Comments on: I’d Write Creative Nonfiction If I Knew What the Heck It Was http://segullah.org/writing-tips/id-write-creative-nonfiction-if-i-knew-what-the-heck-it-was/ Mormon women blogging about the peculiar and the treasured Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:47:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Blog Segullah : Segullah Writing Contest Questions and Answers http://segullah.org/writing-tips/id-write-creative-nonfiction-if-i-knew-what-the-heck-it-was/#comment-165948 Blog Segullah : Segullah Writing Contest Questions and Answers Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:38:36 +0000 http://segullah.org/?p=3997#comment-165948 [...] blog post. It got a lot of positive comments. Can I submit that? A:Yes, but. First, please read Angela Hallstrom’s excellent post on the difference between a blog post and an essay. We at Segullah’s journal love a good blog [...] [...] blog post. It got a lot of positive comments. Can I submit that? A:Yes, but. First, please read Angela Hallstrom’s excellent post on the difference between a blog post and an essay. We at Segullah’s journal love a good blog [...]

]]> By: Jennifer B. http://segullah.org/writing-tips/id-write-creative-nonfiction-if-i-knew-what-the-heck-it-was/#comment-153909 Jennifer B. Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:37:08 +0000 http://segullah.org/?p=3997#comment-153909 Angela, this is fantastic. Thanks for sharing your insight! Angela, this is fantastic. Thanks for sharing your insight!

]]> By: Melissa M. http://segullah.org/writing-tips/id-write-creative-nonfiction-if-i-knew-what-the-heck-it-was/#comment-153648 Melissa M. Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:14:13 +0000 http://segullah.org/?p=3997#comment-153648 Blue, I had Eugene England for a graduate Shakespeare class--need I say more? The man was brilliant. Blue, I had Eugene England for a graduate Shakespeare class–need I say more? The man was brilliant.

]]> By: Blue http://segullah.org/writing-tips/id-write-creative-nonfiction-if-i-knew-what-the-heck-it-was/#comment-153627 Blue Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:10:47 +0000 http://segullah.org/?p=3997#comment-153627 it took me two hours to read this angela! i don't write fast at all. and i only write passably well at my best. but once upon a time a favorite teacher at byu, eugene england, had me write a personal essay, and when i got the paper back and saw what was written on the cover sheet ("A+. Get it published!") i was excited. years later when i re-read that essay, i realized how much my writing had evolved through time, and that he was being generous with his praise. but his encouragement has probably been the single most significant inspiration in me writing at all. i never thought of writing. didn't consider myself a writer. hadn't studied it or aspired to be someone who writes. i've been slowly evolving in my thoughts about writing over the past 2 decades, and because of that i really enjoyed your piece here. i tried to find your course on the link you sent. any more specific info that might help? it wasn't in the fall schedule as far as i could see. and do you know how much it costs? just thinking maybe... ♥ it took me two hours to read this angela! i don’t write fast at all. and i only write passably well at my best. but once upon a time a favorite teacher at byu, eugene england, had me write a personal essay, and when i got the paper back and saw what was written on the cover sheet (“A+. Get it published!”) i was excited. years later when i re-read that essay, i realized how much my writing had evolved through time, and that he was being generous with his praise. but his encouragement has probably been the single most significant inspiration in me writing at all. i never thought of writing. didn’t consider myself a writer. hadn’t studied it or aspired to be someone who writes. i’ve been slowly evolving in my thoughts about writing over the past 2 decades, and because of that i really enjoyed your piece here.

i tried to find your course on the link you sent. any more specific info that might help? it wasn’t in the fall schedule as far as i could see. and do you know how much it costs? just thinking maybe…
♥

