You say you'd like to get a real byline, not just Fan Story publication, but you don't know what to write that will get published. I have only been at Fan Story for a little over a month, but I have learned the answer to that question by reading and reviewing.
Everybody here has something unique and no other human being can tell that story. I have read bits and pieces of it in your books, stories and poems. It's your one and only life story. It's the easiest, surest way to publication that I know of, and I did a lot of research on the subject.
No two snowflakes are alike, and certainly no two sets of life experiences are identical. Nobody else can sing your song or tell your tale like you can. It's magic and it's all yours.
New and unpublished writers who are hungry for that first byline can almost count on being published in a magazine or newspaper if they write one of the most popular articles of this day or any day--the personal essay.
People enjoy reading about the true personal experiences of other people. They want to share in the writer's heartfelt moments, lessons learned, nostalgic memories, defeats and triumphs.
The personal essay has been one of the richest of all literary forms for more than four hundred years. It is distinguished from the formal essay by its conversational tone, loose structure, and honest self-disclosure.
What Makes A Good Personal Essay?
It almost feels like cheating at first to be able to write an article that requires no research. Everything needed is within the writer's head and heart. The challenge for the author is to make sure that he writes the experience with absolute honesty, depth of emotion, and transparent thought processes. The reader wants to share in the fact that this experience is real. They want to be able to feel it like you felt it.
The best personal essays are about everyday people living everyday lives who encounter confronting a personal strength or weakness, a new truth, a humbling or triumphant moment or even just a humorous incident to which the reader can relate.
Nora Ephron, nonfiction and screenwriter, experienced a painful youthful incident. Her mother, a realist who knew her daughter's gift for writing, told her to buck up because everything that happens to you is copy. I have read about quite a few very painful divorces, break-ups and deaths while reviewing here at Fan Story. You've heard since English 101, "Write what you know" because it works.
The firsthand stories come from everyday life, but what raises them to the level of a unique, well-written, hopefully absorbing personal essay? The writer must cultivate an ability to strain out the gold from the gravel of a day's dross, mundane activities and events. One way to facilitate this process is by journaling. It trains the awareness to spot the gold that might be otherwise missed. It is the best practice for writing in this genre.
Personal essays, like any good writing, should grab the reader from the first word. The introduction should catch the reader's attention immediately, saying in effect, "Hey, I'm an interesting, complex person just like you and I'm going to tell you a story about something that happened to me that really opened up my eyes, touched my heart, or taught me a lesson I'll never forget."
This type of article needs a tight structure. It must have a strong focus. Don't let yourself meander off into anecdotes about Aunt Betty and Uncle Earl that actually have nothing to do with the story you are telling now. So your first step is to pick out the point you want to achieve with your piece. Everything else in the article must build to prove this point.
You want a formula for this type of piece too? Here's a structure for your story:
A personal experience story always starts on the day that something different happens to you. This is the "hook" that captures the reader's interest.
Try to make this hook provocative enough that the reader will want to know what happens next to you. Shocking statements often work well. "When I hit my ex with my car going 60 I felt like I had just been let out of prison." Or use an anecdote that intrigues the reader and leaves him with more questions: "When I was ten I came home unexpectedly and found my mother dancing in the dark by herself."
Next, because of the incident or statement, you have to react and show how you handled the problem. Quite often this decision will be wrong. This causes you stress and suffering. But this path seemed right to you at the time.
You continue on this course of action based on this wrong decision until something happens to change your attitude. A turning point occurs that forces you to make a sacrifice or make a new choice. This shows you have learned your lesson. Now you can continue to a satisfactory conclusion of the original problem.
A definite theme emerges through the telling of the story. If the main character, you, learns something about himself and changes in some way, your story has done its job.
What If the Essay Is Just Too Personal?
Sometimes the essay may just seem too personal, in which case a writer might want to use a pen name. He can also change the perspective and write from the third person point of view to add distance. But, still, the personal essay writer must always put his life on the line if the essay is to be worth anything. Or else a writer may simply have to wait a longer period of time from the actual event before attempting to write and publish an account of it. The revelation and regret will still be there, but maybe it will sting less. You always must dig deep.
Guidelines for the Writer
Payment varies from a free copy of the publication to more than $1,500. Length can be as short as 200 words to 10,000 or more. Read the submissions guidelines. Be sure to get a good feel for the magazine itself. Check out even the ads in the magazine, as this can help a writer develop a sense of the readers' tastes and backgrounds. Be familiar with the publication's style, moral tone, social and political leanings.
Personal Essay Markets (also called Creative Nonfiction)
Here are some personal essay markets to submit the finished personal essay to:
Christian Science Monitor, The Home Forum Section - Pays $75 for short pieces (300 words) to $150, on publication. Submissions should be original, upbeat personal essays from 400 to 1,100 words. Remember they are a religious publication. Leave out questionable material and immoral behavior.
Good Old Days - Seeks personal experience pieces about life in the 1950's and before. These run from 500 to 1,500 words. Payment is $15 to $75. Pictures help you break in here. Send submissions to them at 306 East Parr Rd., Berne, IN 46711 or email them at Editor@GoodOldDaysOnline.com.
Skirt! Magazine- Publishes 8 to 10 personal essays every month on topics relating to women and women's interests. Uses a different theme each month. See guidelines. Pays $125 for essays of 800 - 1,000 words. E-mail submissions accepted and response time is remarkably quick.
The Sun Literary Magazine - Pays from $300 to $3,000 for essays, the amount being determined by length and quality. Contributors receive a complimentary one-year subscription. No minimum word length, and they rarely run anything longer than 7,000 words. They try to respond within three to six months.
Literary Traveler, a web-based e-zine that draws over 50,000 readers per month, features high-quality writing. They pay $25 for personal essays that focus on creativity and have a travel tie-in
Guideposts - Articles should present "tested methods for developing courage, strength and positive attitudes. They help readers achieve their maximum personal and spiritual potential." They want first-person narratives written in simple, dramatic, anecdotal style. Payment: $200-$400.
When you consider the growth and popularity of reality TV, you get some appreciation for the insatiable interest people have in other peoples' lives. You don't have to be a celebrity to make people want to peer into your windows. Use your free life experience for profit and publication now.
Further reading for enjoyment and inspiration: "The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present", compiled by Phillip Lopate. Be sure to read in it: Natalia Ginzburg's "He and I", and Scott Russell Sanders' "Under the Influence". Then go way back and read Plutarch's "Consolation to His Wife" which might make you weep, even though he died back in 125 A.D.
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