How to Write an Essay Everyone Wants to Read: 5 Steps to Craft Meaningful Personal Narratives
Summary
TLDRIn Medium's inaugural Creator Workshop, Amy Scherner and Harris Sockle lead an insightful session on crafting personal essays. They emphasize the importance of observation and note-taking as foundational writing habits, akin to 'being a noticer.' The workshop explores the significance of having a driving question in an essay, the balance between scene and summary, and developing a relatable narrative persona. With examples from published essays on Medium, they illustrate how to engage readers and provide a scaffold for writers. The session concludes with advice on writing exercises, reading widely, and embracing the unique voice of the writer.
Takeaways
- 📓 The importance of being a 'noticer' in the writing life, which means paying attention to the world around you and noting down observations, ideas, and sensory details.
- 📔 The value of free writing and using note cards or digital equivalents to organize thoughts and ideas for future essays.
- ✍️ The advice to 'be a notebook' and gather all sorts of information that might eventually connect into a cohesive essay.
- 🤔 The necessity of having a driving question in an essay that the writer is investigating, which adds excitement for both the reader and the writer.
- 📚 The recommendation to read widely and across different genres to develop as a writer and to find inspiration.
- 📖 The role of a personal essay in telling a story, with elements of plot, character development, and scene setting similar to fiction.
- 🧑🎨 The need to develop oneself as a character in a personal essay, being honest and showing both strengths and weaknesses.
- 🎨 The idea that writing is a series of choices, and that the writer is in charge of deciding how to best convey their message.
- 🔍 The presence of two stories in every essay: a small personal story and a larger story that connects to a broader context or theme.
- ⏱ No specific optimal length for essays; the length should serve the story being told, with both beginning and ending clearly defined.
Q & A
What is the purpose of the Medium's Creator Workshop?
-The purpose of the Medium's Creator Workshop is to guide and support writers, particularly those interested in writing personal essays. The workshop provides insights, strategies, and exercises to help writers develop their skills and understand the nuances of creating compelling personal essays.
Who are Amy Scherner and Harris Sockle, and what are their roles in the workshop?
-Amy Scherner is the content lead for writing at Medium and editor of Human Parts, a publication that features the best stories exploring what it means to be human. Harris Sockle is a colleague of Amy's, also involved in the workshop, and he has been featured in various publications, is the author of an Amazon Kindle single, and contributes to the discussion on writing personal essays.
What is the significance of 'Human Parts' in the context of the workshop?
-Human Parts is a publication on Medium that showcases the best stories about the human experience. It is significant in the workshop as it serves as a source of examples and inspiration for the participants, highlighting the quality and depth of personal essays that can be achieved.
What is the first step suggested in the workshop for creating a personal essay?
-The first step suggested in the workshop for creating a personal essay is 'be a noticer.' This involves paying attention to the world around you, writing down observations, ideas, dialogue, and sensory details, and keeping a notebook or some form of record for future reference.
Why is it important for a personal essay to have a driving question?
-A driving question is important for a personal essay because it gives the essay direction and purpose. It helps the writer to investigate and explore a topic deeply, making the journey of discovery exciting for the reader, who follows the writer's thought process and conclusions.
How does the workshop suggest using note cards or a similar system for organizing ideas?
-The workshop suggests using note cards or a similar system to gather and organize ideas, observations, and fragments that could potentially become part of an essay. This method allows writers to see patterns and connections and to experiment with the order and structure of their ideas.
What role does reading play in the process of writing a personal essay, according to the workshop?
-According to the workshop, reading plays a significant role in the process of writing a personal essay as it helps writers to train their 'noticing muscle.' Reading widely across different genres and topics can provide inspiration, expose writers to different writing styles, and contribute to their overall understanding of storytelling and narrative structure.
Why should a writer consider developing themselves as a character in their personal essay?
-A writer should consider developing themselves as a character in their personal essay to create a narrative persona that readers can relate to and engage with. This helps to build a connection between the writer and the reader, making the reader more invested in the writer's journey and insights.
What is the significance of including both a big story and a small story in a personal essay?
-Including both a big story and a small story in a personal essay adds depth and resonance to the writing. The small story is the personal experience or narrative that the writer shares, while the big story is the larger context or theme that it connects to. This dual-layered approach makes the essay more meaningful and impactful for the reader.
How does the workshop address the concern of being preachy or self-absorbed in personal essays?
-The workshop addresses the concern of being preachy or self-absorbed by encouraging writers to focus on the reader's experience, to be honest about their intentions, and to include a balance of personal strengths and weaknesses. It also suggests being self-deprecating at times and acknowledging that the writer doesn't know everything, which can help to maintain credibility with the reader.
What advice does the workshop give for creating compelling headlines for personal essays?
-The workshop advises that headlines should be compelling and make the reader want to engage with the essay. They should reflect the core message or moment of the essay and use strong verbs or assertions. It's also recommended to avoid clickbait and instead focus on creating a headline that is both intriguing and straightforward.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to Medium's Creator Workshop
The script opens with an introduction to Medium's inaugural Creator Workshop, hosted by Amy Scherner and Harris Sockle. Amy is the content lead for writing at Medium and editor of 'Human Parts,' a publication featuring the best stories about the human experience. Harris, a colleague with work featured in various platforms, is an author and editor. They are joined by Miranda Durham, who will provide resources and links. The workshop aims to guide participants through the process of writing personal essays, starting with an icebreaker poll about their experience with the genre. The script emphasizes the importance of the workshop's interactive nature, with resources and exercises to be shared.
🔍 The Art of Noticing and Gathering Ideas
The second paragraph delves into the first step of essay writing: being a 'noticer.' It encourages writers to observe their surroundings, record observations, and maintain a notebook for ideas, dialogues, and sensory details. The advice extends to consuming various forms of art and media to train one's 'noticing muscle.' The paragraph highlights the importance of free writing and the use of note cards or digital equivalents to organize thoughts, which can later coalesce into a cohesive essay. It also references essays by Carly Moore and Susan Orlean that offer practical advice on note-taking and the use of index cards as writing tools.
