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!
