Good Autobiographical Writing Should Be Like A Striptease
How to craft personal essays that don’t put your readers to sleep.
Medium recently informed me that I was a top writer in the topic of “Life Lessons”. I felt almost embarrassed that I had written so much autobiographical content but was nonetheless thrilled that my stories got read.
I know that autobiographical writing can easily go pear-shaped because I’ve messed up many times. Writing from your own perspective, or about your own life, requires a high level of introspection, and this can alienate writer from reader. When writing autobiographically, the writer can easily make the mistake of sharing more with a reader than the reader would care for.
Sometimes, when I write a personal essay, I feel a little guilty, as if I’m being obnoxious and imposing myself upon readers, psychically molesting them. On a bad day, I feel like a park flasher creeping up on some unsuspecting victim, tearing open my trench coat and horrifying them with the sight of my naughty bits. On a good day, I feel like Deeta Von Teese putting on a Class A burlesque striptease.
So how can a writer justify the exhibitionism of the personal essay, and turn a potential crime into seduction?
The answer – be charming!
The trick to making “come hear about me” writing palatable is to make sure the package — your writerly voice, nicely wrapped up in that trench coat — attracts the attention of your reader, then see to it that what’s underneath is va-va-voom!! A good piece of writing should titillate; it should elicit a powerful emotional reaction from a reader — this can be anything giggle to outrage. If I am not fascinated by the topic I am writing about, then I probably shouldn’t waste my time on it. If my heart’s not it in, I will just bore the crap out of my poor reader.
Before I began disrobing for an unsuspecting audience at Medium, I worked as a news reporter and copywriter, and wrote short fiction. I’ve learnt a few tricks from each of these trades, which have come in handy for crafting personal essays.
The News Reporter
As a news reporter, I learnt how to organize and edit for clarity and brevity. Put the most salient elements of the story —…