❓ The Power of a Driving Question in Essays
In the third paragraph, the discussion shifts to the significance of having a driving question in a personal essay. This question propels the writer and the reader through the narrative, fostering curiosity and discovery. The advice emphasizes the importance of genuine interest in the question, as the writer's passion will engage readers. It suggests that the question need not be complex but should be something that the writer is genuinely trying to understand or explore. Examples of essays that embody this principle are mentioned, showcasing how they delve into personal obsessions and feelings.
📖 The Narrative Arc and Storytelling in Essays
The fourth paragraph discusses the importance of storytelling elements in essays, suggesting that a good essay shares many craft elements with a good short story, novel, or screenplay. It talks about the need for a narrative arc or movement, where the essay takes the reader on a journey that changes or reveals something by the end. The paragraph also touches on the use of dialogue, sensory details, and the writer as a character within the piece. It provides examples of essays that effectively combine scene and summary, showing and telling, to engage the reader.
👤 Developing a Compelling Narrative Persona
The fifth paragraph focuses on the personal aspect of essay writing, emphasizing the need to develop oneself as a character that readers can connect with. It suggests being honest, showing both strengths and weaknesses, and providing a balanced picture of oneself. The paragraph also recommends using humor and self-deprecation to make the narrative persona more relatable. Examples of essays that successfully create a likable narrator, even when dealing with difficult subjects, are highlighted.
🌟 Connecting Personal Experiences to Larger Themes
In the sixth paragraph, the conversation centers on the idea that every good essay has two stories: a personal story and a larger theme. It encourages writers to connect their personal experiences to something bigger, revealing insights about the self and the world. The paragraph advises that this connection often becomes clear through the revision process and emphasizes the importance of taking the time to revise and re-read the work from a fresh perspective. It also suggests reading the draft aloud or in a different font to gain new insights.
📚 Recommended Reading for Aspiring Essayists
The seventh paragraph provides recommendations for books on essay writing and classic essays that all writers should read. It suggests that reading widely, beyond just essays, can help writers grow and find their voice. Specific recommendations include works by Joan Didion and Nora Ephron, as well as essays available on Medium. The paragraph also mentions the importance of reading for pleasure and curiosity as a means to improve writing skills.
✍️ Writing Essentials: Length, Focus, and Avoiding the 'Boring' Trap
The eighth paragraph addresses various questions from the audience about writing essays. It discusses the optimal length of an essay, emphasizing that there is no specific length and that the focus should be on telling a compelling story. The paragraph also tackles the concern of being boring or overly self-absorbed in personal essays, suggesting that writers should focus on the reader's experience and include research or other stories to enrich the narrative. It encourages writers to study essays they admire and to understand why they resonate.
🎯 Embracing Intuition and Flexibility in Writing
In the ninth paragraph, the hosts discuss the balance between having a sense of direction and allowing the writing process to be intuitive. They agree that while it's good to have a rough idea of the story, writers should be open to changes and discoveries as the story unfolds. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of being flexible with the structure and content, moving paragraphs around if it serves the story better, and using tools like note cards to help visualize and organize the narrative.
🏆 Encouraging Exploration and Originality in Writing
The tenth paragraph encourages writers to explore various topics and not be afraid to write about subjects outside their usual focus. It suggests that a writer's unique perspective can turn any topic into interesting content. The paragraph also discusses the importance of being true to oneself and one's voice when writing, as this is what connects different stories and attracts readers.
🤓 Avoiding Preachiness and Maintaining Authenticity
The eleventh paragraph offers advice on how to write without coming across as preachy. It suggests creating a relatable persona that acknowledges its limitations and shows both strengths and weaknesses. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of earning the right to make strong points through the narrative and by being honest about one's expertise and knowledge.
📘 Navigating Privacy and Intentions in Personal Writing
In the twelfth paragraph, the discussion revolves around the delicate balance of writing about personal life without invading privacy. It advises writers to consider their intentions and whether the story is theirs to tell. The paragraph also touches on the importance of honesty when writing about others and ensuring that the writing is driven by a genuine desire to explore and understand rather than to expose or criticize.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Personal Essay
💡Scaffolding
💡Noticer
💡Question
💡Storytelling
💡Narrative Persona
💡Revision
💡Scene
💡Summary
💡Show, Don't Tell
💡Writing Exercise
Highlights
Introduction of the Medium's first creator workshop with hosts Amy Scherner and Harris Sockle.
Amy Scherner is the content lead for writing at Medium and editor of Human Parts.
Harris Sockle is a writer and editor for Human Parts, with work featured in various publications.
Miranda Durham will provide resources and links for the workshop.
The importance of being a 'noticer' in the writing process, keeping a notebook for observations and ideas.
The value of free writing and how it can combat writer's block.
Using note cards or digital tools to organize thoughts and ideas for essays.
The significance of asking a driving question in an essay to guide the writing process.
How personal essays should tell a story, incorporating elements of plot and character development.
The balance between scene and summary in essay writing to maintain reader interest.
Developing a narrative persona in personal essays to engage readers.
The necessity of being honest and showing both the good and bad aspects of oneself in writing.
The presence of two stories in every essay: the personal and the larger, connected narrative.
The recommendation to read widely to improve writing skills and gain inspiration.
The advice against being preachy in personal essays and the importance of credibility.
Strategies for creating compelling headlines and the role of imagery in essay presentation.
Encouragement to participate in the Medium Writers Challenge as a way to practice and share writing.
The workshop's conclusion with a reminder to write and read as part of the creative process.
