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While a compelling opening (aka "hook") can be important, it's not the most important part of your essay.

The more important elements of a challenges-based essay are:

1. Challenges that are clear and compelling

2. Specific details (and verbs!) to show what specific steps you've taken to overcome your challenge(s)

3. A surprising insight—or several surprising insights

Once you have all these elements, it's time to think about your opening.

Wait, why are we only talking about openings now?

As I mentioned in Lesson 1.4, students often get caught up trying to write The Perfect Opening. But for many, this can lead to wasted time since it can keep them from working on the rest of the essay to see if it can work—and by "rest of the essay," I mean the "What I Did About It" and "What I Learned" sections. I've also found that often when students are revising their essay, they end up brainstorming new content, as you've just been doing, the essay evolves and—voila!—a new, better opening reveals itself. It can be tricky if a student is too married to their first opening (just because they spent a lot of time on it) and unwilling to let it go. Hopefully, though, you didn't spend too much time on yours, or you're open to letting it go.

So how can you grab the attention of your reader who, let's be honest, has probably already read several hundred or thousand other essays?

That's what this section is all about.

Idea #1: Start with a moment of high tension, then give us more context (i.e., details, facts, information) to show how this was part of a larger set of challenges.

The author of the "Easter" essay uses this technique (read her essay here). Note how she grabs our attention in the first paragraph, then gives more information to tell us what led up to this point in the second paragraph:

It was Easter and we should've been celebrating with our family, but my father had locked us in the house. If he wasn't going out, neither were my mother and I.

My mother came to the U.S. from Mexico to study English. She'd been an exceptional student and had a bright future ahead of her. But she fell in love and eloped with the man that eventually became my father. He loved her in an unhealthy way, and was both physically and verbally abusive. My mother lacked the courage to start over so she stayed with him and slowly let go of her dreams and aspirations. But she wouldn't allow for the same to happen to me.

Can you see how that second paragraph gives us more context (i.e., details, facts, information) to help us understand the seriousness of her situation?

Here's another example:

"¡Mijo! ¡Ya levántate! ¡Se hace tarde!" (Son! Wake up! It's late already.) My father's voice pierced into my room as I worked my eyes open. We were supposed to open the restaurant earlier that day.

Ever since 5th grade, I have been my parents' right hand at Hon Lin Restaurant in our hometown of Hermosillo, Mexico. Sometimes, they needed me to be the cashier; other times, I was the youngest waiter on staff. Eventually, when I got strong enough, I was called into the kitchen to work as a dishwasher and a chef's assistant.

The restaurant took a huge toll on my parents and me. Working more than 12 hours every single day (even holidays), I lacked paternal guidance, thus I had to build autonomy at an early age. On weekdays, I learned to cook my own meals, wash my own clothes, watch over my two younger sisters, and juggle school work.

To read the rest, check out the "¡Levantate, Mijo!" essay.

Again, the author starts with a moment of tension (he woke up late!) then shares in the second paragraph why it was a big deal.

Important note: You don't have to begin with the moment your challenges began. Notice how, in both of the examples above, the author begins with a moment from later in their lives that grabs our attention ... then uses a flashback to tell us what happened before this moment. You can try this too!

But this isn't the only way to grab the reader's attention at the start of your essay.

Idea #2: Show us how things got temporarily better before they got worse.

Life has its ups and downs. In some cases, we overcome some initial challenges and then, just as soon as things are starting to look better—boom!—something happens and we're brought back down again.

Here's an example, from the "What Had to Be Done" essay (positive part marked in bold):

Living without a father meant money was tight, mom worked two jobs, and my brother and I took care of each other when she worked. For a brief period of time the quality of our lives slowly started to improve as our soon-to-be step-dad became an integral part of our family. He paid attention to the needs of my mom, my brother, and me. But our prosperity was short-lived as my step dad's chronic alcoholism became more and more recurrent. When I was eight, my younger brother Fernando's birth complicated things even further. As my step-dad slipped away, my mom continued working, and Fernando's care was left to Jose and me. I cooked, Jose cleaned, I dressed Fernando, Jose put him to bed. We did what we had to do.

