Writing the Personal Narrative Essay

Start by picking your subject: jot down several possibilities, and try not to repress anything.

Remember: you will experience some discomfort: expect it.

Now, go back and re-read “Salvation.”

Then write a quick first draft: try to give the essay shape, a structure, that is, a beginning, a middle, and an end -- as well as a central conflict.

Avoid too much “setting the scene” and providing too much “background” information: instead, dramatize -- note how Hughes sets the scene in "Salvation" with just a sentence or two: this may be all you need.

Focus on the central, dramatic situation/incident without explaining too much: let the action guide the story.

Create tension and suspense for the reader as the narrative moves toward a climax.

Think about your audience: who you are writing to? Remember Adler: writing, like reading, is a conversation.

Set the first draft aside, forget about it, and come back to it later.

When you finally return to the first draft, read it as if someone else had written it, and make notes on what you think would improve, enrich, deepen, and tighten the essay.

Now write another draft.

Ask yourself: how are you different now, as the person who is writing the essay, from the person you were then, that is, the person whose past you are writing about?

As you work on the essay, many questions will arise: keep track of them, write them down -- feel free to send them to me, and to raise them with your classmates on the Group Discussion Page in our Modules and also if you like on the Q&A Board. Check in regularly and participate as much as you can.

Think about the ending of the narrative: what was the outcome, how did things turn out, and what were the consequences? What did you learn about yourself, about people, about others, and about the world?

Consider the meaning of what you've written: the essence of it: have you made the reader understand the full significance and importance of your personal narrative?

Finally, write another draft.