Transcripts
hello and welcome to medium's very first
creator workshop
i'm amy scherner i'm here with my
colleague harris sockle
my hairs and we're so glad that you're
all here
paris local is the content lead lead for
creator programs at medium
and edits human parts which is medium's
publication
of the best stories that explore what it
means to be human
i say added that because i realize
people might not know what human parts
is and it sounds weird out of context
um his work has been featured in
catapult the toast and elsewhere
he's the author of the amazon kindle
single the kids don't stand a chance
and he's awesome i also added that part
to his bio
thank you amy that was great i
appreciated that introduction
um amy schern who you just heard from is
the content lead
for writing at medium and also editor of
human parts
she is the author of three novels most
recently unseen city
which is great i'm actually reading it
right now i recommend it
um and has had work published in the new
york times
slate and elsewhere amy also has an
essay
coming out in a forthcoming anthology
called the lonely stories
and i would also like to introduce
miranda durham who is our colleague
you'll see miranda popping around the
chat
dropping links and resources for some of
the essays that we're going to talk
about today
and the first thing yes sorry i was also
supposed to say but i didn't that we
will be dropping or miranda will
be dropping links in the chat to essays
that we discuss and
there will be a link at the end that's a
medium post
that is sort of like your worksheet for
this
workshop it has some takeaways some
writing exercises that you can do if you
want to
um and we'll drop that that in at the
end
sorry okay yes no that's great um so
the first thing we'll do just to sort of
break the ice and see who's here is
we're going to open a quick
poll and
[Music]
just to get a sense of your experience
with personal essays
take a second answer the poll and
we'll look at the results in a few
seconds
wow this is neat i like it yeah this is
cool
good students all right we'll give it a
few more seconds
really interesting seems like most of
you have published a few essays
a lot of you are chipping away at a few
drafts but haven't published anything
yet
just wait
that's not threatening
all right so wow
this is interesting so it looks like
most of us here there's definitely a
range most of us here have published a
few essays
a bunch of people chipping away at a few
drafts i've been there i'm actually
doing that now too
um and uh
and then a few people on the haven't
written once in school
side of things and the very experience
published lots of personal essay side
that's great um let's get into it
so i will we'll get started i'm going to
share
my screen okay
thanks harris okay so
i know we just told you there would be
five steps to creating a personal essay
but there's not really five steps um
and you don't have to do these all sort
of when you sit down to write i think
that's the most important thing
uh but they're meant to be sort of a
scaffolding to
so that that you have in place before
you sit down to write and that you can
go back to
if you ever feel stuck this first one
be a noticer it's kind of more like
advice for the writing life more than
something for a single essay um and it's
our version of
keep a notebook uh it doesn't have to be
an actual notebook
but the point is to notice things to
write them down
it doesn't matter where the important
thing is to keep writing down
observations and ideas and scraps of
dialogue and sensory detail and straight
thoughts
so that eventually you'll be able to see
the patterns and connections
and part of that is reading a ton too
um look at art listen to music watch
movies all of these things lucky for you
count as writing free writing pay
attention to the world
and the more you do this the more you
can train your sort of
noticing muscle um
harris you're really good at this i've
found that um remember when once i
tweeted something about missing
libraries and harris immediately didn't
we said that's an essay he said
he's right um i didn't i didn't
notice um until you pointed that out but
it's like the more you're thinking that
way the more
it seems that way uh the real advice
here is
be a notebook that's actual advice right
be a notebook um here
there are lots of ways to organize the
things that you observe
note cards a separate email accounts you
just you never know what's going to
become a part of something or be the
missing link that connects a bunch of
disparate experiences and thoughts into
a cohesive essay
so just gather it all just in case
and a lot of great essays are made of
fragments they're the product of lots
and lots of accumulated ideas
reflections memories
i love this list from on keeping a
notebook which is an
essay by carly moore on medium this is
just a little snippet where she suggests
some things to
to keep in your scratch pad um overheard
language
imagery and descriptions of what you see
here smell taste and feel around you
rants plot ideas dialogue things you ate
that made you happy i love that one i
would have never thought to start making
a list of that
fantasies for the future letters you
won't send
the list is endless um and this picture
here
is from uh ryan holiday who is a
writer who has written a lot on medium
it's his system for organizing his note
cards into ideas
which i just sort of love um and
kind of the like bigger lesson here is
that a lot of writing is
not writing or at least not writing
publishable
work um it's like the writing
that no one will see the writing that's
just for you
uh next slide please mister so glue
thank you
um so we have these are two essays that
are on medium and i think you should be
getting the links in the chat
um if not they'll all be in this
worksheet that we're going to share at
the end
for you like super nerds who want to do
all the homework
uh here's this essay on keeping a
notebook
that you saw a little excerpt of earlier
i love how
here at carly moore writes notebooks are
perfect for free writing which is what
you should be doing quite a lot of
free writing can also stave off writer's
block i feel like
that is really good to remember whenever
you get stuck on something
or just feel really blocked sometimes
the answer is
just that you're too in your head and if
you just start writing you might not
come up with something
beautiful immediately but you might
find something later in that or it might
just loosen you up and get you started
sort of work on your
muscle memory um this other essay is by
susan orlean
you might know she's written about a
thousand books um
and also writes a medium this is a great
really helpful tactical essay called
another essential writing tool you
should own in large qualities and it's
sort of an
ode to the index card i'll just read a
little bit of this
but she says eventually all the tastiest
morsels of my reporting are written on
cards
then i take those cards and spread them
out and move them around like chess
pieces
until they begin to have some order and
logic and harmony
the amount of material you can fit on a
card is somehow exactly the right amount
they're about the size of a fully formed
idea
and this can also help you when you're
forming your essay
sometimes it's hard to make an essay
feel like it flows or to combine the
different
story elements that you want to be
combined in there and if you have some
sort of visual
map for yourself that you can move
around a lot it helps you sort of just
imagine the possibilities
um yeah harris what's next do you think
yeah so the next step and again
we call these steps in the title writing
an essay has never ever felt like
following a list of steps for me
but they're things to keep in mind as
you go so
the second one is ask a question you
should have some kind of
driving question that you're
investigating as you go through the
essay and that's part of what makes it
exciting to read
is that you don't know exactly where
you're going
you don't know exactly what you'll just
what you will discover and readers
don't know either and as readers sort of
like
watch you go on that journey it's
exciting for them
to see you make those connections as you
write
this is a quote that i love from a
column by
eileen who is a great writer
eileen actually had a column
