1. Beginnings, Middles and Ends
Oh my!

2. The Big Picture
How you might best structure your personal essay really depends on several factors that will be specific to the story you intend to tell.

3. The Beginning
Your story’s beginning should draw readers in, establish the tone of the piece and set up some aspect of the conflict or problem.
Try several different first lines:
Start at the beginning
Try the middle
Work your way back from the end
Always choose the most surprising.

4. The Middle
The middle needs to keep the tension, created by the conflict, going.
Build the relationship between internal and external conflict.
Types of Conflict:
Person vs. Person
Person vs. Nature
Person vs. Society
Person vs. Machine
Person vs. Self

5. The End
Where you resolve the conflict in some way and draw your final connections and conclusions.
You’ll need to show character (meaning your own) growth or give a reason there wasn’t any.
It should be a progression
It should not just magically happen in the last paragraph
You do not have to present events as they happen, but rather show the character moving through events.

6. Narrative Arc
Personal Essay or
Short Story
Play or Novel