autobiographical essay example for college

• PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
• EDIT Edit this Article
• EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
• Browse Articles
• Learn Something New
• Quizzes Hot
• This Or That Game New
• Train Your Brain
• Explore More
• Support wikiHow
• About wikiHow
• Log in / Sign up
• Education and Communications
• College University and Postgraduate
• Academic Writing

How to Write an Autobiographical Essay

Last Updated: March 12, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Alicia Cook . Alicia Cook is a Professional Writer based in Newark, New Jersey. With over 12 years of experience, Alicia specializes in poetry and uses her platform to advocate for families affected by addiction and to fight for breaking the stigma against addiction and mental illness. She holds a BA in English and Journalism from Georgian Court University and an MBA from Saint Peter’s University. Alicia is a bestselling poet with Andrews McMeel Publishing and her work has been featured in numerous media outlets including the NY Post, CNN, USA Today, the HuffPost, the LA Times, American Songwriter Magazine, and Bustle. She was named by Teen Vogue as one of the 10 social media poets to know and her poetry mixtape, “Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately” was a finalist in the 2016 Goodreads Choice Awards. There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 870,561 times.

An autobiographical essay is just an essay about something you experienced. Even so, writing an autobiographical essay can be challenging. You might write an autobiographical essay for a class, an application, or just for your own personal enjoyment. Whatever your reason, there are some key concepts and strategies that you will want to keep in mind as you write. Keep reading to learn more about how to write an autobiographical essay.

Planning Your Essay

• an accomplishment like winning an award, getting a job, or graduating from high school
• a trial like a difficult class, an injury, or losing a loved one
• a meaningful experience like discovering a hobby, meeting your best friend, going away to camp, or learning something about yourself
• Make sure that you are comfortable sharing your story. Don’t write about anything too hard or heartbreaking if you are not emotionally ready to handle it.

• If you are writing an autobiographical essay for an application, make sure that you read the instructions well. If the application includes a prompt or question that you need to answer, make sure that the story you intend to tell will respond to this prompt or question.
• If you are writing an autobiographical essay for a class, make sure that you read the assignment guidelines well. Make sure that the story you intend to tell will work for this assignment. Ask your instructor if you have any questions about the assignment.

• If you are writing your essay as part of an application, consider what your readers will be most interested in hearing about.
• If you are writing your essay for a class assignment, consider what your instructor will expect you to include in your essay.

• Try listing. List the ideas that you have for your autobiography and then look over the list you have made and group similar ideas together. Expand those lists by adding more ideas or by using another prewriting activity. [5] X Research source
• Try freewriting. Write nonstop for about 10 minutes. Write whatever comes to mind and don’t edit yourself. Review what you have written. Highlight or underline the most useful information for your autobiography. Repeat the freewriting exercise using the passages you underlined as a starting point. You can repeat this exercise many times to continue to refine and develop your ideas. [6] X Research source
• Try clustering. Write a brief explanation of the subject of your autobiography on the center of a piece of paper and circle it. Then draw three or more lines extending from the circle. Write a corresponding idea at the end of each of these lines. Continue developing your cluster until you have explored as many connections as you can. [7] X Research source
• Try questioning. On a piece of paper, write out “Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?” Space the questions about two or three lines apart on the paper so that you can write your answers on these lines. Respond to each question in as much detail as you can. [8] X Research source

• It may be helpful to decide where to start from and where to finish, and then work on filling in the middle.

Drafting Your Essay

• Do not use the second person perspective (“you”) or switch back and forth between “I” and “you.” Use the first person perspective (“I”) throughout your entire essay.

• Jump right in. One way to begin a story is to immediately begin describing something that happened, even if it happened in the middle of your story. You might start with something like, “There I was, standing in front of the entire 10th grade reading a story I had written.” [11] X Research source
• You can start writing your draft in any order that you like, but then remember to organize the completed story in the proper order.