on human parts called the draft where
she was answering questions from writers
about
about writing and this this quote is
about questions specifically
maybe no one has ever asked it before
or everyone has been asking that same
question since the beginning of
humankind
all that matters is you care about the
answer so if you're interested
in the question readers will also be
interested
in watching you try to investigate that
question
and these are a few
sort of pointers i'll talk around these
um
i think you know in an essay you're not
writing
always to share some knowledge you're
really writing towards the knowledge
and again that's sort of what makes it
exciting for a reader is that you're
trying to discover
as you go what you can figure out about
this question
it doesn't need to be a literal question
that you can write down all the time it
also doesn't need to be super unique
um it doesn't need to be that complex it
can be
an inclination it can be a feeling it
can be
um something i like to start out with is
like if something
if you're obsessed with something and
you keep going back to a certain memory
or a relationship or a time in your life
like
the question can be as simple as like
why am i obsessed with this time
this thing that happened to me or like
why can't i stop thinking about it
why can't i figure out how i feel about
this thing
um that is also a
very valid question um and again
follow what interests you if you're
interested readers will be too
and to the question point like you can
have an outline
but be prepared to abandon your outline
because it's really i think the best
parts of an essay are where you sense
that the writer
is really trying to figure something out
for themselves
these are two essays that do this really
well they're both really rooted in
questions
and i like both of them for that reason
so the first is
by sophia smith the questions no one
asked when you move
3000 miles across the country this is
about sofia
sofia's decision to move from the bay
area
to new york and i'm just going to read a
little bit of it at first
i certainly don't have it all figured
out yet i learned soon enough though
that the simplest response to a boring
question is a boring answer
to say anything too extraordinary would
overstep the dance
the questions people ask are at least
ones that i have answers for
are you keeping your job yes how are you
getting there i'm driving
do you have an apartment yet no i'll
figure it out why are you moving
because i've spent most of my life
bouncing between points in a particular
constellation
and i'm young and sufficiently
unburdened and would like to explore a
different constellation
because i'd like to pluck for myself a
small bit of the american millennial
dream
my own silverware drawer a windowsill
for propagating houseplants
my surname pasted label maker chic next
to a buzzer
what i really like about that paragraph
is that you're sort of
so like the first few questions the
boring questions those are things that
she
actually probably said to other people
the last question
which is like the real question that
she's trying to answer in this essay
which is why are you moving
that's a question that no one really
asked her or that they didn't ask it in
the way that she wanted to be asked
and that answer that she gave is
probably not something that she said
verbatim to people
but it's something that she's trying to
figure out for herself as she goes
through the essay why did i make this
decision
um and i like that she sort of
establishes herself as someone who
doesn't have it all figured out at the
beginning the second essay
is why the giving tree makes you cry it
is
a classic a medium classic i think um
it's by anthony ford
and i'm gonna read a little bit of this
um
readers have debated the book's meaning
since its publication in 1964
with the primary disagreement captured
by the title of a new york times sunday
book review from 2014.
the giving tree tender story of
unconditional love or disturbing tale of
selfish of selfishness
variously interpreted as a picture of
parental love of divine love
of abusive relationships or even of
environmental rapacity
this book sharply divides readers here's
what's fascinating the book deeply moves
adults
regardless of whether they view it as
extolling the tree's unconditional love
or lamenting the tree's self-destructive
love what's going on here
i love that this essay is taking a
popular children's book the giving tree
and asking really deep questions about
why it makes adults cry
as they're reading it to their children
um
i really recommend reading this one i
also love the way that
anthony ford is very dedicated to
finding out the answer to this question
he has done a lot of research into what
other people have said about the giving
tree
and he also does sort of like a close
reading of the book and explains how it
makes him
feel when he's reading it and what the
symbolism is in the giving tree
so that's another great question that's
motivating him throughout the essay
and i will pass it back to amy
um thanks i love that essay because i
have really
like everyone really strong feelings
about the giving tree
okay um so a good essay also
should tell a story which might sound a
little counterintuitive
because it's not supposed to be a story
it's supposed to be an essay
um but basically a good essay is going
to share
many craft elements with a good short
story or novel or
screenplay or tv show think about plot
or if that sounds too hard the sort of
traditional like plot arc
because that's a lot for an essay to
handle but think about
movement uh where is the essay going to
take
the reader what will change or become
clear
either for the narrator or for the
reader by the end
um apologies to any like high school
english teachers who are here with us
today
but they feel like many of us were led
astray by sort of
um our training in school about kind of
five paragraph
essays and what non-fiction writing
is in this context yes even non-fiction
writing
has seen dialogue sensory details
you as a character in the piece
except that's not to say that everything
in the essay should be expanded into
scene
of course then your essay would be you
know 10 000 pages long it's the most
important moments
in your essay that should be expanded
into scene just like in any good story
the scenes can be super short just an
important snippet of dialogue
a description of an interaction just
enough to place the reader
in time and space
a scene or line of dialogue can be a
great place to start an essay
starting right in the action grabbing
the reader
um peaking their interest oh a hair
sorry i think you can go to this yeah
yeah there's joan didion smoking and
looking
scholarly but don't smoke um but do you
read jump jordanian
um okay so i was going to say a scene or
line of dialogue can be a great place to
start an essay as a reader it's
fun to start right in the middle of the
action grabbing the reader
or you get what i'm saying if you're
still in the drafting stage though
don't feel like you have to start
where your essay is going to start
you don't have to labor over your first
line it probably won't stay your first
line
but that said if you need a place to
start you have this idea you're sort of
going over it in your head you don't
know where to start try a line of
dialogue
try a little moment of seeing place
the reader right where you want them
um and we have a couple
examples that oh thank you
of essays that combine sort of scene and
summary or showing
and telling you know we've all been sort
of told show don't tell
really any piece of writing includes
both of those things
um so i these are both essays that
appeared in human parts
and okay i should maybe give you a
slight content warning for this
bleaches essay it's beautifully written
a little gruesome there's a lot of blood
uh and i'll just read you a little bit
from the start
uh if you ever need hand surgery you
should try to get it done in japan
at least that's what the hand surgeon at
mass general hospital told us right
before he spent 10 hours trying to
reattach my husband's summer left index
finger thanks
um the surgeon's tone was cheerful and
matter of fact as he talked with us
we were sitting on a cot in the
emergency room on a friday night jared
had been working on a project
at our house when his hand got sucked
