Often, the beginning of your essay is one of its most important aspects — it’s the reader’s first introduction to who you are and an opportunity to engage them from the very start. However, it can also be quite difficult to write something that achieves this — and not knowing how to start your essay is entirely natural! Write the World offers seven different ways of beginning your essay to help you get over this roadblock. To give you some examples of these methods, let’s look at how the heroes of Jane Austen would approach beginning their college essays!
Fitzwilliam Darcy
(with a generalization, statement of fact)
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man holding several presuppositions about the nature of human character, must, and will, be proven wrong. This shall occur, most often, by that endearingly stubborn mind who shall reveal the insufficiencies of pretensions he once placed near to his heart.
George Knightly
(with a character description)
Soft ringlets teased her shoulders with a touch, eyes turned downward with a melancholy most surprising on a woman in a ballroom…such did the vision before me appear. As I took a step forwards towards her, reaching out a hand, warm and awaiting reciprocation, I saw upon the woman’s face a reflection of what was most important to me — an execution of what a man can always do, if he chooses…his duty.
Edward Ferrars
(with a specific moment in time)
My knee firm against the hardwood floor, my gaze reached the ceilings of the house as though if I only reached out, I’d feel my lack of options placed on top of one another…a manifestation of the cavity of choice, active profession, and education. It was a foolish, idle inclination – a mere subservience – that pulled my eyes down to her own and made me whisper those sacred words unattentively: “Marry me.”
Frederick Wentworth
(with a precursor)
The woman before me stood with those same eyes, perhaps a softer smile and flushed cheeks, those that pierced my soul eight years ago. And I, then a mere ambitious – admittedly naively so – child, now in front of her stand a man, willing to admit anybody is capable of change.
Charles Bingley
(with a surprising statement)
I have spent the better part of my life anxiously hesitant of ever making a decision. I have come to the realization, however, that indecision could be a worse undoing, for myself and those I loved; the fear of offending may often prove itself to be the greater injury.
Mr. Collins
(with a description of place)
The distinguished walls of Rosings Park held within themselves a charm that, after having surrounded me for the better part of my formative years, has imbued itself within my modest mind. It stands as an estate of grandeur and tradition – aspects of a character I have taken the most acute steps to inhabit.
Henry Tilney
(with dialogue)
“Where people are really attached, poverty itself is wealth…” Though encountering these words first with an arched smile but little conscious engagement, I have since found them to ring unwittingly true: while we may clutch our papers with possessive hands, often, I find the greatest riches lie not in such circumstance, but in the warmth and constancy of human connection.
We hope these examples provide some insight into different ways you can begin your essay. Now, it’s time for you to explore which of these methods most effectively fit your story. Please note, your essay is a personal reflection of who you are — even if you find that these strategies aren’t able to do that in the way you want, that’s perfectly acceptable! They may instead inspire you to think more deeply about your essay. Ultimately, you must choose what best conveys your thoughts, values, unique writing style, and experiences!
