Best Personal Essay Advice from Editors
If you hope to get your personal essay published, you must first read advice on the form. Maybe because the nonfiction landscape is so vast, writers I work with often seem perplexed about what editors are looking for. Or why rejections keep coming.
Thankfully, many editors have been generous and prolific in providing advice for new essayists.
The personal essay is one of my favorite nonfiction forms because it encompasses everything. You can do a straightforward personal essay in narrative form, a lyric essay, a flash essay, or a hybrid essay (op-ed + personal essay; travel piece + personal essay; movie review + personal essay) or, one of my favorites, a reported personal essay.
Here are some collected specifics on how to start your personal essay, revise an essay, and get your essay published and out into the world.
How to Start Your Personal Essay
You need to start with a hook. Sometimes this hook is a scene (dialogue or a dramatic moment). Still, if the scene in question is subdued or too complicated, you might need to open with a more dramatic statement: “My husband left me for my sister, which has made family reunions complicated, including last Thanksgiving.” Not a scene, but yes, you have my attention.
Often, clients think that scenes are inherently engaging, but that is not true. A lot of scenes are quite dull. What can you write to inspire a reader to continue to the next line? And the one after that?
Editor Suggestions:
Narrow your subject options. “Ask yourself: Is this something that is either a) taboo yet relatable that no one has ever articulated as well as you can, b) an experience SO incredible and foreign that people will feel compelled to share it, or c) a really big idea from the vantage point of the only person who could have had that perspective.”
– Doree Shafrir, How To Pitch Personal Essays To BuzzFeed Ideas
Get started. “Take out a journal and write longhand for ten to twenty minutes…keep writing without censoring yourself. Don't worry about it being intelligible. If you're stuck, write, "I'm stuck, I'm stuck," until something else comes out. You might try starting each sentence with "I remember" or "I see/smell/hear/feel" to drum up more details from the recesses of your mind.”
– Rachel Krantz, founding editor of Bustle. “11 Tips For Writing A Publishable Personal Essay.
Try mirroring another piece. “…you see a lot of repetition for story types or angles because it’s like that ‘feeling-seen’ moment … deeply meaningful, and so a lot of times, the first intro is to mirror how you felt when you read it from someone else. I always say to a writer in that situation: Think of that as the first draft. Then, try in that first draft to identify the thing that is so deeply unique to just your experience, and then start there. I think it’s a helpful awakening of, ‘here’s a new way to look at this.’”
– Amanda Sakuma Medium: How Editors Choose the Personal Essays They Publish
Be honest. “Whenever you write, keep the question, am I being honest? in the front of your mind. If something reads somewhat disingenuous, or you're only telling half the truth — know that readers and editors can smell it a mile away. It's natural to want to protect your ego or privacy, but try to stay genuine and raw.”
– Rachel Krantz, 11 Tips For Writing A Publishable Personal Essay.
Write as though no one's reading. “Tell yourself you can always edit out certain details later, and try to write with as much honesty as possible. You'll end up with more details this way, and likely, a much better personal essay.”
– Rachel Krantz 11 Tips For Writing A Publishable Personal Essay.
Revising Your Essay
Now it’s time to do the hard work—revising. More than editing or running spellcheck, revision asks you to dig deeper, to make sure the essay is really focused on what you’re trying to say. Anything that is off-topic gets cut. Rewrite the lead or ending, and add layers of sensory details, vivid description or dialogue.
Add conflict. “The column is about problems. Without conflict, there's no narrative. An essay about how in love someone is tends to be about as interesting as sitting in a coffee shop listening to your friend tell you how in love she is. Giddiness is not narrative. Conflict is.”
—Modern Love editor Daniel Jones as documented in this collection of Modern Love Submission Tips.
Use the arc. “Every good story gives the audience a sense of where the protagonist began, a moment of change when something in the protagonist shifts, and ends with a sense of where the protagonist is now — and why it matters. Now, that might sound a lot like a beginning, middle, and end — but it's not quite the same. This kind of arc can be nonlinear as well, as long as it communicates those three things. (Nor should your essay ever be tied up in a pretty, simple bow.)”
