In this article, you will learn about how to write a reflective essay and all the aspects related to it. If you’re not familiar with this type of essay writing let us first discuss what a reflective essay is.

Reflective Essay

As the name suggests a reflective essay reflects the writer’s emotions and experiences. It is an exceptional kind of essay, but writing about one’s feelings and thoughts may not be as easy as it seems. A considerable amount of thought, efforts and skill go into writing a Reflective essay but it doesn’t require much research as many other essays. Due to the nature of this essay, it doesn’t necessarily require you to give citations to support your statement since it represents your personal views on the topic.

A reflective essay is written about an event or experience and what has been learned from that. The main focus of a reflective essay is to indulge the reader in the said event or experience. It is an excellent way to express your views and emotions in a manner which is somewhat related to storytelling but in a professional format. Usually, this type of academic writing is used by the critics who review and express their opinions on a movie, restaurant or any form of art.

Topics of Reflective Essay

A reflective essay conveys your point of view to the reader, therefore it gives you a wide range of possible topics on which you can write your essay. It can be an idea, a person, a review, a dream, an event, an experience, keeping in mind that the topic of your choosing should have a significant impact on your life.

A reflective essay may be written on any of the following topics:

Places- A place of visit. For example Paris, Goa, etc.

Events- For example a concert, wedding, seminar etc.

Review– This can include a restaurant, a movie, magazine or book etc.

Experiences- For example An Interview, getting a tattoo, learning to drive etc.

People or Animals- A person of importance, for example, Your Grandmother, The President, your pet.

Thoughts- This can include your personal opinion and emotions on any matter of significance.

What Makes a Good Reflective Essay?

To tackle the objective of how to write a reflective essay, we must first understand what makes a good reflective essay. To make a successful Reflective essay, it must convey three things: Relevance, Explanation and Impact on your life in an organised manner. The flow of thought should be chronological. Since this type of essay writing resembles the format of storytelling it is very important to make sure that your content is interesting enough to keep the reader indulged in it, because it is very easy to lose focus of your topic while writing about your own experience and emotions. No one wants to read a boring story. That being said you should also keep in mind that it is still an academic piece of writing, thus it is required to follow the basic rules of essay writing and to avoid writing in the first person.

A reflective essay should include the following aspects:

Relevance: It is important to state the relevance of your chosen topic in the essay. This gives the reader a background of your study and provides a reason for them to find out how the events unfolded and keep them indulged in your article. It should include why you have chosen the topic and the value it holds in your life. Explanation: After writing about the importance of the topic in your essay you should now provide necessary details about the event to the reader. The order of your writing should be chronological so that it is not difficult for the reader to follow the various events. It is very important to pay attention to this part as it decides if the reader will find it interesting enough to keep on reading to find out about the ending of your discussion. Give a background of the event about its origin and history. Explain how you came across the topic and how the events unfolded. Impact: This is the most important aspect of your reflective essay as it presents how the said events, experience or person has impacted your personal life in any way: emotional, physical or social. This part is more related to the psychological aspects of any conversation. It is not as easy as it may seem in the beginning. It is very important to have an idea about what you are supposed to include in this section as this lets the reader know about your way of thinking and analysing. It is better to include positive points rather than negative ones. But if your subject of the essay is somewhat negative but has great importance to you and helped you significantly in life than you should write about it.

Include reflective questions such as:

What did you learn?

What did you notice?

Will you do it again?

How this event helped you?

Where you successful?

Where you successful?

Steps involved in writing a great reflective essay

Consider the following steps involved in determining how to write a reflective essay.

Step 1: Selecting the topic:

If you don’t have an assigned topic given to you for writing the essay, you have the freedom to pick a topic which you feel most comfortable with. You must pick a topic which has significant importance in your life. You should have a clear aim in your mind about what you are going to include in this essay about the event, this will help you in deciding the points which you find the most relevant and interesting to help you generate a well-structured and informative reflective essay.

