personal essay tips

personal essay tips

Mastering the Art of Personal Essay Writing: A Comprehensive Guide

1. Introduction to Personal Essays

But to provide readers with the most comprehensive approach to personal essays, Malachowski does not limit his discussions on this genre to merely a description of what it is and how to write one. Instead, the bulk of his book discusses the literary devices that have been used to create classic examples of the personal essay. Throughout, he provides scores of readings, drawn from contemporary literature as well as from classical canonical works. These readings include a large range of forms and styles, from many different cultures and historical epochs, to provide a varied and comprehensive illustration of the art of personal essays. In applying many literary approaches, including how to gain a skilled balance in writing, how to use speed and brake, the use of metaphor, the manipulation of time, and the variety of plotting possibilities, Malachowski’s book serves as a comprehensive resource for literary criticism useful to amateurs and experts alike.

In this comprehensive guide, author and educator Michael S. Malachowski explains the tools and techniques the most skilled writers use to give their essays that sophisticated, artistic, literary treatment they aspire to. He does not approach the essay as an academic exercise, but as an art form. Drawing upon his years of experience both as a teacher and a working writer, Malachowski first describes what it is that makes the essay unique among literary vehicles, and then delves into the various genres of the essay itself. He explains the basics of how to write a good personal essay and, in doing so, covers all the tricks of good journalistic writing. But he goes further, rolling in the narrative techniques normally seen in fiction. He also outlines many of the conceptual tools the thoughtful essay writer uses to grapple with the complex and sometimes dangerous material he or she chooses to explore.

2. Crafting a Compelling Narrative

General ideas, not constricting but prompts for reflection: Significant accomplishments Challenging situations Emotions Why this worked or didn’t What the writer learned

To create a compelling narrative essay, the following should be kept in mind: – The story should be packed with vivid images and other sensory details. – The story must have a purpose or meaning that is clear. – First person is natural; the author themselves is always the protagonist or observer. – Telling significance… reveal the importance of the experience to the writer’s life, beliefs, ideas, convictions, and understandings. What did the writer learn? – Utilize reflection as a way to show the writer’s thinking about an event before, during, after and what was learned. – Dialogue can capture conversations, which are to be viewed as the gift they are… opportunities.

A narrative essay usually tells an event from the writer’s life and is told chronologically. Often times, it is in the form of a memoir. The purpose of the narrative essay is to recount an experience that either changed the writer’s life or enlightened the writer about life. It can also be used to explore life lessons and to figure out how the writer became who they are today. In addition, a narrative essay can focus on action, evoke emotions, and write descriptively.

3. Developing a Unique Voice

There is no clear definition, but suffice it to say that the voice in a text is what makes the reader read your text and not Yogi of the story on the next page. It is what makes tubes return to your own text after he has scanned through several others. It is what makes Madeleine’s other books interesting. Your voice is what turns the reader away from the words on the paper and towards you. To develop yours, go and piece by piece unravel your innermost feelings in different subjects; things that you once feel, hate, flinch from, desire, dream about, love, scorn, or make you happy. Make the thoughts jump off that page and have them snigger or scowl at you just the way we know O. Henry’s characters can.

Main idea: To write an acceptable essay – one so engrossing that even a stranger would be gladly entertained for hours, completely oblivious to you, your office in your aunt’s house, or even your existence – you certainly need to have a unique voice. A voice is as distinct and telling as an individual’s diction. It is the layer that separates an expressive community from another. The major difference between Shaw’s dilemma and Baldwin’s “Notes of a Native Son” is the voice. Compare another text – a contrived one – to Achebe’s “Okwonko,” and anyone can tell that there is a difference. This is the central factor you must have in order to break that ungraspable barrier between you and the reader.

4. Structuring Your Essay Effectively

Essential components of the essay “The Art of Living With Courage” is a title you may choose for your personal essay. Please, how will I define such an essay for my own understanding? We find information and expression of thoughts in every essay, however, personal essays possess the following unique features: – It should narrate an event related to the central topic. – It should be written about a person and their actions, behavior, personality traits, and influence to depict aspects of the central event. – The writing depends on the writer’s feelings and thus, it is personal. – Although the narrative is about the writer, it is important to limit sentimentality and be truthful in the discussion. Structuring your essay effectively.

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time,” is a comment by Thomas Edison, and I think it is a very good personal essay thesis.

5. Polishing and Perfecting Your Writing

In the conclusion, the student must return persuasively to the central idea, albeit in a more mature, complex, or more conclusive way. Thoroughly proofread the paper to represent one of the best efforts possible. There should be no substitute for meticulous care in the preparation of the completed essay. Nothing excites a teacher and reader more than to follow a worthy and well-reasoned narrative put in a lively, focused, and top-notch fashion. Without exception, all excellent narratives are the product of deep reflection and/or numerous revisions. Although teachers can suggest what to envision and how to make the narrative come alive, the student will eventually have to find his/her own yet powerful and distinguished voice in an attempt to write a compelling narrative. Remember, a powerful voice can bode well for the writer and the writing.

Throughout the entire essay writing process, students must remain conscious of their target audience. Some degree of family and teachers’ involvement in the revision and editing of the writing is to be encouraged. The narrative should reflect the kind of person and teacher the student is; the situation described should be characteristic of the overall behavior and attitude of the student. Spend time considering and selecting a subject of lively and interesting narrative interest. A good topic – a compelling, cohesive, thematic title, an introductory paragraph that previews the story and includes the central focus – should receive the student’s closest attention. Fairly sizable blocks of writing – readable, coherent, lively, varied, individual, free of either mechanical error or redundancy – are, generally speaking, what examiners tend to be looking for throughout the writing, but especially in the development and in the conclusion.