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11 Cliché College Essay Topics + How to Fix Them

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What makes a good college essay? It’s a question many high school seniors ask while going through the application process. A winning college essay engages admissions officers and shares with them the student’s identity and personality, painting a picture that goes beyond grades and test scores—compelling the reader to become an advocate for the student’s admission.

The Four Core Questions are at the heart of college essays and answering them is critical. Those questions are:

Why am I here?
What is unique about me?
What matters to me?

By answering these questions, a student is able to share information that is otherwise hard to ascertain with admissions officials—things like personality traits, personal journey, interests, skills, and ambitions. A well-conceived and well-written essay is a way for students to separate themselves from other applicants; conversely, an ineffective essay does nothing to distinguish a student, which is why it’s so important to avoid writing a cliché college essay.

Cliché College Essay Topics to Avoid + How to Fix Them

1. résumé of your life and achievements.

Résumés are an effective method to demonstrate achievements, but they’re boring to read. This is why, in the professional world, résumés are often accompanied by a cover letter. A college application is essentially a student’s résumé—it contains their grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities—which makes an essay listing achievements redundant.

A better strategy is for students to pick one experience that stands above the rest and write about how it shaped the person they are today. This is especially effective for any experiences that would benefit from further explanation, or those that have an interesting backstory. For example, maybe you participate in a unique extracurricular that most people aren’t familiar with, such as being on a Chinese yoyo/diabolo team. You might choose to focus on that aspect of your identity and what it means to you. Or, maybe you love math, but never had the chance to explain on your application that you used to hate math, until a tutor showed you a different way to appreciate it (and that’s one of the reasons you want to become a math teacher). This would be another strong topic.

You don’t necessarily have to focus on one specific event, but your essay should be cohesive. Another traditional essay structure is telling a narrative over an extended period of time. This structure incorporates a handful of different experiences that are joined by a common thread. If you have a story of growth, change, or development, this is the classic essay structure for you. An example of this might be a football player who was embarrassed to admit he liked writing and poetry, but how he eventually became a published author, and came to accept and own his identity as a poet.

2. Sports injury, challenge, or success

Coaches on every level are known for telling their athletes about how the lessons learned on the field/court/ice translate to life. Unfortunately, these lessons and stories have been told in numerous movies and books, along with countless college essays

To successfully write a college essay about sports, it’s important to steer clear of the common themes.

Overcoming adversity
Trusting teammates
Refusing to quit
The thrill of victory
The agony of defeat

For example, instead of an applicant talking about how their team trained and improved to beat their rivals or win a championship, they should write about a unique way that sports shaped who they are. For example, here’s an unexpected way to write about a sports injury: maybe tearing your ACL in a soccer game actually led you to start a podcast while you were recovering, which became one of your biggest passions.

Along a similar line, a student could write about discovering their motivation for playing sports. Maybe they always played basketball because they were good, or their parents expected them to play, but they realized they didn’t enjoy the competitive nature of the sport and wanted to gravitate toward less competitive activities like hiking or surfing.

3. Immigrant story

The U.S. is a nation of immigrants and while not every student has an immigrant story, a lot of them do. Consequently, these immigrant themes are ones that every admissions officer has read before:

Learning a new language
Adapting to new customs
Adjusting to a new lifestyle
Struggling to fit in

Asian students, in particular, should avoid immigrant-themed essays, as they have a harder time getting into college due to demographics, and this topic only calls attention to their background.

To make an immigration essay work (and avoid being another cliché college essay), a student needs to make it extremely unique or incredibly personal. One tactic is to write about a singular experience—moments of conflict are always an interesting topic. For example, a student might write about a time they were made to feel unwelcome in the U.S. and how they responded to that moment, such as volunteering at the community cultural center or creating a welcoming committee for new immigrants.

Another essay opportunity is to write about an experience that is truly unique. Perhaps, when a student first came to the U.S., they didn’t have access to a vehicle or public transportation and needed to walk to school or their job. That student could use their college essay to focus on what they learned on their walks and the ambitions it sparked—such as tenacity to succeed against all odds, or a desire to found a program for immigrants in a similar position.

4. Tragedy – death, divorce, abuse

Tragedies are formative experiences, which in theory make them a natural theme for a college essay; however, tragedies are often a universal experience. Furthermore, essays on this topic are too often centered on the tragedy itself, rather than the applicant.

It is possible to write a college essay about a tragedy that isn’t cliche, however. The key is to keep it focused on the applicant and highly personal. To start, avoid overused themes like “life is short” and “make every day count.” Instead, highlight how the tragedy affected the writer. For example, if you had a friend who passed away from substance abuse, an essay centered around your subsequent commitment to drug prevention programs and advocacy is an interesting angle.

In the case of an applicant who had a parent pass away, writing about shifting family dynamics, new responsibilities, and increased challenges are all great themes. For example, a student went from worrying just about academics to becoming the other adult in the house—preparing meals for their siblings, sending them off to school, and helping them with their homework.

5. Working hard in a challenging class

Working hard in a challenging class doesn’t work as an essay topic for a handful of reasons. If you’re applying to a highly ranked institution, it’s likely that most of their applicants took tough classes and worked hard. They also likely faced challenging classes, struggled, and ultimately succeeded. Another reason to avoid this topic? The traits conveyed are likely covered by recommendation letters:

Perseverance
Work ethic
Intellectual ability

Instead of writing your essay about overcoming a tough class, think about the personality traits you want to highlight. If you feel that your determination is already covered in other aspects of your application, pick another trait to feature in your essay. Or maybe, you feel like your determination isn’t emphasized enough. Which other experiences highlight this trait?

Another idea is to make the essay less about the class and more about the writer. Instead of sharing how you struggled to understand Crime and Punishment in your advanced lit class, you might detail how the class inspired a desire to write, or how the works covered made you reflect on your own life.

You could also pick a problem or research question you want to solve, as per the fourth Common App essay prompt. Just remember that while the topic is an intellectual problem, your essay should still highlight your personality, identity, and way you think about the world. Pick something that is deeply personal to you and your background. For instance, maybe you want to create a proposal to solve food deserts in your county. This would allow you to share your personal experiences growing up in a food desert, your passion for increasing access to healthy food, and your analytical abilities.

6. Someone you admire (a person you know or historical figure)

The primary pitfall of writing about an admired person is that the essay is often focused more on the other person than the applicant. Even if students steer the essay toward themselves, they usually find themselves covering familiar themes:

Learning something about themselves
Learning something about life
Learning something about the world

The key to keeping writing about another person from becoming another cliché college essay is to keep the focus on the applicant. A great way to do this is to highlight a specific moment where they exemplified an attribute or action that they commend in a person that they admire. For example, if an essay writer admires their father’s ethos of standing up for what is right, an excellent essay theme is the time they stood up for another student who was being bullied, even though they knew they risked losing popularity, or finding themselves in the crosshairs of the bully as the result.

If the person they admire is historical, they can talk about how they are trying to live their life according to those ideals. For example, the aspiring writer can focus their essay on how they adopted Hemingway’s ritual of writing every morning as soon after first light as possible, and what they’ve learned from that process.

7. Volunteer trip

Building a winning essay about a volunteer trip is tricky—at best, these essays come off as cliché; at their worst, they can make an applicant seem pretentious, condescending, and privileged. Like other topics, the key is for the writer to focus on themself, not the group they volunteered for or the place they went.

One way to avoid the cliché volunteer essay is to write about a specific moment on your trip, rather than giving a chronological account of your time. Get really specific and bring the reader into the moment and share with them how it affected you. An attention-grabbing essay will show the reader how you changed, instead of telling them.

Another trick for turning volunteer essays from cliché to eye-catching is focusing on an unusual experience that happened during the volunteer trip. For example, a delayed flight while travelling home that left you stranded in a foreign city all alone and how it’s a parable for stepping on campus for the first time.

8. Moving to a different part of the country

Similar to the immigrant story, writing about moving to a new place is also an overly-done topic. Countless students move or switch schools each year. Many have trouble fitting in or adjusting to a new place, but eventually make new friends.

If moving was really integral to your high school experience and identity, think about why that is. Did it push you to try new interests or become more outgoing? Focus your essay less on the move itself and your adjustment, and more on how exactly it changed your life.

For instance, some more original ways of spinning this topic would be:

How moving led you to start an organization that picks up unwanted furniture for free, and resells or donates items in good condition. For items in bad condition, you find ways to repair and upcycle them. This was motivated by all the trash you saw your family produce during the move.
At your new school, you joined the gymnastics team because you were known as the uncoordinated, awkward girl at your old school, and you wanted to shed that image.
After moving, you decided to go by the proper pronunciation of your Spanish name, rather than the anglicized version. You could write your essay on why you made this decision, and how it impacted your experience in your new community.

9. Your religious institution or faith

Religion is generally a very tricky topic, and it’s difficult to cover it in an original way in your essay. Writing about your faith and reflecting on it critically can work, but basic religious essays about why your faith is important to you are a little more clich é .

It’s important to also remember your audience. If you’re applying to a religious school, essays about your faith will likely be expected. If you’re applying to a super liberal school, you might want to avoid writing your essay about your conservative religious views.

Regardless of your situation, if you decide to write an essay on religion, share your personal relationship with your faith. Anyone can write broadly about how much their faith means to them or how their life changed when they found religion, but only you can share your personal experiences, thoughts, and perspectives.

10. Romantic relationships and breakups

Your college essays should be personal, but romantic relationships and breakups are a little too personal. Remember that applying to college is kind of like applying to a job, and you want to present yourself in a professional light. This means that writing about your romantic life is a bad idea in general.

Unlike the other clich é topics, there are not really any directly-relevant alternatives. If you wanted to write your essay on your relationship, think about what traits that story would’ve brought out. For a breakup, was it your ability to overcome a setback? For a happy relationship, is it being emotionally intelligent or finding a compromise during conflict? Think about how you could still write an essay that conveys the same aspect of your identity, without mentioning this cliché topic.

11. Family pressure to pursue a particular major or field

Many students unfortunately experience family pressure to do certain activities or choose specific career paths. If this is the case for you, you shouldn’t focus your essay on this topic—it will only make it look like you lack independence from your parents. This is not a good sign to admissions committees, as they want a campus full of students who have the autonomy to make their own decisions.

That’s not to say that parental input isn’t valid—you may have very legitimate reasons to follow your parents’ advice to pursue a particular career, especially if your family is low-income and you need to provide for them. But there are absolutely better topics to share your identity and background, beyond parental pressure.

Some ways to make this topic more original are:

If you have strict parents, discussing how you became more independent from them, and an example of when you did something for your personal development that they might not have agreed with at the time.
For those whose background influenced their decision to choose a “practical” field, you might talk about your situation growing up and how that influences your perspective and choices. Of course, you should still try to show genuine interest in your plans, as you don’t want to make it seem like you’re being “forced” to do something.

