Although you may know yourself better than anybody else, writing an autobiographical essay — an essay about yourself — can be hard. But don’t worry because you’ve come to the right place!
I’m Constance, and I’ll show you how to write an essay about yourself in five simple steps. We’ll also write a sample essay together!
Let’s get started!
Write an essay about yourself in five easy steps:
Step 1. Plan the word count for each paragraph.
Planning the word count for each paragraph will be much easier when you know the exact number of words you need for an essay. It will help you organize your ideas and present them clearly and concisely.
Any essay has three key elements:
- The introductory paragraph (introduction).
- Three body paragraphs.
- The concluding paragraph (conclusion).
For example, you can follow the diagram below to easily distribute 300 words across the five paragraphs in a 300-word essay:
Step 2. Choose your essay’s main point and its supporting ideas.
First, you need to come up with one main, overarching point. To do that, you can choose one quality that describes you best. It doesn’t really matter if it is something people can see (your appearance) or not (your kindness, intelligence, etc.) as long as you pick just one.
What do you want to say about yourself? What do people say about you? Whatever you think of, it will be your essay’s main point — your thesis.
For example, “I am a kind person.” This thesis will be enough for now. In the next step, you’ll better understand how to expand it into an entire essay.
Now, divide your topic using the Power of Three to prove your main point using three supporting ideas.
The Power of Three effectively divides an essay’s main idea into supporting points. It is a three-part structure that helps produce your body paragraphs.
Let’s try it for an example of an autobiographical essay with the thesis, “I am a kind person.”
For example, here are three supporting ideas describing a kind person:
- I am a good listener.
- I always try to speak positively and avoid criticism.
- I am always ready to lend a helping hand.
Excellent! Now we’re all set for the next step!
Step 3. Write your introductory paragraph.
Here are the key components of an introductory paragraph in writing any essay:
The first sentence is the introduction, which should catch the readers’ attention and make them want to know the person in the essay (you).
The rest of the paragraph is the thesis statement and three supporting points.
Example of an introductory paragraph about yourself
“Although I am not perfect, others see my good qualities. Many people say I am a kind person because I am a good listener, I always try to speak positively, and I love helping others with their tasks. I like listening to my family and friends when they need support. I also like to use kind words and avoid negative and forceful language. And I am always ready to lend a helping hand whenever someone needs it.”
Note that our introductory paragraph goes from a general statement to three specific ideas that support our main idea.
A general statement (our introductory sentence) briefly sets the essay’s context. Next comes our thesis statement and three supporting ideas.
Step 4. Write your essay’s body paragraphs.
After the introductory paragraph, you will write body paragraphs containing the supporting ideas for your thesis. Here’s how to structure a body paragraph:
Keep this diagram in mind when writing your body paragraphs. Start with a topic sentence, and then provide a brief explanation and example/s.
Paragraph 1
“Many people tell me that I am a good listener. I listen carefully whenever people talk to me, making sure they know I’m willing to hear them out and that they have my support. For example, whenever my friends want to talk to me about their problems, I listen carefully and avoid interrupting them. After they talk, I ask questions about their feelings and thoughts about their situation before giving them advice.”
As you can see, our first sentence in this body paragraph is a topic sentence. It gives context to our body paragraph and briefly summarizes it.
Our second sentence describes an empathetic person. And the remaining sentences illustrate our main point (topic sentence) by providing examples.
Paragraph 2
“Regardless of whom I am talking to, I always try to speak positively to make them feel good. I try to talk in a positive manner that inspires and encourages others and expresses my respect and gratitude for them. I also avoid mocking, insulting, or cursing at people. And even in uncomfortable situations, I try to offer constructive feedback instead of complaining or grumbling because I do not want any negative energy to rub off on the other person. The other day I spoke with my friend who had made a mistake. I never criticized her and offered some good advice to help her correct the situation.”
Just like paragraph 1, paragraph 2 follows the same structure outlined in the diagram. It proceeds from a general statement to more specific points.
Paragraph 3
“I am always willing to lend a helping hand. I love helping others and finding ways to make tasks easier for them, especially my family. I always wash the dishes and clean our kitchen without my mother telling me to do so. I also like helping my dad fix things in the garage and repair things in our house. And I also like helping my siblings with their school projects and homework.”
Once again, paragraph 3 follows the body paragraph structure. Now, we’re all set for the final step — the conclusion.
Step 5. Write the conclusion.
If you want an easy and quick way to write a concluding paragraph for your essay about yourself, just restate your main idea and its supporting points using different words.
Let’s try this method to write the conclusion for our essay.
Conclusion
“No one is perfect, but it is great if people know you best for your positive qualities. Many people tell me I am a kind person, and it tends to draw them to me. I listen carefully and attentively whenever people talk to me. I speak in a positive manner. And I love helping others and making things easier for them.”
Note how we paraphrased our introductory paragraph to restate the points we’ve already made. Keep this in mind when writing any essay.
I hope you find this tutorial helpful! Now go ahead and write an essay about yourself!