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Advice on Essay Endings:
- Repeat a phrase or idea that was introduced earlier, like the return of a musical refrain; Often the initial setup or opening sentence will forecast the ending.
- Tweak or transform an earlier mentioned idea into something new, perhaps with a different spin.
- Introduce a new insight helped in reserve just for the occasion of the ending.
- “Readers should be left with some things to work out on their own.”
“Creative nonfiction allows the nonfiction writer to use literary techniques usually used only by fiction writers, such as scene-setting, description, dialogue, action, suspense, plot. All those things that make terrific short stories and novels allow the nonfiction writer to tell true stories in the most cinematic and dramatic way possible. That’s creative nonfiction.” — Lee Gutkind
… a really interesting, unpredictable mind struggling to entangle and disentangle itself in a thorny problem, or even a frivolous problem that is made complex through engagement with a sophisticated mind.
Writer’s Journals
Ralph Waldo Emerson began keeping a journal at 18 when he entered college and filled 182 volumes over his lifetime. He consulted his journals frequently as source material for his essays and poems. He spent months to catalog his journals to make access easier.
Benefits of Being a Contrarian in Essays:
- Adds a dimension of surprise that keeps the reader engaged.
- Introduces tension and suspense. How will the author back up this outrageous position?
- Gives more personality to the narrator as curmudgeon or oddball that, so long as it’s self-deprecating, will keep the reader engaged.
- Allows the reader to engage in anti-social or taboo thoughts with minimal risk.
Narrator as Character
Essay writing needs conflict like any story. You can “dramatize” the narrator’s character to a highlight personality traits that most distinguish you.
Make Judgements
A common mistake of novice essay writers is to be hesitant in making judgments. Be bold. That will help make your essay more interesting, particularly if you’re taking a position that is contrarian.