]]> By: Melissa M. http://segullah.org/writing-tips/id-write-creative-nonfiction-if-i-knew-what-the-heck-it-was/#comment-153504 Melissa M. Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:45:13 +0000 http://segullah.org/?p=3997#comment-153504 I was thinking this morning that a personal essay is also not just a chronicle of events: "Then this happened, and then this happened...." So it shouldn't sound like a journal entry or a chapter in one's personal history (if one should write a personal history, which I have not). For example, if you wanted to write a personal essay about your schooling experiences, you would not write an essay that talked about your kindergarten class, and then your first grade class, and then about how you went on to second grade, and then you went to third grade---where you met your best friend, Susie---and then you went to fourth grade and had Miss Brown as your teacher, etc. You would zero in on one particular experience--perhaps talk about how, when you were in third grade, your mother made you take cashews and oranges to school for lunch, or crumbly homemade whole wheat sandwiches with cucumber and cheese on them, instead of the white bread, bologna sandwiches that everyone else took to school, and you traded your cashews and oranges for your friends' bologna sandwiches, and prayed that your mother would never find out. And then you might relate that experience to an overall theme, which could be something about not fitting in, or something about your family's eating issues when you were growing up. Or you could write about how all the boys in your class had a crush on Miss Brown, and it wasn't until years later that you realized that Miss Brown never wore a bra (because it was the 70's), and this could develop into a number of different themes, depending on what the essay is ultimately about---coming of age in the 70's, or feminism, or being clueless about sexuality in fourth grade, or whatever. Bottom line is that a personal essay isn't just a list of events, or a chronicle of what happened to you. You still have to shape your material---the experiences that happened to you---into art. I was thinking this morning that a personal essay is also not just a chronicle of events: “Then this happened, and then this happened….” So it shouldn’t sound like a journal entry or a chapter in one’s personal history (if one should write a personal history, which I have not). For example, if you wanted to write a personal essay about your schooling experiences, you would not write an essay that talked about your kindergarten class, and then your first grade class, and then about how you went on to second grade, and then you went to third grade—where you met your best friend, Susie—and then you went to fourth grade and had Miss Brown as your teacher, etc. You would zero in on one particular experience–perhaps talk about how, when you were in third grade, your mother made you take cashews and oranges to school for lunch, or crumbly homemade whole wheat sandwiches with cucumber and cheese on them, instead of the white bread, bologna sandwiches that everyone else took to school, and you traded your cashews and oranges for your friends’ bologna sandwiches, and prayed that your mother would never find out. And then you might relate that experience to an overall theme, which could be something about not fitting in, or something about your family’s eating issues when you were growing up. Or you could write about how all the boys in your class had a crush on Miss Brown, and it wasn’t until years later that you realized that Miss Brown never wore a bra (because it was the 70′s), and this could develop into a number of different themes, depending on what the essay is ultimately about—coming of age in the 70′s, or feminism, or being clueless about sexuality in fourth grade, or whatever.

Bottom line is that a personal essay isn’t just a list of events, or a chronicle of what happened to you. You still have to shape your material—the experiences that happened to you—into art.

]]> By: Adri http://segullah.org/writing-tips/id-write-creative-nonfiction-if-i-knew-what-the-heck-it-was/#comment-153487 Adri Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:40:56 +0000 http://segullah.org/?p=3997#comment-153487 Thank you, Angela. This is so very helpful! I agree with Emily about evolution. The personal essays I've written that are most successful start out as a story and the "moral" or meaning comes to me through the process of writing. I usually don't even know what it is when I start! Thank you, Angela. This is so very helpful!

I agree with Emily about evolution. The personal essays I’ve written that are most successful start out as a story and the “moral” or meaning comes to me through the process of writing. I usually don’t even know what it is when I start!

]]> By: Sage http://segullah.org/writing-tips/id-write-creative-nonfiction-if-i-knew-what-the-heck-it-was/#comment-153427 Sage Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:22:57 +0000 http://segullah.org/?p=3997#comment-153427 I love personal essays. This was a wonderful description. Too bad I haven't moved yet or I'd take your class. Maybe in a couple years! Until then, I'll keep working on my essay! I love personal essays. This was a wonderful description. Too bad I haven’t moved yet or I’d take your class. Maybe in a couple years! Until then, I’ll keep working on my essay!

]]> By: Melissa M. http://segullah.org/writing-tips/id-write-creative-nonfiction-if-i-knew-what-the-heck-it-was/#comment-153420 Melissa M. Fri, 21 Aug 2009 02:39:05 +0000 http://segullah.org/?p=3997#comment-153420 Angela, I'm impressed that it only took you two hours to write this post! :) Angela, I’m impressed that it only took you two hours to write this post! :)

]]> By: Michelle Glauser http://segullah.org/writing-tips/id-write-creative-nonfiction-if-i-knew-what-the-heck-it-was/#comment-153400 Michelle Glauser Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:37:46 +0000 http://segullah.org/?p=3997#comment-153400 Great post. I've got some changes to make . . . Great post. I’ve got some changes to make . . .

]]> By: FoxyJ http://segullah.org/writing-tips/id-write-creative-nonfiction-if-i-knew-what-the-heck-it-was/#comment-153393 FoxyJ Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:43:10 +0000 http://segullah.org/?p=3997#comment-153393 I thought this was really good too. I've tried and failed many times to write personal essays and creative nonfiction. My husband is a writer and has many writerly friends from doing his MA at BYU. I started my blog four years ago because many of our friends were starting these wonderful, creative, witty blogs that I wanted to copy. And mine isn't like that. I have tried a few times to write personal essay but I need a lot more practice. I'm very good at expository writing and criticism, but creative writing eludes me. I would love to take your class but I don't know if this fall would work for me. I'll have to think about it (I'm pregnant and semi-high risk so I need to be careful). Anyways, let us know next time you're teaching :) I thought this was really good too. I’ve tried and failed many times to write personal essays and creative nonfiction. My husband is a writer and has many writerly friends from doing his MA at BYU. I started my blog four years ago because many of our friends were starting these wonderful, creative, witty blogs that I wanted to copy. And mine isn’t like that. I have tried a few times to write personal essay but I need a lot more practice. I’m very good at expository writing and criticism, but creative writing eludes me. I would love to take your class but I don’t know if this fall would work for me. I’ll have to think about it (I’m pregnant and semi-high risk so I need to be careful). Anyways, let us know next time you’re teaching :)

]]>