into the blade of the table saw by a
loose bed if you guys weren't awake you
are now
um his clothes looked like a jackson
pollock painting with regular dirt and
oil stains interrupted by bright red
streaks
of blood it starts as right in the
middle
right we're intrigued but not confused
which i feel like
is really important she lets the imagery
speak for itself
and this essay is focused on an
experience so there's more scene than
summary throughout the whole essay
it's almost all kind of a description of
what happened
but she does include a few moments um
of analysis lines where she kind of lets
the reader know why we're being told the
story
the so what if you will the why it
matters why
why we want to know and those lines do a
lot of work
a lot of narrative work in the piece but
mostly this piece is recounting what
happened
this other essay become what you are is
almost
the opposite in form um
it's by jude allison doyle you might
know is
a very prolific essayist wholesaler it's
a medium
and this piece as you can see here it
starts with some dialogue
um i'll just read this you look very
much like yourself my husband told me
we were in a pool in virginia late at
night taking turns dragging each other
through water warm as blood
god sorry there's so much blood um i had
no idea what he meant
what he meant my husband went to grad
school to study wittgenstein at one
point
and he has an academic habit of choosing
a word located two doors down from the
one you'd use in casual conversations
you can sit with his little poems
forever without decoding them
you're all sharp and spiny he said i can
always tell exactly what you're thinking
when i look at you
your body has your personality now it's
weird
that's really where that scene ends and
most of the rest of the die
of the essay is um is summary
it's analysis it's um
your job okay sorry in the opening
your job in the in the as the reader and
the opening is to kind of figure out
what we're talking about where we are
who these people are
and then the rest of the essay is
focused on doyle's processing of
non-binary life um this is a writer
who's going from
presenting female to presenting
something more indefinable
um and so it's more introspection
narration sort of musing on what it
means to
not present as one gender or another all
of which is to say
there's no magic formula of how much
scene to use and how much summary to use
it's dictated by what you're trying to
tell the reader about
and where you want their attention to go
um you know you're you're in charge but
it does need to
be a choice that you make you know
writing is always a series of making
choices and sticking with them
so you decide what you're trying to get
across in the essay
and then kind of create your own rules
within the world of your essay
yeah harris what else do you think that
we should do
yeah i really like the jude allison
doyle
essay it's really good i think they use
dialogue really well
um and everything you said about it is
true
um the next sort of step
is one of the keys i think to writing a
personal essay is you're
writing about yourself but for the
reader
which can be a little bit tricky but um
it's something to think about as you're
writing a personal essay
so in a personal essay
you're writing probably about something
that you witnessed or something that
happened to you
and the main character is most likely
you
you're the main character in the essay
so you need to develop yourself
as a character as if you would as you
would any character
in fiction um sort of develop your
narrative persona
into something that readers can attach
themselves to
and readers want to go on a journey with
there are lots of ways to do that
being honest i think is
something that you should strive to do
um and everyone's honesty is different
that's sort of where the uniqueness
comes in an essay
by being really honest about what you
notice
what matters to you those will be the
things that readers are latching on to
another maybe it's just me but i think
like poking fun at yourself
really quickly um or briefly can be
another good way to sort of develop your
narrative persona
you want to at the beginning of the
essay sort of give
readers a sketch of who you are and
um just give them a few details maybe a
bit of backstory
so they have some sense of of you
because you're the main character that
they want that they're going to be
paying attention to through this essay
um they don't know you you're the expert
on who you are
so think about what those details are
um and i think it's also important to
like show the good and the bad
no one is all good no one is all bad you
you're sort of like painting a balanced
picture of yourself
um for readers so here are two
essays that i love that i think do this
really well this sort of like writing
about
themselves but for the reader the first
is by stephanie georgeopoulos this is
the joys of being wrong about yourself
and i will read a little bit of this on
bad days
my awareness of life's potential and my
potential yours too by the way
is annoying yes everything is fragile
yet enormous
and of course it's all overwhelmingly
beautiful and intricate and perfect in a
way that's sometimes hard to explain
without getting all mythological about
it
even nature itself is life-affirming
isn't it with its rainbows and mountains
and
but on bad days it's like okay get it
okay i'm a speck on a speck
and it goes on like that and what i
really like about this essay
is it's almost all if you think about
like showing and telling this essay is
pretty much almost all
telling it's almost all narration and
introspection
but you want to go with the writer
on this journey because she's just so
honest
and also there are just so many great
sentences in here but she's just very
honest about what she doesn't know about
herself
and that is compelling as a reader to
like
read someone who is really imperfect who
doesn't know themselves but is being
really honest and trying to be really
honest about that
the second essay by brian broome is
another one i really love
i'm sorry i wasn't enough for you dad um
this essay actually is pretty much all
seen so it's all showing um
there are two scenes that are going on
here there's one where he's in a bar
with a friend and there's another in a
hospital with his dad who is dying
um it's really all seen but it sort of
does the same thing as stephanie's essay
i'll just read a little bit uh i've come
back to ohio
and i'm standing in the nursing home
where my father lies dying in bed just
down the hall
i don't even want to be here to tell you
the truth i feel little to no connection
with the man lying in that bed down the
hall
my mother seems to want an emotional
scene the kind that my family has always
avoided
so i don't understand these theatrics i
don't know why she's called me here
dropped me in the middle of a soap opera
hospital set and commanded me to be an
actor
um it's really an essay about like his
relationship with his dad
and why he um
has this kind of complicated
relationship that makes him reluctant to
see his dad even though his dad's in the
hospital
dying and i think i recommend reading
the whole thing he does a really good
job of sort of getting you on his side
as a reader while still being a narrator
who
you would think is unlikable because he
is being
petulant and immature about wanting to
see his dad in the hospital
um so that's another great example
um and
amy what do you think um
yeah i i i feel like we just
are having fun talking about essays that
we like reading rainbow but for
essays like yes let's talk about the
brian broome essay for like at least 45
more minutes um
he does such a good job of creating
himself as a likable narrator even as
he's being a little unlikable
so good okay i mean maybe that's like
the real
key here is just like read a ton of
essays
like the real way you're gonna learn how
to write essays is
read a lot and write a lot but stick
with us for a few more minutes um
i also would like to say that i think
this is true really of any piece of
writing
there are two stories in every essay
there's a big story
and there's a small story and it's okay
if you don't know them both when you
start
it'll come in revision and we can go to
the next slide
um oh wait yep there there she is kathy
parkhang
not smoking good job so i think when we