Wondering if your personal essay topic is cliché? You can ask for the advice of peers and experts in our free Q&A forum . If you’re looking for feedback on your essay, you can also get your essay peer-reviewed for free . Just sign up for your free CollegeVine account to get started!

How to Start Your Novel or Memoir and 11 Clichéd Openers to Avoid

by Anne R. Allen

Clichés exist for a reason. A whole lot of people like them. That means they get over-exposed. Clichés represent a natural way of thinking. So don’t feel bad if your first draft has a clichéd opener. It’s part of the process.

Here’s the most important thing for a new writer to know about composing the opening scene for your novel or memoir:

WRITE THE FIRST CHAPTER LAST

That’s right. I know writers who have agonized for months — even years — over a first chapter, never going on to tell their stories. Don’t do this. Instead, write a place holder. You’ll get to fix it later.

By the time you’ve written the ending of your first draft, you’re going to have a fantastic, original take on your novel’s opener. You may decide to lop off the first (and / or second and third) chapters altogether. Or you’ll realize that the story should have started earlier rather than later than you originally thought.

That’s what happened to me with Ghostwriters in the Sky . I started the story too late, after Camilla had started her adventure. It took a good editor to point out that the story needed to start earlier. Readers needed to meet Camilla when she was in her native habitat in Manhattan. Then when she got the phone call inviting her to the wilds of California cowboy country, the story was off and running. No way could I have written that opener when I was writing the first draft.

So when you’re writing your first draft, jump right into your story and keep writing. Don’t worry about creating a great first chapter until after you’ve written “The End.”

How to Write the First Chapter of Your First Draft

This is how you start writing your novel or memoir: do whatever the heck you want.

That’s right. Go ahead and write down anything that comes into your head. Don’t even think about clichéd openers.

Describe the protagonist’s bedroom for pages and show her eating her morning cereal, bite by bite.
Flash back to her childhood, when her uncle Borysko fed her weird buckwheat porridge for breakfast.
Then flash back inside the flashback to explain why her uncle, brought up in an orphanage in Kiev, has such strange food habits
Describe the weather in Kiev and the horrors of living in the cold, dark, stone building, existing on cold cabbage soup and dumpster-diving for half-eaten pierogi.
Then you can go into a bit of historical background, telling how St. Hyacinth of Poland is the patron saint of pierogi, although pierogi were probably invented in Ukraine.

Write it all down. Every word that pops into your head. Sometimes you have to write volumes as you get spurts of imagination and get to know your characters. Those opening scenes can be tension-free and boring to everyone but you.

That’s because all those words are for you , not the reader. You’re probably going to delete 90% of that first chapter — and maybe the next three chapters — in revision, but it doesn’t matter. (But don’t throw those words away. Keep them in a folder for outtakes. You never know when you can plug that stuff about St. Hyacinth into another chapter or story.)

You may need to go through the experience of writing down all that description and backstory in order to get your juices flowing and truly understand your character.

But When You Revise — be Aware of the Following Clichéd Openers.

I’m not telling you that it’s wrong to use one of these openers. In fact, they have become clichéd openers because they feel so right.

Unfortunately, they’ve felt right for so many authors, readers are sick of them. If you use clichéd openers, you need to be really creative in the way you present them.

If you open with a funeral on a rainy day, maybe make it a funeral for Uncle Borysko’s pet iguana. And maybe it’s raining ash from the nearby volcano that hasn’t erupted since before the last ice age.

Here are some classic clichéd openers too many writers have done already:

1) weather reports.

Let us know the plot before we worry about whether to take a raincoat. In your opener, give a sketch of the setting in a sentence or two — and don’t make us go through page after page before we get to the story.

Later, once readers are hooked on the story and care about the characters, they’ll be more interested in the rainfall statistics of northern Ukraine.

2) Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

This is one I often used in my early writing — a character is en route to the scene of what will be the inciting event. This is a great opportunity to give your protagonist some serious musing time, which will provide the reader with a bunch of necessary backstory, right?

Uh, probably not. But I understand the temptation.

We want to show our protagonist doing some deep thinking as she drives to the remote goat farm her uncle left her. Or maybe she can have an info-dump conversation with the tall dark stranger sitting next to her on the plane. Or she can talk about her uncle with the mysterious Ukrainian woman she dines with on the train.

Unfortunately, readers are going to think we’re vamping. To them, we haven’t started the story yet. What you need to do is start the story later, when she has arrived at the goat farm, or earlier, when she hears about her uncle’s will. But cut the travel time to a minimum of musing/infodump opportunities.

3) Funerals

Because so many people’s lives are changed or uprooted by a death, it’s a great place to start, right? A huge number of novels — and even more memoirs — start with the protagonist in a state of bereavement. If you use this opening, make sure you’ve got a fresh take. Like the iguana funeral.

Or maybe your protagonist is a serial killer who likes to go to the funerals of his victims?

Or there’s a mysterious Ukrainian woman who invites a bunch of strangers she met on the train to her own funeral.

4) Dreams

This is where the reader is plunged into the middle of a rip-roaring scene, only to find out on page five that it’s only a dream.

I know why new authors write this opener. Writing gurus tell you to start out with conflict. So why not begin with the protagonist fighting a dragon and his witchy consort, a gigantic were-weasel named Popazilla? And just as our hero is going to be forced to dive into the boiling Lake of Doom, he wakes up and he’s late for baseball practice.

Here’s the problem: if — just when the reader is starting to get into the story — you say “never mind” and toss him into a mundane world, he’s going to be seriously annoyed. Like annoyed enough not to buy another one of your books.

5) Conditional Perfect Narration

“If only I’d known…” or “If I hadn’t been…”

Starting with the conditional perfect seems so clever — I used to love this one — but unfortunately a lot of other writers do too.

If you’re writing comedy, you may get away with this. It’s still a nice set up for a joke. But be aware it’s well-trodden territory.

6) Personal Introductions

Starting a novel with, “Hello. My name is….” has been so overused that a lot of readers won’t go any farther. Especially in YA fiction. Resist the temptation.

7) Group Activities

Don’t be tempted to start with a crowd scene. Those can work in film because the camera can immediately focus on your protagonist. But in a novel, too many characters in the opener will confuse the reader.

I did this once in what I intended to be a second book in a series. I started with a room full of the characters from the last book. Not one of my beta readers could figure out what was going on.

Give your readers a break and only give them 2 or 3 characters to learn about in the opening scene.

8) Musing

Beginning authors love them some internal monologue. I sure did. I remember the stony faces in the workshop where I read my novel opener that consisted of a whole chapter of a Baby Boomer musing about the state of her generation.

The workshoppers were not kind, but they taught me a must-needed lesson.

9) The Mirror Scene

This is when the protagonist looks at herself in the mirror, and describes her looks in loving detail. Beginning authors figure this is the best way to describe the protagonist without hopping into another character’s head.

But as somebody pointed out in a “ reader pet peeves ” survey, real people “look in the mirror and — usually — think ‘God, I look like crap.’” The readers also didn’t believe people muse about their “lush, wavy auburn hair, thick eyelashes and full lips” when they’re on their way to a crime scene.

And the truth is you don’t need as much physical description of the characters as you think. Just give us one or two strong characteristics that set them apart. Let the reader’s imagination fill in the blanks.

10) Action, Action, Action

Yes, they tell us to start with a bang. But if too much banging is going on before we get to know the characters, readers won’t care.

That big battle scene; the attack by a herd of flying elephants; the epic fight between Trekkie vs. Star Wars nerds in the lunch room — those can all be great scenes, but save them until the story gets on its feet and we know the main characters.

11) The Alarm Clock — Queen of Clichéd Openers.

This is when the novel opens as the protagonist wakes up in the morning and prepares for his/her day. Readers are over it.

Whether your characters are preparing to slay dragons, spy on Nazis, or face the mean girls in the school cafeteria, avoid starting with them waking up.

Or if you do, this is the scene you lop off in revision.

Nobody cares about tooth-brushing, or how the toilet looks when it flushes. Move along to where your character is wide awake and actually facing the challenge of the day.

Of course, if you use one of these openers in an especially clever and original way, you may delight your readers. But be aware these openers are overdone.

by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) August 15, 2021

What about you, scriveners? Do you write your opening chapter last? Have you ever written any of these clichéd openers? Are there any other clichéd openers that you’re tired of?

BOOK OF THE WEEK

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After her celebrity ex-husband’s ironic joke about her “kinky sex habits” is misquoted in a tabloid, New York etiquette columnist Camilla Randall’s life unravels in bad late night TV jokes.

Nearly broke and down to her last Hermes scarf, she accepts an invitation to a Z-list Writers’ Conference in the wine-and-cowboy town of Santa Ynez, California, where, unfortunately, a cross-dressing dominatrix named Marva plies her trade by impersonating Camilla. When a ghostwriter’s plot to blackmail celebrities with faked evidence leads to murder, Camilla must team up with Marva to stop the killer from striking again.

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About Anne R. Allen

Anne writes funny mysteries and how-to-books for writers. She also writes poetry and short stories on occasion. Oh, yes, and she blogs. She's a contributor to Writer's Digest and the Novel and Short Story Writer's Market.

Her bestselling Camilla Randall Mystery RomCom Series features perennially down-on-her-luck former socialite Camilla Randall—who is a magnet for murder, mayhem and Mr. Wrong, but always solves the mystery in her quirky, but oh-so-polite way.

Anne lives on the Central Coast of California, near San Luis Obispo, the town Oprah called "The Happiest City in America."

August 15, 2021 at 10:06 am

Excellent advice from Anne. As usual. Heed her words!

And once you’ve avoided cliches, ditched the dream, ixnay-ed the weather, don’t think you’re finished. Because you’re not. There’s One More Thing: that all-important first sentence of the first chapter. Here are a few thoughts (with stellar examples) to inspire you. http://annerallen.com/2018/04/how-to-write-a-great-first-sentence/

August 15, 2021 at 10:52 am

Ruth–Thanks!! I should have linked to that wonderful post of yours on first lines. It’s full of great advice!

August 15, 2021 at 10:22 am

Really chuckling here, Anne, this is all so well pointed. I hardly read anything set in the Alleged Real World, but I’m going to point my lovely wife at this column and I’m sure she will reminisce with a smile about your list.

I advise beginning authors with that great line by Somerset Maugham (and apparently others) “There are three rules to writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” I try to pull their thoughts over to the characters first and foremost, asking them not to assume that the reader will care and encouraging them to give us reasons to like them.

Beyond that, I would guess that any writing rule can be broken, any cliché flogged, any overdone phrase done again, as long as you can prove to the reader that you did it on purpose.

August 15, 2021 at 10:55 am

Will–That Maugham line is probably the single most important piece of writing advice ever written. 🙂 And yes, it’s true that you can do anything as long as it’s done on purpose. It also helps to call it “literary.”

August 15, 2021 at 10:25 am

My next book begins with a funeral, however brief, so hopefully I did it right and readers like it.

