Write or type, let it flow. It can be strange or apropos! Just takes one word to start the show. You can't see the end from the starting line; don't let that distance undermine. You gotta plant that seed if you want it to grow into an essay tree.

Go ahead, I'll wait, I'm patient. Begin, be great, don't hasten for me. Lay the bait 'til inspiration's biting. What's the sound of one hand writing? Reel in your mind's manifestation!

Write or type, let it flow. It can be strange or apropos! Just takes one word (like flankeryjanklebodanklewitzenflangle) to start the show. You can't see the end from the starting line; don't let that distance undermine. You gotta plant that seed if you want it to grow into an essay tree.

OK, I'll help you. Here are some opening lines I thought of:
"Twice upon a time..."
"In a land called Nantucket..."
"My favorite color is rainbow..."
"Dead men make the best puppets..." (And THAT line works if you're writing about necro-puppeteers OR Jim Henson)

I read that money won't work, so you can't be bribed. Fear works but it works for a very short time. What motivates me might not motivate you, so the best *I* can do is cause a hullabaloo. Start your essay! Auspicate your analytic or interpretive literary composition!