think about the personal essays that
really make us like
feel and think and get goosebumps there
are almost
always essays that have a couple
different layers to them that's true of
all the essays we've been talking about
here
maybe there's a personal story but it
connects to something larger
sometimes these are woven together in
alternating sections
like in that brian broome piece
sometimes the bigger picture
only becomes clear in like a very
powerful last paragraph
that bigger question might be the part
that you didn't quite know or fully
understand when you were start
starting to write maybe that was your
question remember the question from
earlier
um and this is true of short stories and
novels too by the way there's often like
an internal
smaller maybe invisible conflict and
then an external bigger more obvious
conflict
and each reveals something about the
other
um you might be telling a bigger story
you might have some statement you want
to make about
a certain kind of experience or
something that's happening in the world
but for creative nonfiction for a
personal essay you're going to want to
connect it to your personal experience
why are we hearing this from you
with the like with a lot of these steps
i think this doesn't all happen
in the first draft like if this stuff
all happens for you in the first draft
lovely i am resentful of you but
good for you but i think for most of us
this happens
in revision um this is something to keep
in mind as you go
and i know we're talking about you know
writing on medium and writing for the
internet things can happen really fast
but even so just like give it a beat
save your draft re-read it give yourself
a little bit of breathing room
um i think i always think it's a good
idea to read something aloud
to have someone else read it a really
basic tip that i actually think really
works is to
copy your draft into like another doc
in a font you don't usually use it then
it like feels like it's someone else's
voice weirdly
um and you can sort of get a different
perspective on it
um so here are two more examples these
are both from
medium two all the mugs i've loved and
lost
um this was on human parts i was gonna
say this was also like a medium classic
from years and years ago but i see it
was
just from 2019 but you know in medium
years and internet years that was a long
time ago but this is this beautiful
piece that um
is structured and it's a structure i
think that anyone could
use like as a writing exercise almost
it's about
mugs these certain muds in in the
writer's
life that she has or used to have and
each
mug is an entryway into a little mini
essay it's sort of these fragments
about a relationship um
this uh okay so i'll just read a little
bit of this uh one of my best friends
reached over and placed a pink mug of
earl grey tea in front of me
i don't drink tea unless i'm with her
she doesn't drink coffee unless she's
with me the surface of our friendship
is dependent on compromise but the
foundation is based on alliance
i almost feel like that paragraph does
like what you want an essay to do
you have the specific example i'm there
in space and time but then i also get a
little bit of like why
and a little bit of a lesson that i can
take with me
um this other piece is called the joy of
being a bad asian i just realized we
have two essays with the joy of
the title maybe that's a title tip for
you
or maybe not um this was in the stop
asian hate blog on medium
it's a really beautiful piece of writing
uh
that um i'll read you a little bit it
says i'm this is the very beginning of
the essay
i am a huge disappointment to my parents
like
if you want a first line that's an
amazing first line
there i said it but it's not because i
didn't become a lawyer or a doctor an
accountant a pharmacist a nurse heck not
even a dental assistant
after university no i'm a huge
disappointment because i just can't
quite explain
who i am to my parents or why i'm
compelled to share my messy thoughts
out loud as writers i think we can all
relate to that you see my parents are
all about flying under the radar they
fled the communist regime in subsequent
genocide in laos during the 1970s
and arrived in the united states as
teenage refugees protected by both the
1965
immigration and nationality act and the
1975 indochina
migration and refugee assistance
assistance act
skipped the 1960s entirely and missed
the whole context of the civil rights
movement
they didn't know that asian immigrants
and american-born asians had been barred
from u.s citizenship
until 1952. like right away in the story
we get
i feel like this sort of follows all of
these steps we've been talking about she
creates herself as a character she
introduces herself she's a little bit
self-deprecating there's a little bit of
humor
we're sort of invited in and then we're
told right away
why we're there um we're getting a story
not just about sort of
having a difficult relationship with
your parents but sort of this larger
story about
a very specific immigrant experience
why why her experience um is especially
relevant to us like
the so what the why now um
and this all sort of like seems so
effortless when you're
reading a really beautifully written
essay but i think it's
just sort of always something to
remember and something that anyone who's
tried to write
uh knows that sometimes the things that
seem
the easiest the most effortless the
smoothest they took the longest to get
there
so don't beat yourself up if this
doesn't happen all at once
um i'm sure these essays went through a
lot before we ever read them
uh so that's essentially
what i wanted to say let me now the time
to answer your questions and
harris do you want to grab one from the
trap
there's a lot of good questions here
um yeah so here's one
[Music]
can you point to some good books on
essay writing and some classic
essays that all should read great
question
um i actually have a book right here
that i have read you plant that why
no i did not plant this i have i have
this on my desk all the time
several short sentences about writing
it's not specifically about essay
writing but i do recommend it
for writers it it's not really written
like
an essay it's more written like a poem
it's like line by line
and it sort of
is really good for helping you to like
focus on what you're saying specifically
um and it's also has a lot of great tips
for revision
um classic essays that all should read
that's a good question um
i mean i don't know there's obviously
there are the the people that you hear
about like joan didion um i really like
nora ephron's essays i think she's
really funny
um i there's a lot of good stuff on
medium obviously
um amy anyone that you really like or
would recommend
um i think those are all really good
suggestions i think joan didion's on
keeping a notebook
is kind of a classic um and it's really
helpful
and i also think that part of this might
not really be an answer to that question
but
i think part of what really helps you to
grow as a
as a writer is to read really really
widely
so even if you're trying to write you
know a sort of
searing personal essay like go write go
read
a popular novel go read a classic novel
go read a non-fiction book about a topic
that
you didn't know you wanted to know about
um i feel like following your curiosity
and reading really widely
can both help you as a writer and can
sort of free you up if you
i find sometimes if i read too much of
the thing i'm trying to write at the
time
i can get a little tangled up in my head
i'm like ugh so
harrison already wrote this why do i
write anything
um just to i just wanted to say there's
a bunch of questions about
will this be reported um there is going
to be a recorded version
on youtube and in creator's hub
eventually so yes the answer is yes and
also i dropped a link in the chat to
a post um on medium
hopefully i did hopefully you guys can
see it and that's sort of
your your worksheet to take home with
you
and it has the links to all the essays
we've been talking about
um because the chat will disappear
when when we do and it also has some
writing exercises for you to do
and more on that in a minute but all the
links to the essays we've been
discussing are there um
i don't know if that covenant is really
answering the question
but it was a question yeah i think i'm
