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3 Tips For Writing Compelling Essays
Author: Kelly Adams Stone
Usually told in a first-person narrative and relating to a past or factual event, anthology essays (or creative nonfiction essays) are sometimes easier for beginners to write since the essays relate factual incidents with dramatic flair. Anthology series, like Chicken Soup for the Soul and Cup Of Comfort, give beginning authors a unique opportunity to break into high-profile print and fulfill their dreams of becoming published authors.
If you're looking to break into the anthology market, the following tips are sure to help you write a compelling anthology essay:
Pick a universal theme.
Universal themes are those that resonate with the majority of people. They speak to our common joy, sorrow, and suffering. There are four prominent themes in literature: love conquers all, good versus evil, triumph over adversity, and coming of age. These four themes are a good jumping off points when culling your brain for stories.
Choose the memory you want to write about based on the theme of the book you are targeting (most anthology editors put out specific calls for stories on their websites), then personalize it. The event you choose needs to be personal enough that you can write an emotionally charged story, while being broad enough to include as many readers as possible. Your universal theme should also set up the primary conflict (or problem) in your story in paragraph one.Create a back story with mini-conflicts that demonstrate how the primary conflict arose.
A back story is the middle portion of the essay―the "meat" of the story. This section should give the reader a deeper understanding of what the conflict is about, how it came about, and most importantly, why it came about.
As in fiction, the mini-conflicts should worsen the primary problem and lead up to or contribute to the main conflict. Your story should "show" and "not tell." Showing simply means putting the characters into action on the page.Conclude the story so that it loops the ending around to the beginning.
This technique is sometimes called the "wraparound method." Bring the story full circle by demonstrating, through character action and dialogue, how the conflict was resolved. A trick I like to use is to write steps one and three in present tense, then step two in past tense. This helps the reader follow the time line and adds to the drama at the end―when I shift back to present tense to show how the conflict is resolved.
Just remember to keep that the resolution must be a manifestation of the universal theme. This is the "aha" moment for the reader; when all loose ends are tied together. The ending must demonstrate that the universal theme rings true.
Using universal themes in writing is no secret, but basing an anthology essay on one will help make your own personal story grab the hearts of many readers and hopefully grab the attention of many anthology editors.
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