Skillshare Essay Writing Course Notes

#1
Start with your ‘Why’

What is your work trying to communicate to your reader?

You need to have purpose in your writing

Potential ‘Whys’
1. Increase awareness- Reader is more informed on a topic
2. Call to action- The reader goes forth and DOES something in the world
3. Transform Perceptions- The reader changes the way they think about a given topic
4. Inspire more stories- The reader shares their own story

Don’t be heavy handed. Offer ways that you have taken action or suggest ways that others
can take action.

Rhetorical Appeals to think about:

Ethos: The ethical appeal. Making sure you’re honest and true in your work
Logos: Logical appeal. Does everything make sense? Are you being rational and even-
minded in your work?
Pathos: Emotional appeal. Making sure your reader cares

Be Specific!
Don’t go too broad. You don’t have to write universally and you shouldn’t write for
‘everyone.’ It’s too broad. Write about a very specific experience with a very specific ‘why’
in mind. This is enough to interest the reader even if their life is different to yours.

Homework: Take Action!

1. Select the story you wish to tell

The stigma I have received since turning vegan and delving into WHY this is the case.

2. Consider the main whys- awareness, action, perception, inspiration

Awareness: I want the reader to be more aware of the stigma that exists around vegans and
how they can not add to this with their own behaviour.
Action: After reading my story I want people to feel inspired to take action and try veganism
for themselves.
Perception: I want the reader to really change the way they think about veganism and
question their opinion and why it is that way.

3. Write down your reason for sharing your story

I want people to understand how ridiculous it is to bully someone because they eat different
food to you. I want people to question why they have such divisive attitudes when it comes
to eating animal products and why they are so cynical when someone challenges this.
I want the discriminatory behaviour to stop. I want people to realise that perhaps they are
the odd ones for condoning the suffering of animals.

If this story also encourages a few people to try veganism then that would be good too!

#2
Key Idea: Look inward and outward

Why are people going to care about what you have to say? You need to look outward.

 Your writing is not a diary entry.

 Find ways to reach and connect to your readers
 Make them feel included and part of the conversation
 By looking outward you are showing the reader that you’re interested in what they
think and feel

Great writing balances the inward and outward. You don’t say too much about yourself or
too much about the outside world. It’s a balance.

Everything happens in a given time and place and cultural climate

What is the context around your issue/experience
Show awareness of the world around you
Social-political climate

Emotional Tone
What tone will you use?
Be deliberate in conveying and controlling emotional tone
Use humour to break down walls and get your point across successfully. When there’s no
room for humour, try and treat the subject matter as plainly and openly as possible.
Openess- This is who I am
Tension- Be measured
Anger- Sharing anger and why the reader should be angry
Joy- Write with joy and happiness

Use your instincts. The tone can often be found when you’re revising your work.

Homework: Take Action!

1. Connect your story to the time, place and cultural climate

2020, UK. Living in a world of climate crisis, Trump, destruction of the planet, Stress about
corona virus, health consciousness, nutritional confusion. Rates of obesity are high and
people are dying of diseases such as heart diseases, diabetes, strokes etc. So much of this
can be controlled by what we eat.

2. Identify the emotional tone you want to use

Humour- to engage the reader. By making fun of situations I can hopefully bring things to
the readers attention in a non-aggressive way.
Directness- I want to be honest and straight forward in my story-telling
Hard-hitting/Anger- Sometimes I want the facts to be plain so they can’t turn away. But I
only want this once I’ve reeled the reader in with humour. Then they can see what the point
of being vegan is and they can start to empathise with that.
Joy- I want the reader to feel uplifted by my vegan journey so they try it out for themselves.

#3
Key Idea: When Truth Matters

 Take the truth and treat it as a story. Your story and your truth ARE ENOUGH.
 Think about how to capture the essence of truth in your essay.
 The creativity can come into the details of the writing. (Drapes)
 Be intentional about sharing the lives of others- what are you going to share? Why?
How will this affect relationships with these people? Consider the implications of
your relationships
 ‘Never be a hero or a victim in your own work.’ -Dinty Moore
 As long as you’re fair about what you say it works out

 Fact-checking your own work

 Ensuring truthful accurate writing by confirming objective details and verifying
sources
 It’s common for you to remember an experience differently to how others
remember it.
 Define personal boundaries about what you will and won’t share- it’s good to have
boundaries and you don’t need to share EVERYTHING
 You can write personally but hold things back for yourself

Homework: Take Action!

