Starving Artist.

While writing other letters, it is sometimes hard to find the “right” words to say. After reading advice tips and tricks, I found the best anecdote to being at a loss for the perfect sentiment: Write the letter you’d most like (or need) to receive. So while this particular letter project prevented me from penning a self-addressed note for weeks, eventually, I went back to that old advice.

And ultimately, I could read this letter any day of my life and put its very simple message to good use.

Blog post inspired by @moreloveletters.

I fill the printed lines with the classic, overachieving ideas: travel the world, see the sights, start traditions, keep good habits, kick the bad ones to the curb, and through it all, write everything down. I pride myself on the finished product; it is a testament to just how much I aspire to do for myself, for my personal enjoyment, for simple contentment. For the opportunity to say, “I did it all.”

My new blog: beginning the battle on New Year’s resolutions.

writersbane:

((by Melissa Donovan))

Around here, we’re usually so focused on fiction, poetry, and journaling that we often forget about another form of creative writing: the essay.

The first essay that captured my attention and got me interested in essay writing was Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” which was also my first introduction to satire:

Written and published anonymously in 1729, the essay suggested that impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food for rich gentlemen and ladies. This satirical hyperbole mocked heartless attitudes towards the poor, as well as Irish policy in general. (Source)

“A Modest Proposal” is a harsh piece of writing but is both creative and socially conscious. Essays can also be academic, personal, or analytic. In terms of subject matter, essays can run the gamut. And while essays are often associated with academia because they are often assigned by schoolteachers and professors, plenty of writers have eked out careers publishing essays on a wide range of topics.

Today, we’ll focus on developing essay writing ideas, but first let’s look at a few types of essays.

What is an Essay?

The word essay comes from the French word essayer, which means “to try” or “to attempt.” An essay is a short format of writing, which usually presents an author’s personal point of view and can include criticism, arguments, observations, recollections, and reflections around a focused topic. Usually written in prose, the essay falls somewhere between an article and a short story.

According to Wikipedia there are three branches of essay writing:

Personal and autobiographical essays: these use “fragments of reflective autobiography” to “look at the world through the keyhole of anecdote and description.”

Objective and factual: in these essays, the authors “do not speak directly of themselves, but turn their attention outward to some literary or scientific or political theme.”

Abstract-universal: these essays “make the best … of all the three worlds in which it is possible for the essay to exist.” This type is also known as Giraffe Style Writing.

So, how does one come up with essay writing ideas? One place to start is by thinking about the type of essay you want to write.

Types of Creative Essays

Because essays are so broad and can range from academic or analytic to being highly personal, we can further place various types of essays in an unlimited number of categories. Let’s look at a few types of creative essays:

Narrative Essay: Narrative essays are similar to short stories except they are nonfiction and usually relate to a core topic or theme. Such an essay usually makes a point using story as an example. These are excellent essays for journal keepers and short fiction writers.

Descriptive Essay: A descriptive essay avoids the author’s personal thoughts and feelings and focuses on the who, what, where, when, why, and how. These essays are ideal for anyone who likes to examine a subject from every angle and for writers who enjoy composing descriptive prose.

Personal Essay: A personal essay relates an author’s thoughts or feelings on any given subject. Subject matter can range from food, health, and parenting to political or philosophical beliefs. The writer’s personal experiences may be the basis for such an essay; however, personal experiences may be absent.

Reflective Essay: We’ve examined reflective journal writing, and a reflective essay isn’t much different except that it’s a stand-alone piece and usually meant for publication. This is an essay about a personal experience, which is intertwined with thoughts (reflections) on it.

Response Essay: A response essay is similar to a personal essay in that it relates the author’s thoughts and feelings, except it speaks specifically about the author’s reaction to something — books, movies, travels, and other events and experiences are all fair game.

Argumentative of Persuasive Essay: These essays present the author’s position on an issue and apply logic, reason, and often, statistics and research, to back up the author’s opinions. Persuasive essays are designed to convince readers to do something or see some issue from a certain perspective.

This is just a small sample of the various types of creative essays you might write. You may find that just by reviewing the different types of essays, something clicks and you’re struck with inspiration. However, you may need to look to your passions and interests to generate essay writing ideas; you may need to start with a topic.

Writing Ideas: Choosing a Topic

In the world of essays, there are unlimited topics that you can explore. In fact, topical essays are considered one of the many types of essays that you can write.

Here are a few good strategies for selecting a topic if you’re looking for essay writing ideas:

What are you most passionate about? What gets your blood boiling or makes you want to do a happy dance? Write an essay about it.

What do you know a lot about? It could be something you studied in school or it could be career-related. Your knowledge base provides great fodder for essay topics.

What do you want to learn more about? You can always conduct research for an essay, and if there’s some subject you’d like to learn about, then conducting that research for an essay is a great way to get started.

Let’s say you’re writing a science fiction novel and want to learn more about our solar system so you can depict space travel. You could write a descriptive essay of our solar system and start the project by writing a long list of questions to which you need the answers in order to get started.

Tips for Publishing Essays

Many publications accept essay submissions. You can write an essay for a specific publication or you can write an essay and find a publication for it later. Be sure to check the publications’ submission guidelines and follow them accordingly. For example, some publications only take academic or analytic essays; others may be looking for essays that deal with specific subject matter.

If you’re a prolific essay writer, you can also self publish on your blog or website or you can make a collection of essays and publish it via any number of self pub tools. Amazon singles provides a great way for authors to publish individual essays.

In legacy publishing, you might find essay collections difficult to place. You usually need a few publication credits (clips) or expertise in a field before landing a publishing deal in this form.

Do You Write Essays?

Essay writing is a great field for writers to explore. Some of the greatest artists, thinkers, and leaders have been essayists and contributed their thoughts, feelings, and perspectives to the greater culture through the written word. Have you ever written an essay that wasn’t assigned? What subject matter do you like to explore in essays? Where do you find essay writing ideas? Share your thoughts and experiences by leaving a comment, and keep writing!

Writer Wednesday.

teachingliteracy:

creatingaquietmind:

1. The bandage was wound around the wound.
2. The farm was used to produce produce.
3. The dump was so full it had to refuse more refuse.
4. We must polish the Polish furniture.
5. He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7. Since there was no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10. I did not object to the object.
11. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12. There was a row among the oarsmen on how to row.
13. They were too close to the door to close it.
14. The buck does funny things when does are present.
15. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18. After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19. Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Had to reblog—hilarious.

This year, instead of making a complete list of writing resolutions for the whole year, try implementing one new resolution every month.

Writer Wednesday.