• Say something tantalizing to your reader. For example, you might start with something like, "I never expected to be as happy as I was on that day." Or, "Many things have happened to me in my life, but this was the worst.” Just make sure that the opening fits with your topic.
• Avoid beginnings that are too general or broad. Never open with, “Since the dawn of time…” This type of opening does not help your reader understand what your story is about. "Too general" openings are boring as well. [13] X Research source
• Avoid opening with a quote, unless it is meaningful to you and crucial to your story. If you want to include a meaningful quote in your autobiographical essay, it should have something to do with your story. You should talk about what it means to you when you provide it.

• You might say something like, “Under these circumstances, I began the most challenging year of my life.” Or, “Before this happened, I had no idea that I could do something so huge.” Choose a transition that fits your introduction and that will connect with the ideas in your next paragraph.

• Talk about why this story is significant to you and what you learned from it. [16] X Research source
• Refer to the beginning of your story in the end by mentioning a situation or person that was central to your introduction. [17] X Research source
• Tell your readers about something that came out of this experience that you were not expecting. [18] X Research source

Enhancing Your Essay

• Instead of saying that your teacher wore a blue dress, say that it was aqua blue with white lace trim on the sleeves.
• Instead of saying you felt nervous, describe your trembling hands, the knot in your stomach, and the weak feeling in your knees.
• Instead of saying that you spoke to your teacher about something important, put the conversation that you had with your teacher into dialogue.

• Use chronological organization if you want to start at the beginning and describe your story in the order that it happened.
• Use starting in the middle organization if you want to put your readers into the midst of your story and then go back to the beginning.
• Use starting at the end organization if you want to tell your readers how your story ended up and then explain how you got to that point.

• Don’t be afraid to show your sense of humor, as long as you don’t think it will disrupt the tone of your essay. In other words, if you are telling a sad story, using sarcasm or making a joke about something serious might not be appropriate.

Writing Help

Community Q&A

• Be concise. When writing a story about your life, it’s best to keep it simple and be straightforward. Avoid padding out your autobiographical essay with unnecessary information. Just include the most important details and describe those details well. Thanks Helpful 6 Not Helpful 0
• Share your work with supportive friends and family. Ask for feedback on what they like and how you can improve your story. If you're a student, try asking your English teacher to help you. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 3

You Might Also Like

• ↑ http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-an-autobiographical-essay-biography-examples.html
• ↑ http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/write/fieldguide/writing_guides.asp#BLUE08
• ↑ http://writing.ku.edu/prewriting-strategies
• ↑ https://selfpublishingadvice.org/writing-when-to-use-first-person/
• ↑ https://www.esu.edu/writing-studio/guides/hook.cfm
• ↑ http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/write/fieldguide/writing_guides.asp
• ↑ https://www.otago.ac.nz/classics/otago055219.pdf
• ↑ http://www.writing.ucsb.edu/faculty/donelan/para.html
• ↑ http://writetodone.com/how-to-use-vivid-description-to-capture-attention/
• ↑ http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/write/fieldguide/writing_guides.asp#BLUE07
• ↑ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/10-great-opening-lines-from-stanford-admissions-essays/

About This Article

To write an autobiographical essay, choose a story from your own life that you're excited to share. Consider who your audience is when selecting a story and go with something that will appeal to them. Next, create an outline for your essay to help you organize all of your thoughts. When you're ready to get started, kick off your essay with an engaging sentence, then jump right into the action to hook your readers. Remember to write in first person and include vivid details to bring your story to life. Let your unique personality shine through! To learn how to enhance your essay by including dialogue, keep reading the article! Did this summary help you? Yes No

• Send fan mail to authors

Reader Success Stories

M. Winston Morris

Jul 8, 2017

Did this article help you?

Mose Jackson

Oct 22, 2017

Alisha Yorba

Oct 20, 2017

Muskan Khan

Oct 26, 2018

Corlisa Diaz

Jun 16, 2016

Featured Articles

Trending Articles

Watch Articles

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Do Not Sell or Share My Info
• Not Selling Info

Get all the best how-tos!

Sign up for wikiHow's weekly email newsletter