August 15, 2021 at 10:57 am

Alex–Actually, I originally wrote “a funeral for your uncle’s iguana–in space” but left off the last bit because of wordiness. But if your funeral is in space, like most of your stories, then it won’t be a cliché. 🙂

August 15, 2021 at 10:49 am

What? Pierogi actually originated in Ukraine? Ha! Great tips, Anne. We’d all do well to staple this post to the wall above our computers.

August 15, 2021 at 11:00 am

CS–Well, that’s what Uncle Borysko says. There is some dispute about the origins of those tasty pastries.

“Write the first chapter last” is something I wish I’d had stapled on my wall a few decades ago. I have at least a dozen first chapters I worked on so hard I couldn’t get the energy to go on with the book.

August 15, 2021 at 10:53 am

Excellent tips, Anne, and such an entertaining read! Sharing!

August 15, 2021 at 12:21 pm

Jodie–Thanks much for sharing. 🙂

August 15, 2021 at 10:58 am

I have opened with the weather because it’s part of the setting and was important in the story. If the characters are outside, weather is most definitely part of the characters’ interaction with the setting. It can’t not be. They see light, or dark; they feel rain spattering them; they hear the rain tapping in the oak leaves above their heads; they smell the ozone in the air of the coming thunderstorm; they taste the rain in the air. It gets a bad rep because beginners do mugshot-style weather and don’t anchor it to the characterization or the opinions of the characters.

It’s one thing to say, “It was sunny out and the day was heating up”–very generic and fake, versus, “The brightness made me squint. Barely eight a.m. and heat already rose up around my ankles from the asphalt. Maye I should have worn shorts, but I didn’t look like much to start with and I needed all the respect I could get.”

August 15, 2021 at 12:04 pm

Linda–If the weather is affecting the protagonist’s state of mind and actions, it’s useful. If all we get is a disembodied voice telling us it was a dark and stormy night, especially if the weather report goes on for pages, not so much. 🙂

August 15, 2021 at 11:22 am

Another funny and educational post by Anne. I would argue in genre fiction, like sci-fi, action opening are expected by readers. However, the best authors use the action to show character, keep it short, and explore the repercussions throughout the rest of the novel. Again, great post, Anne. I learn so much from you.

August 15, 2021 at 12:02 pm

Ingmar–That’s why I repeated “Action” three times. It’s an overabundance of action that readers object to. If they don’t know who it is who’s battling the Lizard People from Betelgeuse, then the reader isn’t going to be interested in the battle. Especially if they can’t tell if they should be rooting for the Lizard People or the Starfleet troopers. 🙂 A little action is great. A prolonged scene with no characterization is tedious no matter what the genre.

August 15, 2021 at 12:36 pm

I’ve actually opened one of my published books with the ever popular telephone conversation. However, it worked because it actually set the tone as well as the entire purpose of story.

Fortunately, this is the only time I’ve used a cliche opener for a published story.

I did try to write a bad opening paragraph for a story that a character had to proof for somebody, using the popular Snoopy beginning (you and everyone here knows what contest I’m talking about), but dang everyone in my writing group thought it worked out well.

August 15, 2021 at 2:57 pm

G. B. I knew I left something out. It was telephone calls!! Thanks. That should have been #12. I have run into three mystery novels with phone call dialogue openers recently. One worked, two didn’t. It’s partly because phone dialogue, even more than regular dialogue, is disembodied. We can’t see the person on the other end of the line, so we can only really “meet” one character. I’m glad you got yours to work.

I’ve tried the “Dark and Stormy Night” contest a few times, but I never wrote anything bad and silly enough to submit.

August 15, 2021 at 12:45 pm

Excellent as always, Anne. Love a cool new twist on an old tired cliche, but they can just as easily fall flat. Writer beware. Break this *rule* at your peril.

I always write my opener after completing the first draft. Even though I’m a planner, not a pantser, it’s much easier to fill those first few pages without the added pressure of perfection. Start late, end early. 🙂

August 15, 2021 at 3:01 pm

Sue It is sooo much easier to write that opener when you know how it ends, isn’t it?

You’re right that it’s dangerous to try to freshen a cliche when you’re a newbie. Maybe we need a sign that says “You have to be a writer for THIS long before you take this literary ride.”

August 15, 2021 at 1:03 pm

Another keeper, Anne! I am marking final manuscripts now, and -you guessed it – some still start with a dream even though I thought I hammered away at that one til it was one sorry nail for a coffin!! It’s just so tempting, I guess. Great post as usual!

August 15, 2021 at 3:03 pm

Melodie–I don’t know why dreams are so tempting, but they sure are. I’d say half the newbie manuscripts I edited started with a dream. The other half started with the dreaded alarm clock. 🙂

August 15, 2021 at 3:55 pm

When I was eight years old, all of my “novels” (heavily plagiarized from my favorite horse stories) began with the alarm clock. Since then, my work has improved considerably in style and originality. 🙂

August 15, 2021 at 1:16 pm

My family is from Kiev, so those openers would absolutely have me hooked! There’s few more effective ways of getting my attention than talk of pierogies. But I suppose I’m in the minority there.

I loathe writing first chapters. I can muck around in the middle just fine, and the ending usually flows from the pen as if it were always meant to be just so… but I just cannot properly start a story. I feel like adding a big author’s note at the beginning: “Reader, I know the beginning is crap, please just stick with me for 20 pages and I promise it’ll be worth it!” But at least with this post I’ll know some things to avoid in my eternal battle with Chapter 1!

August 15, 2021 at 3:07 pm

Irvin–So your name is Ukrainian? I wondered if any Ukrainians would read this and weigh in on the origins of the pierogi. Wherever they came from, they are seriously yummy. Maybe if you put a pierogi in your opening chapter, it will start “cooking”? I feel your pain. First chapters aren’t easy.

August 15, 2021 at 3:18 pm

Good Sunday afternoon, Anne & Ruth. A bit late to the party today. I’m on the fence about writing openings first or last. My usual MO is to open with the central story question. One of my based-on-true-crime books begins with dialogue where a female detective named Harry asks her male partner, “WTF happened to them?” Only the phrase is not abbreviated. Seems a bit over the top for an opener, but you had to know Harry and I try to be true to the characters.

A tip I was told about openers has nothing to do writing openers. It’s to have your cover made as soon as you start writing the manuscript. The psychology is that you sit there looking at the final product and it motivates you to move on. Also, you’ve already paid for the product so you better get it published. And that’s all I have to say about that. Enjoy your days!

August 15, 2021 at 5:05 pm

Garry–Very interesting about the cover art. I actually went searching for some images when I started my current WIP. Not that my publisher is going to design a cover before they see the ms. but I did want a picture in my head.

Harry sounds like a great character!

August 15, 2021 at 5:44 pm

Yeah, Anne, Harry’s quite the character. She was my detective partner for four years, and she was great to work with. A bit of a rough diamond, though. Harry’s a big gal with big hair and an even bigger personality. We nicknamed her “Harry” after the bigfoot/sasquatch in the movie “Harry and the Hendersons”. Harry’s retired from the force, like me, and is now a local city councillor where she trainwrecks public policy.

August 15, 2021 at 3:33 pm

I often use you advice to write whatever part of the story has gripped me the hardest. This gets my manuscript off to a flying start. Later, like assembling a jigsaw puzzle, I figure out where that scene fits.

August 15, 2021 at 5:06 pm

Leanne–I know some excellent writers who compose in that jigsaw style. It works for them too. 🙂

August 17, 2021 at 1:30 pm

I do this too! And usually it’s the opener. I love writing openers, even though they’re usually awful in 1st draft.

August 15, 2021 at 3:50 pm

In my second novel, what had begun as the first chapter ended up relocated as Chapter 8 or 9. As the story progressed during writing, the muse made it evident that the story needed to start in a different place. The story was a very long time in the writing, so it had time to percolate.

August 15, 2021 at 5:07 pm

Brass Castle–That’s what often happens to me. Stuff in chapter one usually migrates somewhere else. That’s why I tell people to keep and “outtakes” folder.

August 15, 2021 at 3:54 pm

Yeah!! I found you….again!!! Somehow I was missing your blog posts and always enjoyed the read and information….and today was no exception…

Yes, sharing! Yum, pierogies…married Polish, but Ukraine in the background! Waffling if my first chapter is my first chapter…and so on…so glad to be on the follow list again.

August 15, 2021 at 5:10 pm

Judy–Welcome back! Sorry that MailChimp lost you. Unfortunately, a lot of people stopped getting notices when I was in the hospital last summer. Most subscribers were restored by our intrepid webmaster, Barb Drozdowich, but some of you fell through the cracks. If you don’t get a notice next Sunday, try re-subscribing.

As I say, first chapters have a way of migrating. I’m sure it will find a home. 🙂

August 16, 2021 at 2:59 am

This post had me chuckling… and cringing. I started my second novel with the weather AND a group scene! Many drafts later and the published version was completely different. Since then, I start each first draft with the words, written in capital letters at the top of the page, ‘Ditch the Rules, Write Freely’ ???? I find it fascinating how different the (supposedly ????) finished novel is when compared to the first few drafts.

August 16, 2021 at 1:59 pm

Joy–I love your motto! Every writer should have that on the wall. So true that books morph and turn themselves around many times before they’re actually ready for the marketplace.

August 16, 2021 at 8:20 am

Ah, but you missed the one that I personally hate most of all: the bored hero. A character who has epic knife skills or is otherwise interesting, but who is going, “I’m the best and life holds no more challenge. I am so bored of everything that the reader might actually find cool about this story.”

Nothing will make me throw a book across a room faster than a bored character.

August 16, 2021 at 2:04 pm

Kessie–I didn’t know that one was so common. I feel the same way about bored heroes. In fact, the last book I abandoned and deleted from the Kindle had that opener. Mystery trying to be noir described this tedious, self-involved man for pages. Then he went to a bar and met another tedious, bored narcissist. No hint of a plot in three chapters. Delete time. I thought it was just me. I guess I mostly read books with women protagonists. They can be boring, but usually not bored. 🙂

August 16, 2021 at 1:07 pm

Hi Anne, I actually started my contemporary YA with the DREADED wake-up cliche’ … I had NO IDEA it was the worst. I have revised this opening countless times over the past ten years. I change it… query it to agents, get a few bites for full requests, and then, they pass. Sigh. Not one has ever told me why and I am talking at least fifteen agents. I obviously have something, but could it be the opening is what turns them off? Wouldn’t that happen more at the query’s begging? I am interested what you have to say. Thank you so much for posting this…food for thought.

August 16, 2021 at 2:09 pm

Michael–I didn’t say the Alarm Clock is the worst opener. Just the most common. It sounds as if you write a good query. So yeah. Maybe you might think of changing that opener. Try lopping it off and see what happens. You could also start the night before.

August 16, 2021 at 4:24 pm

Thanks for the suggestion, Anne. I appreciate it!

