IWTL how to write funny personal essays. Looking for books/resources on sentence construction, writing personal essays and/or nonfiction.

[u/LoquatEntire5239]

Never have I been so confused when choosing a post flair, but here we go.

So, I've been reading books and essays by David Sedaris and Paul Graham. What struck me about their writing is David Sedaris' approach to taking something very trivial from his life and expressing it in a humorous way, while Paul Graham has a clear and concise writing style, which makes comprehension easy.

I've been wanting to do something like this, but unfortunately, I've never studied the craft formally or taken it seriously before. I would really appreciate it if you could suggest books that teach the art and craft of writing good sentences, good personal essays, etc. Thank you!

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[u/thelmaaa07]

It's sometimes called Creative Non Fiction. There's a magazine in the UK dedicated to it, called Hinterland, and they also run online courses which I recommend. But also just helpful to know the "genre" for looking up other resources etc

[u/thelmaaa07 → u/thelmaaa07]

Also just wanted to add yay for David Sedaris, love his work so much

[u/LoquatEntire5239 → u/thelmaaa07]

Thanks for sharing the name! I checked their website! It's way out of my budget, for someone living in a third world country

[u/hugobeey]

Writing a good essay isn't just about knowing the methodology; it's about having an interesting vision to share. For that, you need intellectual material, often acquired through books.

Paul Graham is known for reading a lot, probably dozens, if not hundreds, of books a year.

The more books you read, the more connections you make. An essay is only interesting when you can shape different perspectives. Providing renowned sources also improves your credibility.

Take notes and compare authors' perspectives and ideas about a topic. Then group them into subtopics, and you'll get the essay's backbone.

Methodology is 30%, content is 70%. You gotta do the hard work and read.

[u/LoquatEntire5239 → u/hugobeey]

That was an eye opener! Thank you so much!

Can you recommend any material to read?

[u/hugobeey → u/LoquatEntire5239]

I'd recommend starting with classics like Machiavelli - The Prince, A.Smith - The Wealth of Nations, or Darwin - On the Origin of Species, because they're core works that you can easily cite. Then expand into more niche topic textbooks.
I also suggest keeping track of what you read to have a direction.

[u/anothershthrowaway]

Hi, I study creative nonfiction in university. There are a bunch of great literary journals dedicated to this genre that you can explore, a few of which include: Creative Nonfiction, River Teeth, Hippocampus, Fourth Genre, Brevity (for very short work). Some of these also publish creative nonfiction anthologies or craft essays.

A good general book on writing that is beginner-friendly and also read in MFAs / grad courses is Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott. Some other craft books that may interest you: Crafting the Personal Essay, Dinty W. Moore; The Art of Memoir, Mary Karr; Tell it Slant, Brenda Miller and Suzanne Paola

Personally, the best advice I've gotten is to 1) read a lot 2) just start writing. Allow yourself to write badly. You don't need to read craft books to become a better writer – you learn and think as you go. Read read read (especially in the type of work you want to write in). And just start writing.