A personal essay is meant to be a window into our soul, a glimpse of the world that we come from. These are not stories but mirrors, a form of absorption and communion with human contingencies.

And why relive all experiences through an essay, one might ask? Because stories are what bind us, and they make us feel less isolated in our happiness, pain, and victories. And in that journey, we connect with others.

That’s the impact of a personal essay, it helps us turn our life experiences into stories that can reach anyone who reads it.

Finding Your Story

Searching for the heart of your personal essay is like a scavenger hunt, you can win as long as you find the memory that has shaped you into who you are today.

Begin by making a timeline of key events in your life that have changed, altered, or been influential in your path, teaching you lessons along the way.

Meditate on these experiences:

• What emotions do they stir?
• What insights did they bring?

Choose a subject that is more than special to your heart. Imagine what type of stories resonate with you. Most usually, those are the words that ring true to our own experience or stir the common well of emotion. For example, take a look at Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, or Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking. The books were resonant with the author’s collective grief as they poured their heart into them.

Crafting Your Narrative

The structure of your narrative is similar to constructing a house as it pretty much needs a sturdy backbone. There should be a clear starting point, middle section, then conclusion in your essay.

Beginning

Set the stage – set up the central conflict or theme your essay will follow. You could open with an interesting anecdote, a compelling query, or a moving quote. Take Joan Didion’s first sentence in her essay “Goodbye to All That”: “It is easy to see the beginnings of things, and harder to see the ends.”

Middle

Get to the heart of your story – invoke a sense of place by giving specific, descriptive details that will let your reader see the action in their mind. Show, don’t just tell. For example, if you are writing about a childhood memory, do not just say that I was scared. You are not an artist – you are a writer, so do not create pictures, instead say something like “The old oak tree reared above me, its twisted branches stretching grotesquely against the ground, my heart pounded as I tip-toed on, curiosity ever at war with terror”.

End

Provide resolution. Reflect on the experience.

• What did you learn?
• How did it change you?
• Do you still feel curious about why?

Provide closure or something to think about to your reader. At the moral end of Maya Angelou’s essay “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” is the poignant line: “The caged bird sings with a fearful trill, of things unknown, but longed for still.”

Balance personal reflection with storytelling. If you can also make them grounded in reality, they will simply sink deeper into the real world as part of the recognizable norms and contexts that they refer to.

Creating Emotional Connection

Now let’s see how you can create your emotional connection with readers. Because in the end, it is always that heart pull that stays with you after you have read the last words.

Fostering Passion

Think of your essay in terms of orchestrating feelings. Create emotional triggers through sensory language. Don’t just say, “I was sad.” Learn how to move your reader in the process too: “My vision blurred with tears, rivers of salt on my cheeks.” And remember that emotions are contagious, if you feel it, your readers will as well.

Being Vulnerable

Be real about your fears, your doubts, and your ugly; being vulnerable attracts empathy. When you show your imperfection, they feel connected because ugly is something they know. For one thing, it reminded me of Brené Brown’s TED Talk on vulnerability— the talk spoke to so many people because it felt raw and uncut.

Using Universal Themes

Your stories are pieces of the puzzle, organize them to show a broader view. Let your theme resonate with people on a level that understand and can relate to. Let’s take heartbreak for example, most people understand how it feels, which means that the strength you found to overcome your obstacles mirrors the feelings of others at that point.

Polishing Your Essay

Get your essay ready for final review, as a fine jeweler would do to a precious gem.

Editing: Refine awkward sentences, make unclear transitions coherent, and organize scattered ideas. Do you think your essay would sound natural if you read it? Cut the weeds, wound your sentences together, and get to the point.

Feedback from people: Writing is a solitary path, but feedback is a guide. Show your essay to friends who you trust, mentors, or writing groups. The blind spots, inconsistencies and hidden gems that their fresh eyes will be able to see can help you polish that rough diamond.

Revising: This is where magic happens. Now step back and ask yourself:

• Is this essay telling my story properly?
• Does it resonate?

Revise with purpose by improving descriptions, and read more into yourself and your message. Remember Hemingway’s iceberg theory: it is what is beneath the surface that influences what can be seen.

Tips and Tricks

Here are some tips and tricks for writing personal works of art.

Think of the essay as if you are speaking honestly and openly with someone to whom you are revealing your truth. Even though it shows your faults and weaknesses, be real. Authenticity resonates.

Imagine you are telling this to a friend over coffee. Use optional conversational tone, contractions, and rhetorical questions, and get rid of formalisms. Instead of saying “I have always been passionate about,” say “I have always loved.” Readers read voices, not manuals.

Avoid Cliché lines. Find some other metaphor for life besides “life is a journey.” Perhaps life is a quilt of many patches, each one sewn from a memory.

Be honest, don’t shy away from speaking your truth, and let your words gyrate on their wavelength.