons to use in their lives?
Here are some topics for your reference.
For example:
01 Something that you did over and over again
as it was meaningful to you
02 A single encounter with someone that changed you
03 An event which was small but significant
04 A personal achievement which is worth
remembering and sharing
05 A painful experience and how it has helped you grow as a person
etc.
At the end of the story,
we need to reflect on the special meaning of the experience(s).
Here,let’s consider two questions:
Why reflect? And,what to reflect?
As we know,
reflection can transform your experience into genuine learning.
It can help you gain a better understanding of your values,
goals and beliefs.
That is why we need to reflect.
Then what to reflect?
In general,
your reflections should be based on your previous personal experiences.
For example:
the challenges you faced and obstacles you have overcome
the biggest accomplishments in your life
people who have changed your path and shaped your life
the books you have read and changed your life, etc.
To sum up,
in Part I
we’ve discussed how to write a personal experience narrative.
We’d better start off with a creative beginning,
share a particular life event of your own
and conclude with reflections on its significance or impact.
Please remember,
writing a personal experience narrative is more than telling a real-life story.
We should also make a point.
That’s what we’ve learned in Part I.
In the next part,
we will learn to write personal statements.