I call this taking the reader on "a mini-roller coaster."

You start low by describing the challenges (money's tight, Mom works, brothers have to fend for themselves) ... then take us up the climb by giving us hope (new stepdad!) ... but then there's a steep drop (his alcoholism gets worse, plus a new baby is born) that makes things even more challenging than they were before.

And you can actually use this to map out your whole essay.

Here's what that essay structure would look like, with each number below representing a potential paragraph:

1. Challenges: Pt 1 (Setup that things were bad or at least not great.)

2. Show how things got better for a bit. Then something happens, and ...

3. Challenges: Pt 2 (Show how things grew even worse than they were before.)

4. Turning point (Describe what changed—often, this is marked by a decision you made.)

5. What I did about it (Details and specific verbs are important here.)

6. What else I did about it (Keep going—tell us what you did not only at home, but at school, in your community, etc.)

7. What I learned/insight I gained (Remember: See if you can surprise us. More on writing an insightful ending here).

To see how this maps over a whole essay, check out the "Raising Anthony" essay here.

Idea #3: Open with a description or image that intrigues your reader or sets up a small mystery.

This one is a little harder to pull off, but the author of the "Bowling" essay does this well:

Every weekend, my family and I go to the bowling alley. We either go to Lucky Strike in Orange County, to 300 in Pasadena or the AMF Bowladrome in Torrance. It's been a tradition for us ever since I turned 11. But here's a secret:

I've never bowled a game in my life.

How is this possible, we wonder?

Important: If you're going to try this, make sure you don't keep us in suspense too long. Notice how in the next paragraph, she explains the mystery:

I began going when I was 11 because that's when I was old enough to adroitly wipe down a table and spray Windex on a window without making a mess. Every Saturday night from 10pm to 4am, after entering the bowling alley through a back door, my parents dispatch my older sister Marlene and me to the lanes armed with broomsticks.

"Try to clean around the bowlers," she always says.

And we always do.

Ah, okay, now it makes more sense.

To read the rest, check out the "Bowling" essay here.

Your goal for a narrative (challenges-based) essay opening: Raise a question in our minds.

Notice how all these example essays do this at the start.

But wait, you're thinking. This may change the whole structure of my essay!

That's true; it may change how you share your information (i.e., your structure) ... but hopefully, it's not going to change what you share (i.e., your content).

You still want to make sure you describe: Challenges + Effects/What You Did/What You Learned.

Now use your brilliant brain to dream up an attention-grabbing opening.

Tip: If you're feeling pressure to do this, I sometimes find it useful to write three different potential openings. This takes the pressure off having to get it perfect the first time. Spend 30 minutes writing three different paragraph openings and see which one you like best.

To do this, ask yourself:

• When did the challenges really begin? Was there an inciting incident?

• Could I start with a moment, from later in life, when things were really tough (to grab their attention)? And then after that, I could let them know what happened before this moment to lead up to it?

Did you try these ideas and find they didn't work? If so, you'll find 7 More Ideas for Your Opening in the Montage Path. In my experience, though, the ideas I've just shared in this lesson work a bit better for narrative essays.

A Few Common/Cliché Openings (and Probably Topics) to Avoid

There are a few kinds of openings that just might inspire your reader to skim your essay. These include:

The Sports Injury Opening

You were mid-game or practice when all of a sudden, crack! You felt something pop in your leg/arm/anywhere else. Suddenly, your season was over. And hey, I get it—it was a huge deal for you. This is coming from someone who broke his kneecap while playing basketball sophomore year. ... I lost the whole season. It was terrible.

But this is an extremely common topic. I'd suggest trying something else.

The "Nervous Before Giving a Speech or Going Onstage to Perform a Song/Instrument/Play" Opening

This usually opens with a description of someone sweating, feeling their heartbeat increasing, and their mouth going dry. Why? Because this speech/recital/performance is the biggest of their lives and they are freaked out.

But guess what? They get through the performance (or bomb), and everything ultimately turns out okay. Whew. They even develop more self-confidence later and learn how to take things easier/an important lesson in self-worth (I'm lovable no matter how I perform)—yay!

Again, a super common essay and a super common opening. Maybe try something else.