Writing the personal essay

What are you the tiny master of? 

The New York Times (You have access to this!)

These are personal essays from college students published in the NYTimes. 

1. Read some short essays and think about how and why they "work". 
2. Find some idea about the state of women that resonances with you.
3. Puke on the page and look for a moment that you would like to expand on.

Here are the pitfalls to look out for in the personal essay. 

Make a list of at least 10 things that you're interested in, preoccupied with, or obsessed with. You can include anything on this list, no matter how big or small. You can be silly or serious, ridiculous or sublime. Anything goes. (Feel free to share your list below if you'd like.)

Make a list of at least 10 things that you know. What do you know? Don’t overthink this. You know more than you think you do. You know how to do things. You know what you believe. You know what memories you have. You know things about other people. You know what it’s like to live in a particular place. You know what you wonder about. Just as with the last list, you can be as silly or serious as you want with this one. These can be things that only you know, or things that other people know, too. Write down whatever comes to mind. (Feel free to share your list below if you'd like.)

Now that you have your two lists, take a step back and look at them side by side. Take a few minutes to compare and contrast your “IPO” and “What I Know” lists.

Are there any connections between them? Do any of the same things show up on both lists? What sticks out to you? Let the lists inform each other. Is there anything you want to add to either list now that you have both of them in front of you? Feel free to draw lines between the two lists to connect anything that feels related. Make additional notes if you want. If something sparks a new idea in you, write it down. There’s no right or wrong way to do this! Just let yourself play with the lists.

Choose a single moment from your mindmap (or list) and write it down on another clean sheet of paper. Next, make a list or mindmap of every physical detail from that moment.

For this step, you’re going to take a look at everything on your experience mindmap and find a single moment or scene within those experiences. (Again, don't worry about choosing the “right” one. Any moment or scene or detail that you feel drawn to is the right one for now.)

It's time to get specific. I like to think of this in terms of photography or movies. We started with a wide-angled shot of a general event or experience. Then we panned around to see all of the stuff that made up that experience. Now we're going to narrow the shot, focus the lens, and sketch in the details of one scene.

Life happens all at once. Dozens of images and events converge in the real world. In any given moment, lots of things are going on. When we sit down to write about a moment from our lives, it’s easy to want to include every single detail. But that’s nearly impossible. It would make the story too cluttered and confusing. Well-told stories include well-chosen details, not the whole shebang.

But before we think about telling a well-told story, we need to let some more of the story unfold. This is the time to gather all of the details of your moment. Think about the moment you’ve chosen. Really look at this one moment in your mind. Think of it as a scene in a movie. What’s in the scene? What’s happening in it?

Use the suggestions below to make lists or a mindmap of the physical details of your moment. Be as specific as you can. Let your mind and memory roam.

• Senses: Engage your five senses in the memory of this moment. What do you see? Hear? Smell? Taste? Touch? Write down what your senses encounter in this moment.
• Objects: What objects are in this scene? Look around your memory and write down what you see there. Notice which items feel most important to you, even if you don't know why.
• People: Are you alone in this moment? If not, who else is there? Are there people who are important to the moment who aren't in the scene?
• Action: What is happening in this moment? Are you doing something? Are you moving or still? Are you standing or sitting? What is happening around you? Are other people moving? Is there traffic or wind in the trees? 
• Dialogue: Is anyone in this moment talking? What snippets of conversation can you remember? What words do you overhear?

Make a list, mindmap, or notes about your thoughts and feelings about this moment.

Set aside your list of physical details for a few minutes, and spend about five minutes free-writing about the following questions. (You can write in whole sentences if you wish, or you can stick with making a list or mindmap of words and phrases.) Use a clean sheet of paper.

Here are some questions to consider as you explore your thoughts and feelings about this moment:

What does this moment mean to you?

Why is it important?

What makes it matter or gives it significance?

How did you feel in this moment? How do you feel about it now?

What did you think back then? What do you think now?

(Your thoughts and feelings may be the same now and then, or they be different.)

Here are some opening phrases that you could use as prompts to help you explore your inner world of this moment:

This scene makes me feel....

This moment makes me think....

When I remember all of this, I fee...

When I remember all of this, I think...

When I remember all of this, I wonder....

(It’s okay to write down questions or things you wonder about.)