Step 2: Brainstorming:

Since this type of essay reflects upon your personal opinions and experiences you must take your time and recollect all the details of the topic of your study. Keep a notebook nearby to note down all the points you have remembered because it is not as easy as it may seem to write about an event which is in your memory. Organise your thoughts and try to focus on the tiniest details which you can remember so that you can paint a picture in the reader’s mind as vividly as possible. Think of everything you want to include in the essay and make a list. Write down questions of personal reflection to recognize the impact of the event on your life.

Step 3: Plan: A plan is necessary to write the best content in the most efficient way. Outline your flow of thoughts in the essay. This will help you in achieving your writing target in the most organised way. Refer to the list of points which you noted down and review it. Look for anything of significance which you may have missed, remove the points which you do not find relevant enough to be included in the essay. Set a flow of topics in chronological order or in a way that is the most suitable for your particular subject. Prioritize your headings and subheadings to be put in the essay so that you know which sections would require most of your time and which would require the least. This will help you to manage your valuable time in the best way possible.

Though it is not necessary, you should perform basic research to find more information about your selected topics and readings from various sources. This will ensure that the quality of your writing is impeccable and your reflective essay has all the required details. It also helps to make sure you don’t forget anything of importance.

Step 4: Writing:

Now that you have recognised all the ideas and points which you want to include in the essay, it is time to start writing. Keep your notebook which contains your lists and your outline with you and try to follow the plan you have made with the specified time limits. While writing keeps in mind all the major aspects of a good reflective essay (i.e. Relevance, Explanation and Impacts) to accommodating them in the best way possible. Answer all the reflective questions which you listed before and explain them. Follow a flow of thoughts and ideas most creatively. Refer to the list of topics several times during writing to make sure you don’t waste time while revising it.

Step 5: Review:

Review your essay and check that it includes all the points you initially set out to write. Proofread your essay a few times to get rid of any typographical errors. While proofreading ensures that everything is in order. If you can, take advice from a friend on how to write a reflective essay and implement them. Have a friend look it over before submitting the essay so that you can get an insight into how a reader would interpret your essay. Make the necessary adjustments and save the final draft.

Structure of a Reflective Essay

Since a reflective essay represents the views or opinions of an individual on a topic. The format of its expression may vary depending on the platform where it is to be published. It may need to be changed for different target audiences.

The structure of a reflective essay is the same as any other essay that you’ve come across. It includes an introduction, body and a conclusion.

Introduction- This is the part which the reader will read first, therefore, it is important to write something which holds the interest of the reader. Write a short but interesting introduction to the topic. Give an overview of the topics mentioned in the essay, but don’t write in detail. Include short sentences about the importance and explanations and an intriguing statement which entices the reader.

Body- This section is where you explain all the details to the reader. Follow a pattern which best describes your emotions and thoughts. If you are describing a past event make sure the chronological order of the events is in line because if you present your events in a disconnected manner the reader will have a hard time following them and will end up losing interest in the essay. Provide details of your topic and a brief background history if necessary. Include what you have noticed and learned from the subject of your essay. You may use the first-person perspective when writing a reflective essay but since it makes it difficult to follow a formal tone of writing, it is best to avoid it.

Conclusion- Summarise the essay in this part by bringing together all the points you have mentioned above and their impact on your life. Include a few points on how this experience has influenced your way of thinking and how you might want to go back to it.

Reflective essay writing is not just an essay, it is a style of writing which is utilized in many academic papers and university assignments to demonstrate or study a person’s analytical and comprehensive storytelling abilities. It helps the author to re-live a certain period of their lives and express their thoughts and emotions to the world in their way. This type of writing is the most utilized form of writing since it is the best way to convey your opinions without any ambiguity. It does not require any previous writing experience. It doesn’t require you to go through hours and hours of research to support your statements and opinions. Reflective style of writing is one of the oldest writing styles known to man, that is why it can be found in every language present in the world, from the ancient Egyptian scripts to the Bhagwat Gita. It is written by pre-teenage students in the form of their bed-time journals and established scholars of the most prestigious universities alike. Reflective writing is a medium of communication from centuries and it will be of help to everyone who wants to convey their thought, emotions and ideas to the world. These tips as a general rule can be applied to any life situation that you may face with small changes.

Hope the information in this article helped you in clearing your questions about how to write a reflective essay.