seeing another one here that might be
interesting to talk about so
is there an essay length and like an
optimal essay length so the examples
that we showed were between 4 and 12
minute reads on medium
what do we think of essay length my take
is
short answer no i don't think that there
is like a specific length that you
should be aiming for
i think that the thing that i
think about is like the the last step
that amy mentioned like the two stories
you sort of have to like just make sure
that like you have
a beginning and an ending to both of
those stories and that both of those
stories are
are fleshed out and
yeah i mean a lot of essays i think are
maybe 1500 to 2000 words but i don't
want to give that as a prescriptive
length amy what do you think yeah i
think
like i mean like when you're writing
anything you got to think about what you
like to read
um like what's the essay that you really
want to read if that's like a mega
long read that's an hour read that's i
don't know how many words that is
like i think you should write that it
might be hard to place that somewhere
you can always put it on medium um there
are people who really love long reads
there are also great essays that are
like
flash you know one paragraph long
i really i think you have to be guided
by what you like to read and like the
essay that you wish
existed
um one
another question that we've gotten a lot
of variations of this
is um like how do you write a personal
essay without
being boring um how do i write it
without
being naval gazey uh
a lot of sort of iterations of that
and um i think
i think the answer is that here's the
thing
you're really used to your perspective
in the world
and you're and what it's like to be you
moving through the world so that kind of
seems
maybe boring or normal but
no one else has that experience your
experience of being you
in the world is completely unique and
you're the expert in being you
so no matter who you are no matter what
you've lived you have a really unique
story to tell
i think there are certainly i've we've
all read pieces of writing that seem
too internally focused i almost think if
you have that question you're already
like have a built-in prophylactic
against that you're not going to go
there
but i think a key is to think about the
reader's experience
you know what what is the reader going
to get from it how can you open it up
to offer something to the reader that
might be
um you know including another
story it might be including some
research it might be
um you know
weaving in someone else's story um but
yeah and
and again like just to kick it to that
answer of think about the stuff you like
to read
take a look at an essay that you love
and just pick it apart
um you can even sort of like a classic
writing tip i feel like is to rewrite or
type out passages that you really like
that's a good thing to put in that
notebook we're talking about and
just sort of like absorb the um
cadences and voice of writing that you
really love
of course then you're going to want to
free yourself up to discover your own
voice
but it's worthwhile to like study how
something's made
to sort of figure out why you like it so
much
i think i don't know what do you think
hairs yeah no i agree with that i also
i think to like the boring point i would
think about the question that you're
trying to
investigate and answer for yourself like
if you have a question that is really
bugging you that like you're
really you really care about and you're
trying to get an answer
that readers will will want to go with
you on that journey
and they'll be interested too so i think
that's sort of like
if you think about it as more of like an
investigation
and less of like i mean you can think
about it as whatever you want but like
you're going on a on a journey to try to
answer a question
um you're telling a story as you do that
but
you have a question in mind that you
really want to like figure out
um yeah that's right
do you want to grab one so
um so i often hear a writer this is a
question that just came in
i often hear writers um should know
their theme before writing
um i
don't really do that i sort of write
intuitively
do you relate to this what do you think
of of that
um that's interesting i feel like
there's it's sort of a balance between
like having a sense of
what you're interested in and what kind
of story you want to tell but i also
feel like it is an intuitive process and
you want to be really open to
going wherever the story is taking you
and that can often mean
changing the structure or moving the
last paragraph to the beginning or the
first paragraph to the end or like
switching around
uh switching around sort of the order of
how you're telling the story
based on your intuition and seeing what
works and what doesn't so i think
it's good to have a rough sense of where
you're going but you don't want to be so
attached to the plan that you can't sort
of like respond to what
what you're discovering and like what
your intuition is telling you as you
read your own work but amy what do you
think
yeah i think that's that's really right
like i relate to that a lot and i think
that's sort of maybe the difference
between writing a personal essay and
writing like an article
i think if you're writing you know an
article and you're trying to share some
information
then you should have a good handle on
what you're going to say
outline it know what you're going to say
get there efficiently
in a personal essay i think there's just
more room for writing your way into the
knowledge
um and i often
find that the theme of something i wrote
is different than what i thought it
would be
but you discover it as you go and again
note cards or something like that is
really useful
i love to like plot out the scenes or
the important characters and something
writing on note cards
and then sort of shift them around and
put them in categories and then you can
see like oh my god look there's all of
these in this category of
home who knew i was writing about that
but turns out i am
um and so we have a couple questions too
that i think are kind of related to that
weirdly um like should you try to have a
consistent focus
area this question is i enjoy writing
short pieces loosely about politics and
economics but sometimes i just want to
write about my thoughts about the latest
pokemon series
hell yeah um i would say
i mean when you're writing you
are the focus you know and probably if
you have
if you know you're lucky enough to have
some devoted readers they're probably
interested in you and your perspective
and what you have to say
um you know think about the writers that
you really like if there's an economics
writer you follow and all of a sudden
once they wrote about
pokemon would you find it interesting
would you be mad
would you fault them for it probably
they could have a really interesting
perspective on like i don't know the
economics of pokemon
i don't know how pokemon works but i
think there's politics
i know there's like a hierarchy um and
sometimes
that's when really interesting
writing happens i know at medium i've
worked with a lot of writers who sort of
have
a beat a focus they're trying to kind of
um
build a brand build up a readership
totally all good valid things to do
and then they'll sort of you know say
well i kind of want to write about this
totally off the wall thing that's like
not my normal thing is that okay and
i feel like that often ends up being
some of the most interesting writing
you've seen from them
um so once again i think just like look
to what you like to read
look at the writers that you really love
and remember that like
your perspective of the world is totally
unique and
is enough to sort of be a theme
yeah i agree with that like your voice
will be the unifier
between all of those different stories
even if you're writing about different
topics it's still
you and your voice and readers can tell
that
um and sort of that's why they're
reading
um so i see another one
um
[Music]
how do i come off as how do i not come
off as being preachy
um that yeah so i think
back to the what we were talking about
with like
writing about yourself but for the
reader you want to sort of create
yourself as a persona
and part of that a good way to do that
is like
be a little acknowledge that you don't
know everything
be a little uh you can be a little
