A truthteller’s toolkit

Once upon a time, a writer might contact an agent and confess their desire to publish an essay collection. And once upon a time, an agent might have resisted an urge to laugh in the writer’s face. As a form, essays had fallen out of favor, hard, and finding a home for one both at a publisher and on readers’ bookshelves was an immensely difficult task, especially for a new author.

Thankfully, the tides have reversed, and essay collections like Esmé Weijun Wang’s The Collected Schizophrenias, Leslie Jamison’s The Empathy Exams, and Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror now flourish in bookstores and on bestseller lists. Online publications seeking personal essays abound, providing space and readers for true stories told well. The personal essay, frankly, has never been hotter.

But the rise in popularity has also led to a rise in submissions, making it harder for a writer to stand out in the crowd. If you’re looking to jump into the fray, here are the key components a writer needs to build a strong personal essay – plus bonus tips for writing one that’s irresistible to editors.

1 START WITH A STORY.

Essays are a nonfiction form, true, but they have more in common with the short story than with academic writing. A personal essay is a true short story, plain and simple. An essayist must color within the lines of fact, but they also must utilize