August 17, 2021 at 1:32 pm

One of these days, i really want to write a story that opens with an alarm going off and the MC waking up–next to a corpse. But I bet that’s been done to death (see what I did there?) too.

August 17, 2021 at 2:45 pm

Janet–I just read a mystery that opened with that scene. Definitely not a sleepy opener, but yeah, it’s been done.

August 21, 2021 at 5:59 am

Oooh, great great post! I’m very happy to figure that I don’t do most of these 11 things, BUT, admittedly, I believe I am prone to musing. Well, I know about it so I’ll keep an eye on it (or two, lol)… Thanks so much for the reminder.

Also, I’m so glad you don’t say that opening inside a confessional booth has been overdone, phew! 🙂

August 28, 2021 at 5:06 am

So, you are saying, “It was a dark and stormy night” is not a grabber? ???? Or, as in the movie, Throw Momma from the Train, the variation, “The night was moist.”

August 29, 2021 at 1:41 pm

Leon–Throw Mama from the Train is one of the great film classics! It should be quoted at all available opportunities. 🙂

September 4, 2021 at 1:25 pm

Ya, the mirror scene. I have read that one many times and, done well, I admire it. Not done well and I often gloss over it. Love that you have expanded out a list of commonly used novel openers and cliches to help promote deeper search for diversity!

September 4, 2021 at 1:33 pm

Jaya–I think there may be fads for clichés. A while ago I started binge-reading Regencies and every single one seemed to start with the mirror scene. But I don’t see it as often now. But opening in a crowd scene seems to be very trendy That’s the one where you have no idea where you are or what is going on or who to root for because there are too many characters. And of course we can hope that one of our innovative openings will become a cliché one day. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. 🙂

Clichés in College Essay Examples: How To Recognize Them?

EssayEdge > Blog > Clichés in College Essay Examples: How To Recognize Them?

If you spend some time reviewing college essay examples on the Internet, you will likely notice that many of them share some similarities. That does not mean that those are things you should also do yourself when you’re writing an essay. Instead, those are often things that are overdone in college essays. As a result, you should be careful to notice repetition as you look at college essays examples.

While reviewing samples can be a great way to learn about college essays, it can also end up causing you to incorporate overdone things into your own essays. Whenever you need to write something for a college application, you want to ensure that you’re being unique. You still want to tell your own personal stories in your own way even if you’ve reviewed samples beforehand. Learning how to look at college essay examples will help you with this, especially if you know how to identify clichés.

Recognizing What’s Overdone in College Essays Examples

1. Starting your essay with a quote

This is an extremely popular way to start a college essay, but it’s almost never a good idea. Unless the prompt specifically asks you to provide a quote for some reason, you should avoid this tactic. The admissions committee wants to hear from you, not Mother Teresa, Gandhi, General Patton, or some other oft-quoted celebrity.

2. Talking about a relative or friend dealing with a health problem

These types of stories find their way into admissions essays quite often, so you regularly see them in college essay examples. Even if something like this has happened to you in your life, you should avoid talking about it in an essay. Doing so will make you blend in with other applicants, past and present, who discuss similar events.

Need help? Check out EssayEdge editing services:

3. Sports stories that involve a difficult loss or improbable victory

Even if you’re a passionate and/or skilled athlete, sports stories are all over in college essays examples. That means that they’re also all over in essays that are actually submitted to schools. Rather than talking about the clichéd difficult loss or improbably victory, find a way to discuss your sport differently. Possibilities include describing a particularly rewarding practice session or a time when you learned something important about an opponent.

4. Narratives about “finding yourself” or “learning something” through international travel

Again, stories like these are very common in college essays. No matter how amazing your trip was, recognize that many other applicants have been through similar travels; that means they’re frequent topics in college essays. If you’re going to talk about travel, find a way to make your story unique. Make sure you share vivid details and draw a personal conclusion from the story.

We regularly get students’ essays to do proofreading and can note that many people overdo elements when writing. Their biggest fear is forgetting to include a piece of important information. If you think it’s not about you, ask us to help you with editing a college essay . You’ll be surprised, but our editors will find many cliches there.

You may also like: How to Use Sample College Application Essays

The 3 Most Common College Essay Topic Clichés and How to Cure Them

1. The “Person I Admire” Essay

Is your dad the most important person in your life? Have you recently been coping with the death of a loved one? Do you plan on following in the footsteps of your high school mentor? Believe it or not, more than one person reading this article answered “yes” to at least one of those questions. Although we all have different relationships with the people we admire, essays on this subject often veer off the narrative cliff into an ocean of similar sob stories. These stories also run the risk of focusing too much on the influential figure or family member and not enough on the student writing the essay.

Remember, this is YOUR college application – not your grandpa’s, not Abraham Lincoln’s. Admissions wants to know about YOU, and what makes you a uniquely good fit for their school. If a person has had a significant impact on your life – sad or happy, negative or positive – focus on one important moment in that relationship. If you want to be just like your dad, when did you realize this? If your mother was sick, how did you help her manage her illness, and what did you learn about your own abilities to face life’s greatest challenges? Is there an unexpected way you can find joy or hope in a moment of sadness? Telling a simple story that is specific to your own life and experience will make all the difference here.

2. The Sports Essay

The crowd goes wild as you score the winning touchdown and are carried off the backs of your teammates….in a cast! Because you did the whole thing with a broken leg! Victories, injuries, and teamwork are the most common themes sloshing around the bucket of vague sports essays. This topic presents an opportunity for students to describe how they surmount different kinds of obstacles – an opportunity almost everyone takes. Surprisingly, the challenges of playing soccer in Ohio are quite similar to those of playing baseball in Montana. And serious athletes with sports-heavy resumes who also write about sports run the risk of boring admissions to tears with their one-note applications.

The sports essay is actually a huge arena in which a student can showcase his or her creativity. It’s time to abandon the simple narratives of bones broken and medals won. Put your unique perspective on display by describing how the skills you gained from athletics transfer to other areas of your life (or vice versa). Turn your favorite sport into a metaphor to describe another aspect of who you are. Or, if you still can’t resist telling one of the more common kinds of sports stories, dig into the details of that story. Try to isolate a small moment within the larger story that was significant or surprising. A victory isn’t just about winning or teamwork – maybe it’s also about the way your friend made you laugh on the bus before you even set foot on the field.

3. The Volunteering Essay

“…but it turns out that, when I thought I was helping them, all along they were really helping me.” Stop! Pull at our heartstrings no longer! If you, too, have been changed by your community service, you are not alone. That is an amazing side effect of doing good deeds that affect others. Millions of students across the country and around the globe donate their time to worthy causes (something that makes us very happy), but the mere act of volunteering is no longer enough to distinguish you from your competitors. Common pitfalls of the volunteering essay include saccharine storytelling, repeating your resume, and parroting the Wikipedia page of your organization of choice.

Ideally, you should donate your time to a cause that is truly significant to you. Thousands of people do the Breast Cancer walk every year. They all follow the same route and see the same sights, but what about the story that led up to you taking that first step? Ideally, the service itself should be the reward – not the “lessons learned” from the people who benefit from your service. Or, if you truly experienced personal growth through volunteering, try to isolate a particular moment or relationship that can illustrate the change you observed in yourself. Showing, not telling, is the key to writing a unique and engaging volunteering essay.

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Category: College Admissions , Essay Tips

Tags: cliches , college application , college applications , college essay topic , common app , editing , writing

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Is summarizing books a good way to retain knowledge redditors weigh in, how to write powerful openings for college essays.

This video provides guidance on writing a personal statement, focusing on how to effectively open the essay. It starts by identifying four common mistakes to avoid: overly grand ambiguous statements, meta-writing (writing about writing the essay), starting with a popular quote, and giving away the essay’s conclusion at the beginning. Then, it presents nine specific techniques for crafting an engaging opening, including the “Full Hemingway” (image-based description), “Mini Hemingway” (brief image with context), “Twist Opening” (subverting expectations), “Philosophical Question,” “Confession Opening” (sharing a personal fact), “Trailer Opening” (preview of what’s to come), “Fascinating Concept Opening” (introducing an intriguing idea), “Random Personal Fun Fact,” and “Shocking Image Opening.” The video emphasizes that while the opening is important, the entire essay should showcase the skills, qualities, values, and interests the writer brings to a college campus.

This article is a summary of a YouTube video “How to Hook Your Reader & Write Better College Essay Openings” by College Essay Guy

Key insights

Avoid Common Mistakes in Openings: The speaker identifies four common mistakes to avoid in the opening lines of a personal statement: using overly grandiose statements, writing about the process of writing the essay, starting with a cliché quote, and revealing the essay’s conclusion upfront.
Engaging Opening Techniques: Nine different techniques are suggested for starting a personal statement, each aiming to engage the reader immediately. These include creating vivid imagery, presenting a twist, posing a philosophical question, making a personal confession, providing a sneak peek (trailer opening), introducing a fascinating concept, sharing a random personal fun fact, and using a shocking image to grab attention.
Balancing Detail and Context: The speaker emphasizes the importance of balancing specific details or imagery with context to give readers a sense of direction. For instance, the “Mini Hemingway” approach involves starting with a specific image and quickly providing context to guide the reader.
Creating Curiosity and Engagement: The different opening techniques are designed to pique the reader’s curiosity and maintain their engagement. By raising questions or presenting intriguing scenarios, the essay encourages readers to continue exploring the writer’s story and perspectives.
The Importance of the Essay’s Body: While a compelling opening is important, the speaker stresses that the key to an effective personal statement lies in its body. The middle of the essay should showcase the writer’s skills, qualities, values, and interests, painting a comprehensive picture of what they will bring to the college campus.
Personal Connection and Vulnerability: Techniques like the “confession opening” and “random personal fun fact” suggest the importance of personal connection and vulnerability in a personal statement. Revealing personal, sometimes quirky aspects of oneself can make the essay more relatable and memorable.

Timestamped Summary

0:00 – 0:20 – Introduction: The importance of a compelling opening in personal statements and an overview of what the video will cover, including common mistakes, specific opening techniques, and the presenter’s favorite personal statement opening.
0:25 – 1:59 – Discussion of four common essay opening mistakes: overly grand ambiguous statements, meta-writing (writing about writing the essay), starting with a popular quote, and revealing the essay’s conclusion at the beginning.
2:01 – 3:53 – The first two of nine techniques for starting a personal statement: the “Full Hemingway” (image-based description) and the “Mini Hemingway” (a brief image with context).
3:57 – 5:20 – Additional techniques: the “Twist Opening” (subverting expectations), the “Philosophical Question” (posing a thought-provoking question), and the “Confession Opening” (sharing a personal fact).
5:42 – 7:26 – More opening strategies: the “Trailer Opening” (providing a preview of the essay), the “Fascinating Concept Opening” (introducing an intriguing idea), the “Random Personal Fun Fact,” and the “Shocking Image Opening.”
7:40 – 10:01 – Emphasis on raising questions and maintaining interest throughout the essay, and the importance of the essay’s body in showcasing the writer’s skills, qualities, values, and interests.
10:32 – 11:59 – Presentation of the speaker’s favorite personal statement opening and concluding thoughts on the key to writing an effective personal statement, stressing that the body of the essay is as important as the opening.

