The Art of the Personal Essay

Dear Readers,

First of all, thank you for tuning in. Second of all, here we go. As promised I am alternating my writing with some teaching. I mean this is technically writing, but I mean instructional versus completed piece (or mostly complete) of writing. I was going to launch into the mechanics of what makes a great personal essay, but what came out when I started typing was the word “art.” Hmm. Art is a difficult term. Mechanics are a whole lot easier. How about we explore both, packed into a brief take? Let’s see how far we get. I have been writing and teaching writing for twenty-five years, so that’s something, but for the record, I have only published published a couple of essays, which are more like “pieces,” that have personal essayistic characteristics. The reason I’d like to explore this topic is because I am now putting together a collection of essays I started around the pandemic in order to see if I could write an interesting and successful personal essay. So far so good. I will be sharing some over the course of the next few weeks. I have some heroines in this department. Anne Patchett is one. Leslie Jamison is another. When I was working on my memoir more than fifteen years ago, I took a couple workshops from Adair Lara, a terrific writer and longtime columnist with the San Francisco Chronicle. She wrote a book called “Naked, Drunk, and Writing,” the title of which rubs the thirty-three year sober part of me wrong, but I’m fine with the naked and writing part. Whatever, it’s an instructive book. Okay, the first thing with a personal essay is that it’s personal to you. That seems obvious, but you’d be surprised given how our minds wander and opinions stray. Keep it focused. Like with memoir remember, even though it’s about you, it’s NOT about you! It’s about the reader. Leave your ego in the dust. How do you do that? By focusing on your vulnerabilities, blind-spots, misperception, stumbles and falls. Also, by using your time-tested friend “classic story structure.” It’s a start. Think inciting incident. Dive right in with a contradictory surprising first sentence. Grab out attention from the get go. You’ve heard it a million times, might as well try it: BE SPECIFIC. Easier said than done. Tap in and trust your sensory impressions. This might take practice, since the media, social media, and the chaos of daily life is designed to make you an automaton, and to numb out. But no, you must explode inward touching into the most sensitive of sensory impressions. What do you and you alone see? When you are not turning away via distraction in the next second. Look closer still. Be willing to STAY with your sensory impressions. That includes smells, sounds, tastes, touches, and most-importantly, visceral emo-bodily sensations. This take courage and belief in YOU. This is why mindfulness meditation is crucial and the single best way to deepen your sensory experience. The longer you stay with these impressions, the better your language is for expressing them. Oh, that’s good! Track them by writing them down during a meal, while out walking the dog. Practice, practice, practice. Want to take it to the next level? Give these sensory impressions a metaphor or simile to amplify them for your reader. Compare your impressions to UNLIKE things. More on this in “Writing as a Path to Awakening,” the book. On to structure.

Yeah, so story structure. Great personal essays have a protagonist (you) filled with a specific desire (want, longing, etc.), who is on some kind of a journey, either emotional or literal, who runs into obstacles getting what she wants, and then the unexpected circumstances lead her to some sort of resolve, resolution or epiphany. I know this is very simplistic, but that’s really and truly the gist of it. Change is at the heart of the piece. YOUR change. What will make it interesting is the level to which you are vulnerable, specific, and stylish. What I mean by stylish is just that. That’s the art part. Your usage, syntax, sentence structure, metaphors and similes. Your willingness to use strong verbs and to be hyperbolic and dramatic with language. When you mix structure with style, you’re golden, you end of making art. Check out Leslie. Don’t let your wonky opinions get in the way. Study the greats, have fun. Most importantly don’t over-think your way there. If anything over-write your way there (and then scale it back with conscious editing! More on that later. Happy writing. Bye for now.