FINDING THE EMOTIONAL CENTER OF YOUR ESSAY
You’re wandering through a foggy day in a familiar city, drifting the way we do when we’re not worrying about time, place, or consequences. That’s how I feel when I write the first draft of an essay, and if that’s where you are now, good. You’re right where you need to be.
A personal essay can range all the way from formal to creative nonfiction, and it usually involves a character arc (yours). What doesn’t change is the importance of an emotional center. In a formal essay, it’s clear because you have a thesis statement. When you move into less-structured forms, you’re really almost dreaming the first draft, moving back and forth through time, maybe adding dialogue. Then, sooner or later, you have to step out of that dream. Revising means more than just fixing the commas and rearranging a few sentences. It means finding the emotional