What are common mistakes to avoid in the opening of a personal statement?

The video identifies four mistakes: starting with overly grand statements, writing about the process of writing the essay (meta-writing), beginning with a cliché quote, and revealing the essay’s conclusion at the start.

What are some effective techniques for opening a personal statement?

The presenter suggests several techniques, including the “Full Hemingway” (image-based description), the “Mini Hemingway” (brief image with context), the “Twist Opening,” the “Philosophical Question,” and the “Confession Opening.”

How can I make my personal statement opening engaging?

To engage readers, start with vivid imagery, a surprising twist, a thought-provoking question, or a personal anecdote that piques curiosity and sets the tone for your story.

What is the importance of the essay’s body compared to its opening?

While a strong opening is crucial, the body of the essay is equally important. It should showcase your skills, qualities, values, and interests, painting a comprehensive picture of you as a candidate.

Can you provide an example of an effective personal statement opening?

The video shares several examples, including the presenter’s favorite: a statement that begins with a surprising confession and then unfolds into a narrative, effectively capturing the reader’s attention.

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How to start a college essay

Bonus Material: PrepMaven’s 30 College Essays that worked

If you’re applying to college, then you likely already know that the college admissions essay goes a long way to distinguishing your profile from the thousands of other applications in the college admissions process.

If you want to wow those picky admission officers at selective colleges, you want an effective college application essay–and if you want an effective college application essay, you need a strong start that hooks readers.

At PrepMaven, we’ve spent years coaching students on how to craft college essays that work, and we’ve seen countless students get admitted to Princeton, Harvard, and other elite universities after using our methods.

We’ve already written up some of our best advice on brainstorming and structuring your college essay. In this post, we’ll specifically cover one of the hardest parts: how to actually begin your college application essay.

We’ve also provided a link to our collection of 30 real college application essays that worked–take a look at these for real-life examples of the techniques covered in this post!

Download 30 essays that worked

Jump to section: Tips for getting past the blank page Techniques for effective openings The action scene The disorienting scene The surprising declaration The (unusual) quote The weird fact Final considerations Next steps

Tips for getting past the blank page

If you’re intimidated by the act of starting the college essay, you aren’t alone. The blank page is as terrifying and intimidating to professional writers as it is for you.

Take it from Margaret Atwood, an astonishingly prolific writer who still said, “The fact is that blank pages inspire me with terror.” In this section, we’ll offer three ways to get started writing and get past that blank page.

Later in this post, we’ll highlight several specific ways you can begin your essay, with examples and analysis. “Techniques for effective openings” to jump to those techniques.

It’s a tough thing to put a story on the page. It’s even more so when the story is personal and the stakes are high, as is the case with these college application essays. So, before we cover specific writing techniques you can use to begin your college essay, we’d like to suggest a few ways to get over that initial hump of writing the first word.

Note that all of these assume you’ve got a topic in mind–if you don’t, check out our post here on how to brainstorm an effective college essay topic. If you’re still having trouble picking a topic, that’s something that can easily be worked through by connecting with one of our college essay experts.

Before beginning your actual essay, take a stab at a few short free-writes that nobody will ever see.

After selecting your topic, try writing anywhere from 100-250 words on two or more of the following prompts:

Write a first-person description of the most important moment related to your chosen topic.
Why did you choose this topic? Why is it important?
Narrate how your worldview has changed as a result of the events you plan to write about.
Write exactly what point you want college admissions officers to take away from your essay and choice of topic.
Conversely, describe what you don’t want admissions officers to take away from this essay.

Remember: these are free-writes, not part of your essay! More likely than not, what you write here won’t find its way directly into the finished product. But, even if it might sound corny, this will help you start thinking more deeply about what you want to convey.

More importantly, it’ll help you get over the initial hurdle of writing something . If nobody is ever going to read one of these free-writes, you don’t have to worry about making it pretty or neat. Just get some content on the page and let it shape your thinking.

Start in the middle

Often, it’s the introduction that’s hardest to come up with. But there’s no rule that says you have to write that part first! If you have a decent sense of where you want your essay to go, simply start writing from the middle of the essay.

As you continue to write, you’ll always have the ability to go back to the start and craft a powerful opening paragraph or scene that sets up your entire essay. What’s most important at this stage is to simply start writing . If that means starting in the middle, so be it: you get to decide where you start and where you end.

Early on, don’t try to make it perfect… or even good!

We know: the stakes are high, the sweat might be starting to bead on your forehead. But while this pressure can be a good thing, it shouldn’t affect your first draft. Remember that no admissions officer will ever read your first draft.

Does the first sentence you come up with sound awkward or silly? Perfectly fine. Does your introductory anecdote seem cliche? Sounds great. Do you think the first couple sentences don’t connect to each other at all? Absolutely no problem.

When you begin writing, you are not trying to jump to a finished product as quickly as possible. The truth is that whatever you write now will get edited or revised countless times before you arrive at the final, polished version of your college application essay.

When we work with students, it’s not uncommon to see an essay go through 10 or more drafts. At first, those changes might be massive–an essay might transform almost totally between drafts 1 and 2. As the work continues, all those clunky or awkward moments you didn’t like in your first draft will get tweaked and polished into something beautiful that you can be proud of.

We’ve seen it happen with every successful college personal statement. Every time, students find it so much easier to work on the second draft than the first, regardless of how successful that first draft was. The mere fact of having something to edit makes all the difference.

We can take some more advice from Margaret Atwood: “If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.”

Don’t wait for perfection: write.

Techniques for effective college essay openings (with examples!)

While the above suggestions can help you get started writing, we also want to provide 5 specific techniques you can use to begin your essay.

Of course, there are way more than 5 ways to start an essay. In this post, however, we wanted to highlight the 5 techniques that can easily and successfully be incorporated into just about any essay. You can think of these 5 as integral components of your basic toolkit.

Depending on the topic of your essay and what structure you plan to use, some of these will work better than others.

If you ever want someone with a proven track record of experience to show you how it’s done, you can always get matched with one of our essay tutors . Or, if you just want to take a look at openings like these in action, check out our free collection of 30 real sample essays below.

I walked down the pale pink stone pathway, up a ramp, past the library building, and towards the Student Activities Center of the college campus, carrying a large brown cardboard box.

From: 30 College Essay Samples

If you’ve read any real sample college essays, you’ve seen this kind of opening. And with good reason: it’s tried, it’s true, it hooks admission officers while also setting up the story you’re about to tell.

The idea is extremely simple. Identify a particular moment that can serve to introduce the topic of your essay. Then, begin by writing 1-2 sentences describing a specific action that you were taking, as in the example above.

What’s so good about this kind of opening? Well, it immediately puts the spotlight on you and drops us in the middle of some event or incident that we want to learn more about. Where is this person going? What’s in the cardboard box? Why have they chosen to write about this particular moment at this particular place?

If you’re really not sure how to start, this is often one of the easiest paths to take. Describe in detail where you were and what you did, and you’ll have the makings of a strong piece of writing.

The disorienting scene

The squeaks of whiteboard markers have now replaced the scritch-scratch of chalk, but the hubbub of voices is always the same. For millennia, the great thinkers of their day would gather and discuss.

From: 30 College Essay Examples

This is similar to the first technique, with two differences. The first is that it doesn’t necessarily recount any action that you are taking (it doesn’t even need to talk about you); the second is that it explicitly aims to be a bit disorienting.

In this case, it’s not totally clear what’s going on: where are we, what’s going on, and what does all this have to do with great thinkers? As is always the case, the primary goal is to hook admissions committees so that they keep reading. This kind of disorienting scene works by making us want to figure out what’s going on.

A couple key things to bear in mind for this opening:

Sensory details are key! Without the sensory details in this example, it simply wouldn’t work.
Don’t keep it disorienting for too long. Any longer than a few sentences of disorientation and you risk annoying readers.
Don’t make it so disorienting that we can’t get any sense of what’s happening. It’s a tricky thing to balance, but you want us confused enough to keep reading and not so confused that we think it’s just bad writing.

The surprising declaration

I am an aspiring hot sauce sommelier.

We’ve used this opener as an example in some of our other posts, but it really is a great one: it’s weird, it’s unusual, it’s unique. And that’s exactly what you want with this kind of opening. Simply start with a surprising or bold statement about who you are or what you believe.

Shorter is usually better with these: surprise us, and let us stay surprised for a second! If you’re writing an essay about how you view the world or some element of your identity that’s important to you, you can almost always start off the essay with a statement like “I am…” or “I believe…”

It’s stunningly simple, and, done well, it can be stunningly effective, providing something like a thesis statement that you’ll explore over the course of your essay. But simplicity can be dangerous:

The statement must be surprising . If it’s something obvious, boring, or cliche, then you risk jeopardizing your entire essay from the start.
The statement cannot be offensive . We know: that’s a loaded, subjective term. But you don’t want to try so hard to be surprising and edgy that you offend adcoms.
Finally, you have to be able to meaningfully explore the statement. This opening is just that: an opening. You have to make sure the rest of your essay successfully conveys some key personal experience that matters.

For more successful essays that open with the surprising declaration, check our our collection of 30 real essays that worked below.

Download 30 Essays That Worked

The (unusual) quote

Example 1: “What’s this white-ass boy doin’ in a black neighborhood?”

Example 2: “So long as you have food in your mouth, you have solved all questions for the time being.” – Franz Kafka. Kafka, I’m afraid, has drastically overestimated the power of food.

If you’ve read other guides, then you’ve probably noticed almost all of them tell you not to start by quoting someone. And, for the most part, they’re right. You do not want to start by quoting one of the tired, cliche quotes that everyone comes across and uses.

It’s not, obviously, that the most famous quotes from Martin Luther King Jr, Gandhi, or JFK aren’t important–it’s that they’re so important everyone has heard them a million times.

But the point to take away isn’t that a quote is always bad. A cliche quote, a boring quote, a quote that you don’t do anything interesting with– that’s bad. An unusual, unexpected, and totally original quote? That can work.

Take a look at our two examples above. They’re radically different, but what they share is that they’re not just some famous quotes a student saw in a textbook.

The first is provocative, even vulgar–but you absolutely know there’s a brilliant story about to follow.

The second, while it could be boring or cliche, isn’t. Why? Because the writer immediately inserts their own voice and criticism: they’re not just using the quote to prove some big point, they’re humorously arguing against the quote itself.

It helps, too, that the quote is from someone well known enough (read Kafka if you haven’t already) but not quite as famous as the usual folks people cite.

The lesson to take away from this is two-pronged:

Never start a college essay with an overly famous, cliche, or boring quote–especially if you don’t have anything new to say about it.
You can start an essay with a quote that’s personal, provocative, or otherwise unusual.