– Rachel Krantz “ 11 Tips For Writing A Publishable Personal Essay.
Include these characteristics. The qualities of a good essay are similar to those of a good relationship. Namely, both should be:
Honest
Funny (funny + honest is especially great)
Generous
Open-minded
Curious
Expansive
Self-deprecating
—Modern Love editor Daniel Jones in this collection of Modern Love Submission Tips.
Revise to show. “A good essay usually has some moments of telling, some scenes, some beautiful descriptive language, some dialogue, and often, some outside perspective (i.e. stats, quotes from other essays or articles, social/political context)... where I see most people tripping up is in describing everything and showing next to nothing.” – Rachel Krantz “ 11 Tips For Writing A Publishable Personal Essay.
Breathe life into your work.
“No: ‘So I was thinking about climbing this mountain. But then I watched a little TV and made a snack and took a nap and my mom called and vented about her psoriasis then I did a little laundry (a whites load) (I lost another sock, darn it!) and then I thought about it again and decided I’d climb the mountain the next morning.’
Yes: ‘The mountain loomed before me. I had my hunting knife, some trail mix and snow boots. I had to make it to the little cabin and start a fire before sundown or freeze to death for sure.’”
—The Moth: Storytelling Tips and Tricks.
Is Your Essay Ready to Send?
Looking at a piece through the editor’s eyes takes practice. But before you hit send, review the piece to ensure it’s publishable—which mostly comes down to how it stacks up in the following ways
Reveal something emotionally new. “...two of the main things I look for when I’m trying to make that decision or evaluate pitches like this are: do I learn something and am I moved? I think a great personal essay should always be revelatory, in some ways, and teach you something new… It can be emotional truths, which are just as valuable, if not more valuable.” –Jon Gluck, Medium: How Editors Choose the Personal Essays They Publish
Ask, “So what?” “While your essay might be meaningful to you, you have to step into the shoes of the average reader and consider what will make him care about your thousand-word story. ‘The key question to ask about every idea you have,’ says O’Donnell, is ‘So what?’” –Narratively features editor Lilly O’Donnell and Brittany Taylor in What Editors Want in Your Personal Essay.
Find the larger theme. “Ask yourself: How is this relevant to people who don't care about me personally? Does my story represent a larger struggle or common experience?” – Rachel Krantz “ 11 Tips For Writing A Publishable Personal Essay.
Sell your idea—and yourself. “Tell us why you want to write about this topic/theme. What excites you about it? Why are you best suited to write this? Why is it the right time to publish this essay? Tell us why your idea is unique” –Longreads: Calling All Writers: Pitch Us Your Essays
Ensure the fit. “First-person submissions should be made up of compelling, vivid, active scenes. These scenes should be dramatic, exciting moments of you interacting with others. If most of your story is internal -- thinking, feeling, reflecting -- instead of moments where you are actively doing things and interacting with others, then it's not the right fit for us.” –Narratively’s submission page
Know your stuff. “The bottom line is that you should know why you’re writing about whatever you’re writing about. What did you learn from your experience? What should we learn? What does it illuminate about humans and the world we live in? Not every personal essay needs to have a tidy ending. And writing doesn’t have to be sad to be profound; funny is great! But the piece should crystallize a clear main idea that feels really fresh and meaningful.”
–Rachely Sanders, How to Submit to BuzzFeed News Culture Desk
This is an asynchronous class, which starts on Monday, July 8, 2024, is for anyone struggling with a book. Although that first sprint of fifty pages into a book—either novel or nonfiction—can be exhilarating, it’s hard to sustain. Sooner or later, you’re likely to find yourself in a creative ditch, wheels spinning. We’ll take a look at when to revise and when not to, as well as which questions are productive and which are not. We’ll seek out ways to reinvigorate ourselves for much more writing. The final class will be a tutorial on the business of finding an agent and/or publisher for your book.