The guilt grew with each answer that I confidently circled.
The guilt grew with each answer
that I
had confidently circled.
This is an example of an essay that is written very well, but then the writer can look back to the beginning and see if the first sentence was really necessary. Let yourself write any first sentence you want to write when you are trying to get the first draft written, but go back later and trim away all sentences that come before the first really good one. In this case, there is one sentence that comes before the really good one:
I walked towards the back of the room to begin taking the test that I had missed days before when I was out sick from school. The teacher handed me the test
, and as I scanned the front page a strong pang of guilt hit me.
Above, that really good sentence has action and sensory words... intriguing emotional content... it's very good! So, let the essay begin there.
:-)