It’s a tough needle to thread, but done well, this can make for a killer introduction to your personal narrative.

Not sure whether the quote you’ve got in mind is cliche or not? The best way to find out is by asking someone who’s actually read countless essays– like one of our essay counselors , who’ve helped countless students navigate the college admissions process successfully.

The weird fact

Over 13 billion pennies are made each year, and for the most part, they are indistinguishable from one another. Each copper-brown coin has the same feel, the same size, and even the same old Abraham Lincoln on one side.

This one, more or less, is self-explanatory: toss an unexpected fact or stat at the reader, and you’ll get them intrigued as to what the connection is between it and your personal experience.

Often (as in the case of the example above), it’s a great way to introduce an unusual hobby or interest. If, say, you’re writing your college essays about your love for numismatics (coin-collecting), an unexpected fact about pennies can serve as the perfect opener.

But, as has been the dominant theme up to now, it’s crucial that your opening fact is at least somewhat unusual or interesting. It’s also super important that you immediately follow up to explain its relevance.

A few pointers:

If you open with a fact, connect it to your larger themes ASAP . Compared to the other opening techniques we covered, this one buys you the least time: an admissions committee can very quickly get bored of facts and stats, so give them something else quickly.
As always, what matters is what you do with this opening. Anyone can start with a wacky statistic–the question is how you can connect it seamlessly to your narrative in a way that convinces these hyper-selective universities that you’re a perfect fit.

Final suggestions

While each of those opening techniques has been proven to work countless times by our students, which one you choose might depend a bit on your choice of topic.

It might help to think about why each of these openings works: at heart, they all help you do what a good hook must:

Capture the reader’s attention by being distinct from other essays
Engage the reader’s curiosity by withholding a certain amount of information
Set the tone and stakes for what the rest of your essay will talk about.

At the same time, a hook has to avoid :

Coming off as inauthentic or like you’re trying too hard to be clever
insulting/offending/otherwise alienating the reader
Being confusing or unrelated to the essay prompt

Because each essay is unique, the best opening can vary–we recommend talking this over with one of our college essay experts , who have a proven track record of success helping students gain admission to Ivy League schools and other elite institutions.

Also bear in mind that these essay openers don’t just work for starting your Common App essay or personal statement; they’re just as valuable for all of your supplemental essays.

Ultimately, these are techniques you can use to ensure that your opening gives admissions committees what they want. They won’t guarantee a perfect essay–but they will help you develop a strong opening that sets you up for a powerful, convincing piece of writing.

As the beginning of this post suggested, the most important thing to do is: write! Use our techniques for getting past the blank page to get yourself warmed up.

Then, play around with our specific, proven openers to try different beginnings to your college essay.

If you ever need inspiration, then there’s no better place to look than our collection of 30 real essays that worked to get students into college, linked below.

And if you find you want someone to make sure your essay is as competitive as it needs to be, then you can always reach out to our team of expert college essay coaches here .

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What this handout is about

This handout discusses clichés and why you should generally avoid them in order to achieve specificity in both your academic writing and your application essays.

Introduction: What’s so bad about clichés?

Let’s say you are on a study abroad applications review committee. You are responsible for making sure a limited amount of money goes to the most qualified applicants…and you have to read through hundreds of application essays! Here are two personal statements:

I’m a people person, so I am certain to get along well with new people in a strange country. I know how to adapt, because I’m a jack-of-all-trades. I am also prepared to deal with adversity and learn from challenges because I know that every cloud has a silver lining.

I will be able to immerse myself in another country because I have experience as an ESL tutor interacting with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Growing up in a military family taught me how to quickly adapt to new people and environments. I won’t let the inevitable challenges of living abroad deter me from my educational goals. As my numerous failed experiments for my chemistry senior project show, challenges are profitable in the long-run. I finally made a contribution to my field after 200 experiments!

Who gets the money? Both applicants made the same basic argument about themselves. But the second did it with more specificity—in other words, by using detailed evidence to reinforce their more general claims about themselves. The first applicant relied on clichés—“I’m a people person,” “jack-of-all-trades,” “every cloud as a silver lining”—that anybody could have used. We didn’t learn anything specific about this person. The second applicant gets the money.

This example shows the problem with clichés—they are general statements that do not add any detailed evidence or unique support to a piece of writing, whether that writing is a personal statement or an academic essay.

What is a cliché?

Clichés are expressions that either have a general meaning or have “lost their meaning” over time. These overused phrases do not provide a specific meaning or image. You are probably familiar with many of them, although you might find it difficult to pinpoint their exact definition. Some are idioms, where the figurative meaning of a group of words is different from the literal definition. For example, “The devil is in the details” should hopefully not be taken literally! Other clichés may once have possessed a precise meaning that made them creative metaphors, but they have now lost their edge because that specific definition has been forgotten or dulled through overuse. “Survival of the fittest” once evoked Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution through natural selection. Because readers have largely lost this unique context, the phrase has also lost the specificity which may have once made it a potent metaphor. Clichés can also obscure fully-developed ideas by serving as placeholders for a more sophisticated discussion. Clichés lack specificity and complexity; therefore, they do not make distinctive or memorable contributions to your writing.

What are some examples of clichés?

We’ve divided some common clichés into categories based on the genre in which you might encounter them. Follow the links at the end of this handout for much more comprehensive lists of clichés.

Academic Writing – especially in formulaic introductions or conclusions (see our handouts on introductions and conclusions to make sure that you don’t start or end your papers with clichés):

In modern society
Throughout history (Be warned: History TAs hate this one!)
In this day and age
In the current climate
From the dawn of man (Historians are also not fond of this one!)

Application Essays – where talking about yourself can lead to getting mushy and using clichés (check out our handout on application essays to make your personal statements specific and effective):

Good things come to those who wait
Every cloud has a silver lining
Little did I know
I learned more from them than they did from me
Every rose has its thorn
The time of my life

Any type of writing:

In the nick of time
Opposites attract
You win some, you lose some
Easy come, easy go

Why shouldn’t you use clichés?

Clichés are usually not acceptable in academic writing, although some may be effective in daily conversation and less formal writing. Evaluate the context of your writing and be aware that you’re making a choice when you use them.

Clichés make you seem boring. By using a cliché, you’re telling your reader that you lack originality, making them want to yawn and stop reading your paper.
Clichés make your writing and argument interchangeable with anybody else’s. Make sure that your argument and writing are specific to you and your writing task.
Clichés are vague. It is best to use the most precise wording in order to present evidence and support your arguments as clearly as possible. Specific details and explanations make better evidence than generalizations and trite phrases.
Clichés make you seem lazy. They are a hedge when you don’t want to do creative work.
Clichés make you lose credibility. Your reader will not trust you as an authoritative source if you can’t come up with a better description than a cliché.
Clichés are poor substitutes for actual evidence. Because clichés are not specific, they do not offer strong enough commentary to prove your point. Make sure that every sentence of your paper is working toward a goal by eliminating meaningless phrases.

How to tell when you’re using a cliché

If instructors provide feedback such as “too general,” “vague,” or “be more specific,” what they might really mean is that your writing relies on clichés.
Ask a friend to listen as you read your writing out loud. If they can finish any sentence before you read the whole thing, you have probably employed a cliché.
Read through your writing alone. Read it slowly and out loud, stopping often to develop mental pictures that reflect what you have written. If you’re writing a paper that needs to be descriptive, do all of your sentences evoke strong images? If you’re writing about something theoretical or persuasive, are all of your points specific and clear? If something is easy to skip over or you can’t assign a direct meaning to it, go back! You may have a cliché.
Ask yourself if what you’ve written is a product of your research, an original argument, or a portrayal of your personal experiences. Could what you wrote appear in anyone else’s essay? If so, you may be relying on clichés. No other writer has had exactly the same personal experiences as you, conducted the same research, or formulated the same arguments.
Look through your introduction and your conclusion. Often writers rely on clichés to power through what many consider to be the most difficult sections of a paper. If you’re using phrases that sound like they could belong in any generic paper, chances are they’re not serving you well. Of course, you may reuse certain transition words or forms of argument in multiple papers, but try to avoid hackneyed phrases like “Throughout history…” or “In conclusion…”

How to get rid of clichés

Research or brainstorm some more. If you are relying on clichés, you might not have prepared enough for your writing assignment. Check out our brainstorming handout . If you think you may be relying on clichés instead of actual evidence, consult our handout on evidence for clarification.
Stop and think about what you’re trying to say. What do you really mean? Say your answer out loud and then write it down. List the main ideas that you want to convey in each sentence, and then list synonyms of each idea underneath. Pull out a thesaurus if necessary. This method leaves you with a list of many words, and you can pick the most fitting combination.
Try to pinpoint exactly what you want to say, and write it! Often, keeping it simple is a good idea.
Ask yourself questions as you write. Use “who,” “what,” “when,” “where,” “why,” and “how” questions to spur your thinking. Rather than writing “throughout history” as your introductory line, stop and ask yourself, “When? In what era? Where? Who was in power during the specific historical context I am addressing?” The answers to these questions will give you a more focused opening line. For example, imagine you’re writing a paper about papal history. Rather than saying something generic such as, “Throughout history, only two popes have resigned,” you can write something better with the help of a little research. You could end up with the more precise: “In what represented a nearly unprecedented departure from papal tradition, Pope Benedict XVI became the second pope to resign in 2013.”

Consult these resources for lists of clichés:

Cliché List: Definition, Meaning & Examples. http://www.clichelist.net/

Examples of Clichés. http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-cliches.html

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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17 Common College Essay Cliches To Avoid at All Costs

Applying to college can be stressful, and many high school seniors struggle with the essay portion of their application process. The best college essays interest admissions officers, stick out from the crowd and provide information about who the student is and how they’ll thrive on their new college campus. With that being said, let’s look at some common college essay cliches you’ll want to avoid if you want admissions officers to remember you.

Here are 17 common college essay cliches to avoid at all costs:

Writing an essay about the lessons you’ve learned in sports
Summarizing your accomplishments
Focusing on volunteer experiences and/or mission trips
Raving about your personal hero
Writing the “death that changed me” essay
Telling the admissions team about your epiphany
Providing way too much information you shouldn’t share
Starting with a quotation
Using your immigrant story without making it interesting
Pointing out that your a child of divorce
Writing the “challenging class” essay
Telling your moving story
Focusing too much on faith
Writing the “finding yourself through travel” essay
Including your cute childhood story
Starting your essay with a dictionary definition
Including your vague “since childhood” career goals

The rest of this article explains why these topics are cliche and offers suggestions of what to write about instead. Keep reading if you want to feel more confident about your college applications!

1. Writing an Essay About the Lessons You’ve Learned in Sports

If you’re a serious athlete, this may be tough to hear. Yes, the lessons learned through playing sports are often applicable in real life, but this is also a cliche in movies, tv shows, and, yes, college essays. Admissions officers have read thousands of essays about the camaraderie and teamwork of a sports team, never giving up even when faced with a challenge, and how “it’s not about winning or losing.”

