Start Off with a Bang

Chances are, you wrote your story based on a timeline — first this happened, then that. Your essay meanders along for a while before the most interesting part shows up.

Rework it. Move the best part to the start. Elevate the best and juiciest part. Let it capture your reader’s heart and interest from the first sentence if possible.

Here’s a before-and-after example from one of my students:

BEFORE

It was a bright morning in May. I woke up having crashed in a bed the night before with two of my closest friends: Josh and Zeek.

AFTER

“You too!?!”

Josh nodded and looked down into his lap. My heart sank. My mind clouded. A tidal wave of burning rage flooded over me. What if it wasn’t just me? How many others had been victimized?

TIP: Start with the phrase “There I was…” and keep writing. Put the highest action part here. You can change the intro later, removing that “There I was” phrase. Or not. Go ahead, give it a try now.

3 Bonus Ways to Start Your Essay Powerfully

1. Ask a question. Make sure it’s meaningful and related to what’s to come. Never use a question you wouldn’t want to answer as a reader. The point is to get their attention and capture the reader’s interest. Not bore them from the start.

2. Start with a quote. And I don’t mean the kind found on BrainyQuotes.com. Let a character in your story start things off. In the example above, my student started with BOTH a question and a quote. That’s powerful.

3. Make a surprising or unexpected statement. It might be a statistic or fact or something surprising. For example:

I woke up and realized I wasn’t dead. As the ambulance doors slammed shut, I realized I might never play soccer again.

If you start in the middle of the action, you’re bound to make whatever you write powerful and compelling.