What you need to know about starting an essay

Starting an essay comes with its anxiety. Even the best writers try so hard to begin with the right words, so much so that before settling for the opening sentence, tons of crumpled paper containing drafts will be seen littered on the floor. 

With the decline in reading culture over the years, a book is now very often judged by its cover, especially when it comes to essay writing. If the opening paragraph does not interest the reader, all other content is discarded. 

Although the beginning sentence or paragraph is the first step in fascinating a reader, subsequent paragraphs also play a key role in maintaining the reader’s interest. In light of this, it is necessary to begin each paragraph with captivating words. 

Good starting words for an essay and its transitory body include: according to, considering, moreover, and furthermore. Other words for starting essay examples are: likewise, on the contrary, however, alternatively, conversely, notably, compelling, persuasive, and so on. These words and phrases could be used either in the opening sentence or in the body of the essay.

This article will outline tips you can use to keep your readers intrigued when starting an essay. The tips would help you grab the reader’s attention and keep them hooked on your article.

How to start your essay

Just as there are effective listening and communication skills, so too are effective writing skills. Knowing when and where to include certain words and phrases will guide you in making a magnificent opening paragraph.

• Begin with a fascinating fact

You might consider starting your essay with an interesting fact. This might come as statistical information, which would make readers interested enough to want to read further. If you are making a statement based on statistics, you could begin the sentence with “according to,” or you could directly state the statistics. 

Ensure that the statistical fact you choose is in-line with your topic to avoid confusing your readers.

• Begin with a question

Beginning by asking a question acts as an invitation to the reader. This allows the reader to ponder the question. In this way, you have effortlessly begun grounding their minds in the topic. 

When asking questions, it is advisable to ask only those to which the reader can directly relate. Doing this creates an engagement between you and your reader, where the reader is actively engaged in the reading process.

• Begin by creating a drama

A bit of drama is a great way to captivate your readers when starting an essay. Start by visualizing a scene, and effectively putting that visualization into writing, while simultaneously casting it into the minds of your readers. 

Dramatization is often used in creative essays or when you write for persuasion. Nevertheless, starting an essay with a dramatic scene that relates to the topic will certainly keep your readers hungry for more.

• Begin with a quote

One of the most powerful ways to begin an essay is to open the first paragraph with a quote. Look out for words of wisdom that directly relate to your essay topic.

The following tips might be helpful when choosing the perfect quote to begin your essay with: Avoid using frequently used quotes; quote someone saying something no one would expect; research the context of the quote to avoid misuse; appropriately introduce the quote; ensure that you use quotation marks for every quote; ensure that the quote is appropriately attributed; link the quote to your thesis; and finally, when using a long quote, use only a fragment, rather than the whole thing.

Conclusion

There are various ways to start an essay. However, writers often look for the most captivating ways. Some examples include starting an essay with a question, a story, an amusing fact, a joke, or even starting an essay with a quote. Irrespective of the starting style a writer picks, the ultimate goal is to deliver content that the reader enjoys.

A most common mistake, often made by applicants, is the shift in focus from simplicity to complexity. Instead of paying attention to simplifying your essay according to your reality or feelings, numerous candidates, in a bid to impress, make the mistake of choosing big words.

This article aims to provide you with scholarship essay tips and prompts to assist in your quest to gain the scholarship of your dreams. By implementing the above tips and prompts, you will become familiar with the right scholarship essay format, and also how to end a scholarship essay.

Scholarship essay writing prompts

Outlined below are the major scholarship essay prompts. They will act to assist you in drafting your essay.

1. How will getting this scholarship assist you?

Your response to this should be one of three things: professional assistance, academic assistance, or financial assistance.

If a scholarship will assist you financially, include this in your essay by stating the trials and difficulties you have encountered without adequate funding and how the scholarship will provide you with the capacity to purchase materials necessary for your development in school.

If it helps professionally, then state in your essay what your dream job has always been. You could as well highlight how important it is to you and your family that this dream is actualized.

If it assists you academically, explain that the capacity to pay your fees would allow you to focus completely on improving your performance at school and enable you to get the highest grading level possible.

2. In what ways have you positively impacted your community?

Your level of commitment to social service is a very serious deal when applying for scholarships. The organizations or NGOs who organize the scholarship program expect that you respect people and service. This should therefore be reflected in your writing.

Begin by mentioning the projects you have actively engaged in, together with the activities you volunteered for. Briefly expand on your experience while sharing your involvement process.

Furthermore, explain how the scholarship will enable you as a professional (mention your field of study) to contribute to society.

3. Talk about yourself

Due to the open-ended nature of this prompt, you might get stuck and confused about what to say. Try your very best to write accurate information about yourself, which gives just enough to pique the interest of the scholarship board members.

Write about things you find interesting, things that motivate you, your passions, ambitions, academic and personal goals, and the reason you chose to pursue that particular career. Describe your positive traits, soft skills, and “people skills.” Furthermore, include your accomplishments and failures so far, and what each of these high and low stages of your life taught you.

4. Talk about why you think you deserve the scholarship

There are probably a thousand candidates registering for the same scholarship, so why pick you? At this point, make a strong case stating why you believe that you deserve the scholarship. 

Provide a summary of your passions, goals, response to challenges, background, traits, and accomplishments, and end by linking them all up to why you believe you should be granted the scholarship.

Tips for writing essays for scholarships

• It should be double-spaced.
• Stay away from fancy font styles and large font sizes.
• Rather than using indents, leave a space before beginning a paragraph.
• Consider including an intriguing title to pique your reader’s interest.
• Before writing, carefully read the rules and requirements.

Conclusion

When thinking of how to start a scholarship essay, remember that simplicity and honesty are two key factors that will make you be distinguished and create a story that is uniquely yours. Rather than search for already existing essays you can rewrite, knowing the right scholarship essay prompts and using them as a guideline to write yours will assist you in successfully writing your scholarship essay.