Sports essays are often predictable, making them boring to read, especially for admissions officers who are reading hundreds of essays a day. Unless you have a particularly unique or incredible story, it’s probably best to avoid writing your college essay about sports ( source ).

2. Summarizing Your Accomplishments

Even if you’ve accomplished a lot, nobody likes a braggart. All your accomplishments can likely be found elsewhere in your application, so there’s no reason to waste your college essay summarizing these. Just listing everything you’ve done without describing what your accomplishments mean to you or what you’ve learned is pointless and will bore the admissions officer reading your essay.

3. Focusing on Volunteer Experiences and/or Mission Trips

If you’re writing about an experience you had volunteering or on a mission trip, you’re likely to stray into dangerous territory, in which you spend most of your essay talking about how amazing you are and what an angel you are, which may put a bad taste in your admissions officer’s mouth. You may even come off as naive and privileged.

If you do choose to discuss a volunteer experience, avoid describing what you brought to the table and instead talk about someone you met who changed your life or something unexpected that happened. Or, if your volunteer experience incited a new passion or inspired a new career path, write your essay about that.

4. Raving About Your Personal Hero

Look, it’s great that you love your mom, and she inspires you. It really is. But many people’s moms inspire them, and they’ve written their college essays about that, too. Swap “mom” out with “dad,” “grandparent,” “sibling,” or even “Albert Einstein” or “Amelia Earhart” or another public figure, and you’ve got some pretty cliche college essays.

Unless your personal hero is extremely unexpected or someone with a unique life story, try to avoid writing this kind of essay.

5. Writing the “Death That Changed Me” Essay

Experiences with death inevitably impact us and can even shape our worldview and change our lives. Even though your grief after losing a pet or a loved one is unique to you, the broad lessons learned from grieving are pretty universal. Yes, life is short. Yes, you should live every day like it’s your last. Yes, you should tell the people you love that you love them because you never know what could happen.

These are important lessons. However, college admissions officers have probably read thousands of essays about these lessons. Even though the death you experienced may have been a formative experience for you, it may not make for a memorable essay unless you can write about it in an intriguing way.

6. Telling the Admissions Team About Your Epiphany

If you find yourself writing the phrase, “Suddenly, I realized…” in your college application essay; it’s time to stop writing and reconsider.

Usually, the epiphany you’re writing about is a reach from the struggle you went through or experience you had, and admissions officers see right through it. These essays often feel forced or read like a simple “moral of the story” children’s television episode.

It’s best to avoid “lesson learning” language in your college essay because it cheapens your writing ability.

7. Providing Way Too Much Information You Shouldn’t Share

Your college essay isn’t a confessional, and it’s not an appropriate place to get too personal. Overly personal topics reveal that you don’t understand boundaries, which isn’t ideal for a college community.

If your essay topic isn’t something you’d talk about with a stranger you met on a park bench, you shouldn’t be talking about it with your admissions officer. Unfortunately, many students write about these topics in an attempt to stand out, so now not only are they inappropriate, but they’re also cliche.

What’s too personal? Here are a few examples of topics that may be TMI for your college essay ( source ):

Anything about your sex life. Writing about your sexual orientation or your coming out journey may be okay depending on how you write about it, but don’t talk about your sex life in too much detail.
Your romantic life. Your relationship may be really important and unique to you, but the stranger reading your college essay isn’t interested in this part of your life.
Illegal activity. Discussing your criminal history may help you stand out, but not in a good way.

8. Starting With a Quotation

You have a word limit when writing your college essay, so don’t waste space using someone else’s words. Chances are if you’re inclined to use this quote, a bunch of other applicants were inclined to use it as well. It’s a cliche and boring way to start your essay, so avoid it at all costs. Instead, spend time making your first sentence so good it reads like a famous quote!

9. Using Your Immigrant Story Without Making It Interesting

The United States is a nation of immigrants. Not every applicant has an immigrant story, but quite a few do, and the themes are the same for most immigrants. Admissions officers have read many essays about the challenges of learning a new language, culture shock, and struggling to fit in.

Immigrants can still write about their experience in their college essay, but try to avoid these common themes and instead focus on a particularly unique or unusual aspect of your personal story ( source ).

10. Pointing Out That You’re a Child of Divorce

Lots of people have divorced parents. While going through your parents’ divorce may have been a uniquely challenging experience for you in your life, it’s not necessarily a unique experience in general. Ultimately, this topic is just too common, and your admissions officer will likely immediately lose interest.

11. Writing the “Challenging Class” Essay

Being a hard worker is a great quality in a college applicant. However, many students have worked hard and done well in a challenging class as a result of their struggle. Additionally, the traits illustrated in this type of essay, such as work ethic, diligence, and perseverance, are most likely traits that your recommenders will write about in their letters.

Furthermore, you may be putting yourself at a disadvantage by admitting that a particular class was hard. If you’re applying to be a math major at a highly ranked institution, writing about how difficult your high school algebra class was may not be the best way to demonstrate your academic capabilities.

12. Telling Your Moving Story

Moving to a new place is tough, I get it. However, countless students move or have to switch schools mid-year. Not to mention that moving is a fairly common theme in many high school movies and tv shows. You moved, you struggled to fit in initially, but you eventually made new friends . It’s cliche and predictable.

If moving impacted you significantly, reflect on why that’s beyond the cliche outlined above. In your essay, focus less on the move itself and more on how you changed.

13. Focusing Too Much on Faith

Your faith may be extremely important to you, and that’s great. However, religion is a tricky topic, and it’s difficult not to fall into cliche language and themes when writing about faith in a college essay.

Essays about faith are also a bit of a catch-22 because if you’re applying to a religious school, most applicants writing essays for that school are likely to discuss their faith. If you aren’t applying to a religious institution, and especially if you’re applying to a liberal school, writing about your relatively conservative religious ideas and practices may put you at a disadvantage.

If you truly believe that writing about your faith is the best way to reveal to admissions officers who you are, try to focus more on your relationship and experience with faith and less on broad ideas about faith, as those are universal and cliche themes in college essays.

14. Writing the “Finding Yourself Through Travel” Essay

Your trip abroad was probably amazing, and there’s a good chance it did change your life. However, these stories are common in college essays, and it’s likely that another applicant went on a similar trip and learned similar lessons and wrote about it.

Your international travel story would become even more cliche if your travel was cliche or inauthentic. Don’t try to write an essay about how you learned so much about Mexican culture during your stay at an all-inclusive resort in Cancun.

15. Including Your Cute Childhood Story

Almost everyone has a cute anecdote from their childhood that they can share. Your funny or adorable tale from your childhood may seem unique and special to you. Still, admissions officers are likely to disagree, as they probably read a similar story three essays ago.

Additionally, is that cute story about something you did when you were six really how you want to present yourself to a college admissions committee?

16. Starting Your Essay With a Dictionary Definition

It’s a cliche in wedding toasts, and it’s a cliche in college essays – dictionary definitions aren’t fun or interesting to read. In most cases, the admissions officer knows the general definition of the term you’re defining.

Or, if you’re defining a super obscure word that the officer wouldn’t know, likely, this word doesn’t actually have any personal meaning to you. Once upon a time, this may have been a unique way to start an essay, but it’s overdone now.

17. Including Your Vague “Since Childhood” Career Goals

“Since the time I was old enough to hold a book, I’ve known that I wanted to be a librarian.” This is a very cliche college essay intro, and it can be applied to any profession. If you’ve known what you wanted to be since you were a child, congratulations!

Don’t start your college essay with this; and instead, focus more on why you want to be in that profession. Writing vaguely about what you want to be and why is overdone and boring, especially if it’s rooted in some childhood anecdote.

You can write about your career goals, but make it more meaningful by rooting your goals in current events or your personality now, instead of your personality when you were a child.

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Competitions

Top 5 most clichéd movie openings.

By Shaun Leonard · September 30, 2019

When we watch these clichéd movie openings, we groan. Or worse, we stop paying attention until something original happens. Hooking an audience with the opening scene of a film is difficult. Getting a reader invested in the first pages of a script is even harder. So, if your screenplay starts with any of the listed openings, you might want to reconsider your first impression. Don’t worry, each section includes ideas for how to make the most of your first scene, or alternatives to help you move past or elevate the most clichéd openings in contemporary movies.

72 Hours Ago

An exciting moment kickstarts the plot. We enter in media res, with little idea of how these characters got in trouble, and even less ideas of how they’ll get out. It’s exhilarating, and just when we get excited about what’s about to happen, the scene cuts to black. A title card comes up, saying something like “72 Hours Ago”. Then the movie spends two acts catching up to an ending we’ve seen already. This is the ouroboros of movie openings. A snake eating its own tail. This cliché crops up so often because it allows a writer to trick the audience. Instead of writing an exciting opening, we can put the exciting ending up front. This hooks the viewer and puts something stimulating in the first act so we can spend the rest on character introductions.

The problem is, once the audience realizes it’s been tricked it’s tough to get them back on your side. Worse, if the rest of the first act isn’t as engaging as the opening scene, the rising action will fall apart and damage the pacing. Sometimes these opening scenes take on a new meaning in the second or third act when we catch up to them. If the context of the story changes everything about how we view the opening, congratulations. You’ve got a strong structure that the audience will applaud you for. But before you decide to use this flashback/forward setup, consider other openings. If you can find something original to jumpstart the plot without resetting the pacing, the audience will follow you as the action rises.

Alarm Clock

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! A hand slaps an alarm until it turns off. We see our groggy protagonist get ready too face the day. By the end of their morning, we understand their issues and their world. If not for the thousands of other movies that start this way, an alarm clock would be a great tool to open a script or a film. This opening is used excessively in short films, but it crops up in features too. The ideas behind the alarm clock wakeup are useful. We want to introduce an active character and show their typical environment before everything changes. Keep these ideas but find a way to apply them in an original way. Instead of showing us the beginning of the day, pick another moment that highlight exactly who your protagonist is. Perhaps the way they treat their valet reveals their kindness. Or their unusual choice of pet gives us an inside track to the heart of the protagonist. Whatever you choose, chances are it’s more original than an alarm blaring.

Character We Don’t Care About Dies

These opening scenes usually involve a character the audience has never seen before being killed by another character we’ve never seen before. These openings are intended to make a statement about the antagonist and set audience expectations for the unity of action in the script. Either the death of the Unknown Character (UC) sets in motion a mysterious chain of events the protagonist must unravel, or the viciousness of the death makes us fear the antagonist and wonder how they can possibly be stopped. Recent examples of this include the Saw / Jigsaw franchise, and almost every crime procedural tv show. The reason this clichéd opening is used so often is because it mostly works. We start paying attention.