self-deprecating like
you can make a strong point about
something
um but you sort of have to earn the
right to do that based on the story
you're telling
or uh where you've taken the reader by
that point
um and i would also just sort of like
show the good and the bad of
you and um
you might be an expert on some things
but there's also some things you
probably don't know
so showing all of that and trying to be
honest about all of that i think will
give you a lot of credibility
for readers um i really like narrators
that
are very honest about what they don't
know and then they're honest about what
they do know and what they actually are
an expert in
um amy what do you think yeah
um i think that's exactly right
that's it that's all i have to say great
job um
there's a bunch of questions that are
sort of variations on the theme
the sort of age-old theme of creative
nonfiction writing of how to write about
your personal life without being
invasive to your private life or how
much are you allowed to say how much are
you allowed to reveal about the people
in your life
um it's a tricky one and i think that
everyone has different comfort levels
with that
um i i think that the important thing to
keep in mind is to like ask
yourself what your intentions are in
writing
if you're if you're sort of running
towards the question like i want to
figure out
what happened um like why
whatever it is you know why did it make
me feel weird that my high school
english teacher
acted in that way you know if it's
really a question you're trying to
figure out
if it feels like your story to tell
then i think that's your story to tell
there's that great anne lamott quote
from bird by bird that's another
really good writing book that you should
read
um that where she says something like if
people wanted you to write nicely about
them they should have treated you better
like okay okay but i mean
there um but right just look at your
intentions if you
sort of realize that a little bit of
your intentions like oh my god i'm gonna
make my
s look so stupid on the internet like
then
maybe maybe that's not the story that
you want to write maybe that's not
that's like a story to tell over drinks
but maybe that's not the personal essay
um but yeah it's like are you writing
with honest intentions
um yeah i agree with that i think
you have to be honest if you're writing
about someone else
you have to be like you have to be
honest about why you're doing it with
yourself
um first and figure out like ask
yourself why are you writing about this
person
and if it's really to answer a question
that you
want to answer for yourself then go for
it um
[Music]
so we're getting this we've gotten a few
variations on the question
any tips on coming up with headlines for
a personal essay
i think um
the headline should be something that
will make people want to read the essay
i think that's probably
um important to think about is like if
you saw this headline in the wild
would you want to read this would you
want to read the essay without veering
into clickbait without sort of like
um without doing anything that's like
too uh sort of making people click but
like
would you want to read the essay it has
to be compelling it has to make your
writing feel
irresistible and then also i would think
about
um what's like the real core
message or moment in the essay that's
um that's sort of like the thing that
you want readers
to get out of the essay and you can
bring that out into the headline and
make that into a headline
also i think for headlines like
assertions are really good
strong verbs are really good um
i would you know think about it as
a headline on the internet internet that
people are gonna are going to want to
read
maybe not just one or two words maybe a
sentence
something that can stand on its own as
an assertion
i used to have i was gonna say i used to
have a friend i still
have a friend who used to test their
headlines
on twitter by just tweeting the headline
as a tweet and if people if it
felt good as a tweet and if people sort
of wanted to
engage with them with that as a tweet
then that was sort of a good signal that
it might work as a headline um
yeah yeah i love that and i think just
like remember that um
we think you're fascinating and your
story is fascinating most people
especially if you're like writing up for
medium
for the internet just like think about
how people are consuming the internet
there's a lot
of internet and people are scrolling
fast you know or clicking through medium
fast something that like the headline
should be something that's not
that is intriguing but not hard to
understand like it shouldn't stop you so
that you're like wait what
um just think about how what will grab
the reader
and another i mean if you're writing for
medium i think that's probably true of
the whole internet an image
is so important too you know there's a
lot of
visual scrollers out there um something
that we've
found that like works really well on
medium or
that medium writers have told us is that
if you sort of create
like a little original image like a
little drawing or something
i've never done that but i think it's a
good idea um something that's not just
like
you know there's some great stock
imagery out there but something that's
not the same
stock image of like a person by a
typewriter or like holding a cup of tea
or whatever that we've seen a million
times
um but just remember that like you're
asking a total stranger to stop
their scrolling of the entire internet
and spend some time with you
like why are they gonna do that you know
yeah i agree i also think for imagery
for personal essays like you don't have
to do this but like personal
imagery really works well like if you
have a picture of like the person
that you're writing about or like if if
you're writing about yourself when
you're in middle school like
do you have a picture of yourself in
middle school or like some
kind of like personal imagery can work
well with a personal essay
yeah we're this is crazy we're actually
almost at time and i just want to say
some things um first of all i just want
to
shout out the um medium writers
challenge which was just launched this
week it's this big
exciting writing contest on medium check
out creatorshub for the details because
there are a lot of details
but um and it's there's four
sort of topics that people can write to
their
re-entry deaf space and work and you can
kind of write whatever personal essay
you want to write
as long as it's an original essay to
those topics
and then check the rules to make sure
you're doing it right but then tag it
on medium and then you'll be entered to
win this
exciting amazing challenge i also think
it would be a really fun sort of mini
challenge to
challenge yourself to write to all four
prompts um
because why not and they're such
interesting topics
um i also want to say that
uh the medium post that i dropped in the
chat that you hopefully all have it's
also on creator's hub
so you can find it on creatorship it
will live there
um it will have it has all the essays
we've been talking about
it also has some ideas for writing
exercises to get you started one for
each of our steps
and if you're so inclined you can
and you want to write one of those you
can post that as a medium post
and use the tag that's in that post um
i can't remember this but i think it's
sw
wait what is it i check the post
it's like scw scw
essay that's what it is summer creator
workshop get it
um and then and we will do our best to
look at all of them you should all look
at each other's you know if you search
the tag
like live the writing workshop
uh you know mentality of like
leave a positive comment for each other
cheer each other on get inspired by each
other um
yeah but then also just to say like
thank you so much for being here um
writing is hard
i think posting can be scary
um but we believe in you i think you can
do it
okay anything else that we need to say
here is
no i think i think that covers it
okay so we'll go oh thank you miranda
for reposting that link
um thank you so much for being here
thank you for your great questions
come to the next um writing workshops
that are upcoming they're gonna be
amazing and
uh and yeah go write go read something
thanks so much
you
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