Unfortunately, there’s usually little emotion involved in watching a fictional stranger suffer a harrowing end. Two options present themselves: find a way to convince the audience to invest in the UC or make the way the character dies original. The Saw films do both simultaneously. They show an intriguing trap, and then give the UC a chance to escape. There’s even a ticking clock that pressurizes the situation. While this won’t work for everyone, use the page space you have to show us why we should root for the UC to survive. Or you can go the other direction, and show us somebody we want to see get their just desserts.

Preamble Exposition

Once we witnessed the Star Wars crawl, it was already too late. Preamble exposition involves text or voiceover that explains something to the audience. Sometimes this is a way to flesh out the world in terms of location, time, culture, etc. The text version of this is popular in science fiction and historical epics. They provide context. This probably sounds like a great tool for a movie. And for a movie, maybe it is. But for a script, exposition in the first page is tough to get past. Not only is it a crutch, it’s a clichéd crutch. Film is a visual medium, so there should be a visual way to communicate the information you’re trying to get across. Find that visual method. Of course, there are clichéd visual crutches too.

Dream Sequence

You want the audience to understand the main character’s greatest fear, or their ultimate desire. What better way to reveal these inner motivations to the audience than a nightmare/dream sequence? The answer is: anything but a dream sequence. These sequences are overused in movie openings, but they’re also overused in general. You might think a dream is a reasonable way to show the audience the interiority of a character, and in one respect they are. They allow for visual flair and dynamic story. The problem with dreams is that the character having the dream is usually passive. Worse, once the dream is over, nothing has changed. This means the past few minutes have been a waste of the audience’s time. The quickest workaround for this is to eliminate the dream sequence and see if you can push the characters to extremes in the real world. Alternatively, consider how dreamlike visuals can be incorporated into the story you’re telling. But beware: unless these visions or hallucinations are integral to the story, someone is going to tell you to cut them. For an example of a story that makes hallucinations an integral part of a character’s drive, check out Mad Max: Fury Road . The hallucinations in that action powerhouse affect the protagonist and the plot.

A caveat: any well written opening is a great opening, even if it relies on a cliché. The purpose of the above list is to point out that there’s always another way to start your story. And for those of you reading this that still want to use one of the tropes listed above, go for it. But consider how you can tweak the form and build on it. Even if the general opening you’re writing has been done before, you can still put your own stamp on it. A new twist on a clichéd opening can impress a reader and show that you examine your story on a structural and contextual level, not just a plot level.

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40 facts about elektrostal.

Written by Lanette Mayes

Modified & Updated: 02 Mar 2024

Reviewed by Jessica Corbett

Elektrostal is a vibrant city located in the Moscow Oblast region of Russia. With a rich history, stunning architecture, and a thriving community, Elektrostal is a city that has much to offer. Whether you are a history buff, nature enthusiast, or simply curious about different cultures, Elektrostal is sure to captivate you.

This article will provide you with 40 fascinating facts about Elektrostal, giving you a better understanding of why this city is worth exploring. From its origins as an industrial hub to its modern-day charm, we will delve into the various aspects that make Elektrostal a unique and must-visit destination.

So, join us as we uncover the hidden treasures of Elektrostal and discover what makes this city a true gem in the heart of Russia.

Key Takeaways:

Elektrostal, known as the “Motor City of Russia,” is a vibrant and growing city with a rich industrial history, offering diverse cultural experiences and a strong commitment to environmental sustainability.
With its convenient location near Moscow, Elektrostal provides a picturesque landscape, vibrant nightlife, and a range of recreational activities, making it an ideal destination for residents and visitors alike.

Known as the “Motor City of Russia.”

Elektrostal, a city located in the Moscow Oblast region of Russia, earned the nickname “Motor City” due to its significant involvement in the automotive industry.

Home to the Elektrostal Metallurgical Plant.

Elektrostal is renowned for its metallurgical plant, which has been producing high-quality steel and alloys since its establishment in 1916.

Boasts a rich industrial heritage.

Elektrostal has a long history of industrial development, contributing to the growth and progress of the region.

Founded in 1916.

The city of Elektrostal was founded in 1916 as a result of the construction of the Elektrostal Metallurgical Plant.

Located approximately 50 kilometers east of Moscow.

Elektrostal is situated in close proximity to the Russian capital, making it easily accessible for both residents and visitors.

Known for its vibrant cultural scene.

Elektrostal is home to several cultural institutions, including museums, theaters, and art galleries that showcase the city’s rich artistic heritage.

A popular destination for nature lovers.

Surrounded by picturesque landscapes and forests, Elektrostal offers ample opportunities for outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, and birdwatching.

Hosts the annual Elektrostal City Day celebrations.

Every year, Elektrostal organizes festive events and activities to celebrate its founding, bringing together residents and visitors in a spirit of unity and joy.

Has a population of approximately 160,000 people.

Elektrostal is home to a diverse and vibrant community of around 160,000 residents, contributing to its dynamic atmosphere.

Boasts excellent education facilities.

The city is known for its well-established educational institutions, providing quality education to students of all ages.

A center for scientific research and innovation.

Elektrostal serves as an important hub for scientific research, particularly in the fields of metallurgy, materials science, and engineering.

Surrounded by picturesque lakes.

The city is blessed with numerous beautiful lakes, offering scenic views and recreational opportunities for locals and visitors alike.

Well-connected transportation system.

Elektrostal benefits from an efficient transportation network, including highways, railways, and public transportation options, ensuring convenient travel within and beyond the city.

Famous for its traditional Russian cuisine.

Food enthusiasts can indulge in authentic Russian dishes at numerous restaurants and cafes scattered throughout Elektrostal.

Home to notable architectural landmarks.

Elektrostal boasts impressive architecture, including the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord and the Elektrostal Palace of Culture.

Offers a wide range of recreational facilities.

Residents and visitors can enjoy various recreational activities, such as sports complexes, swimming pools, and fitness centers, enhancing the overall quality of life.

Provides a high standard of healthcare.

Elektrostal is equipped with modern medical facilities, ensuring residents have access to quality healthcare services.

Home to the Elektrostal History Museum.

The Elektrostal History Museum showcases the city’s fascinating past through exhibitions and displays.

A hub for sports enthusiasts.

Elektrostal is passionate about sports, with numerous stadiums, arenas, and sports clubs offering opportunities for athletes and spectators.

Celebrates diverse cultural festivals.

Throughout the year, Elektrostal hosts a variety of cultural festivals, celebrating different ethnicities, traditions, and art forms.

Electric power played a significant role in its early development.

Elektrostal owes its name and initial growth to the establishment of electric power stations and the utilization of electricity in the industrial sector.

Boasts a thriving economy.

The city’s strong industrial base, coupled with its strategic location near Moscow, has contributed to Elektrostal’s prosperous economic status.

Houses the Elektrostal Drama Theater.

The Elektrostal Drama Theater is a cultural centerpiece, attracting theater enthusiasts from far and wide.

Popular destination for winter sports.

Elektrostal’s proximity to ski resorts and winter sport facilities makes it a favorite destination for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter activities.

Promotes environmental sustainability.

Elektrostal prioritizes environmental protection and sustainability, implementing initiatives to reduce pollution and preserve natural resources.

Home to renowned educational institutions.

Elektrostal is known for its prestigious schools and universities, offering a wide range of academic programs to students.

Committed to cultural preservation.

The city values its cultural heritage and takes active steps to preserve and promote traditional customs, crafts, and arts.

Hosts an annual International Film Festival.

The Elektrostal International Film Festival attracts filmmakers and cinema enthusiasts from around the world, showcasing a diverse range of films.

Encourages entrepreneurship and innovation.

Elektrostal supports aspiring entrepreneurs and fosters a culture of innovation, providing opportunities for startups and business development.

Offers a range of housing options.

Elektrostal provides diverse housing options, including apartments, houses, and residential complexes, catering to different lifestyles and budgets.

Home to notable sports teams.

Elektrostal is proud of its sports legacy, with several successful sports teams competing at regional and national levels.

Boasts a vibrant nightlife scene.

Residents and visitors can enjoy a lively nightlife in Elektrostal, with numerous bars, clubs, and entertainment venues.

Promotes cultural exchange and international relations.

Elektrostal actively engages in international partnerships, cultural exchanges, and diplomatic collaborations to foster global connections.

Surrounded by beautiful nature reserves.

Nearby nature reserves, such as the Barybino Forest and Luchinskoye Lake, offer opportunities for nature enthusiasts to explore and appreciate the region’s biodiversity.

Commemorates historical events.

The city pays tribute to significant historical events through memorials, monuments, and exhibitions, ensuring the preservation of collective memory.

Promotes sports and youth development.

Elektrostal invests in sports infrastructure and programs to encourage youth participation, health, and physical fitness.

Hosts annual cultural and artistic festivals.

Throughout the year, Elektrostal celebrates its cultural diversity through festivals dedicated to music, dance, art, and theater.

Provides a picturesque landscape for photography enthusiasts.

The city’s scenic beauty, architectural landmarks, and natural surroundings make it a paradise for photographers.

Connects to Moscow via a direct train line.

The convenient train connection between Elektrostal and Moscow makes commuting between the two cities effortless.

A city with a bright future.

Elektrostal continues to grow and develop, aiming to become a model city in terms of infrastructure, sustainability, and quality of life for its residents.

In conclusion, Elektrostal is a fascinating city with a rich history and a vibrant present. From its origins as a center of steel production to its modern-day status as a hub for education and industry, Elektrostal has plenty to offer both residents and visitors. With its beautiful parks, cultural attractions, and proximity to Moscow, there is no shortage of things to see and do in this dynamic city. Whether you’re interested in exploring its historical landmarks, enjoying outdoor activities, or immersing yourself in the local culture, Elektrostal has something for everyone. So, next time you find yourself in the Moscow region, don’t miss the opportunity to discover the hidden gems of Elektrostal.

Q: What is the population of Elektrostal?

A: As of the latest data, the population of Elektrostal is approximately XXXX.

Q: How far is Elektrostal from Moscow?

A: Elektrostal is located approximately XX kilometers away from Moscow.

Q: Are there any famous landmarks in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal is home to several notable landmarks, including XXXX and XXXX.

Q: What industries are prominent in Elektrostal?

A: Elektrostal is known for its steel production industry and is also a center for engineering and manufacturing.

Q: Are there any universities or educational institutions in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal is home to XXXX University and several other educational institutions.

Q: What are some popular outdoor activities in Elektrostal?

A: Elektrostal offers several outdoor activities, such as hiking, cycling, and picnicking in its beautiful parks.

Q: Is Elektrostal well-connected in terms of transportation?

A: Yes, Elektrostal has good transportation links, including trains and buses, making it easily accessible from nearby cities.

Q: Are there any annual events or festivals in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal hosts various events and festivals throughout the year, including XXXX and XXXX.

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40 Facts About Elektrostal. Elektrostal is a vibrant city located in the Moscow Oblast region of Russia. With a rich history, stunning architecture, and a thriving community, Elektrostal is a city that has much to offer. Whether you are a history buff, nature enthusiast, or simply curious about different cultures, Elektrostal is sure to ...