1. Collect your memories of the events in your story

 Ren and Sean coming to visit and me feeling inconvenienced to make vegan food
 Me judging other vegans like Simone and Simon and Kara and Sally for thinking they
couldn’t eat delicious food AND be vegan
 Xmas Dinner with the friends and the bullying I received
 Courtney judging me for giving up milk but eating other dairy products
 My parents joking around and acting like we’re crazy

2. List 1-3 other people who shared your experience

 Nick, Ren, Rosie

3. Define your boundaries between what you will and won’t share

Key Idea: Read to know what works

Analyse writing and ask questions about:
Chronology
Emotional tenor
What is the point of view and is it working in the piece?
Where do I see research coming out in this piece?

 Look at the essay globally and locally. This is when you look at the piece as a
whole and when you look at the sentence or paragraph. Both are valuable.
 Annotate the essay to analyse the craft-

Homework: Take Action

1. Print an essay and analyse
2. Ask questions while reading about emotional tone, boundaries, framework,
rhythm and sentence.
3. Identify the inward and outward aspects of the essay

HW: Thanksgiving in Mongolia by Ariel Levy (read it). Print it and highlight it and see where
she is looking inward and where she is looking outward.
HW: What fullness is by Roxane Gay- She broke it down into sections of looking inward and
looking outward.
Reading like a writer- Francine Pose (good book to read)
How to write an autobiographical novel-Alexander Chi (great essays)
Rebecca Solnit- writes about social issues
Kima Jones, Morgan Jerkins, Randa Jarrar

Key Idea: Conducting Research

 Identify what you need to be credible on your topic.

 Research is very important with non-fiction writing
 Think about questions related to that topic and assume that readers will have the
same questions. You aim is to find the answers to those questions.
 To be well-informed is to be well-armed.
 Acknowledge that there are multiple points of view but then use your research to
support what you’re saying.
 It’s also important to show that you’re not just being emotional but that bias actually
exists in measureable ways.

Identify how you want to conduct your research:

 Inward research- Interview family, interview friends, go through your old emails
 Outward research- what’s going on in the world
 You don’t have to include every piece of research in your piece.
 Think about what the reader needs

Gather notes and links in a reference document that you can refer to. Good for fact
checking.

HW: Take Action

 1. Create a blank document to gather sources and notes

2. Identify up to 3 research topics that are relevant to your story

 Why are vegans hated so much?
 How has meat affected our evolutionary development?
 Do we still need to eat meat now?

3. Find, read and take notes on three sources

Key Idea: Write your first draft

 Don’t overthink inward and outward. Just start! Don’t overthink just START.
 Put words down on the page. You can always go back and revise.
 What else do I need to do with this experience and what I’ve shared from my life?
 It isn’t enough to just write about your experience. Offer moments of looking
outward.
 Think about the beginning of the essay. How are you going to bring the reader into
the essay? Think about what you want to say and how you want to say it. It could be
a strong line or a scene, or start broadly with cultural context. Find an interesting
way to pull the reader into the piece.
 What will you do to make the reader continue reading? Every paragraph needs to be
connected in some way and ideas should transition seamlessly.
 Think about structure. Narrative frame: Start with a scene or moment and then
come back to that at the end.
 Reach your reader with vivid scenes: Who was there? When did this happen? What
did the room look like? Think of fiction writing. Really describe the scene in detail so
they feel it.
 Spend most of the time on the heart and body of the essay. Don’t overthink and
overwrite the beginning and end. Especially the end.
 Don’t overwork your first draft. It doesn’t have to be perfect. There’s a difference
between sloppiness and imperfection.
 Don’t share every single detail of your experience.
 Take yourself seriously! Give yourself deadlines and wordcount goals. Treat it like a
job.

Narrative frame:
Start with Xmas dinner with friends

End with xmas dinner with friends

Take Action: Homework

1. Compelling beginning to draw readers in
2. Don’t overthink your ending
3. Don’t hesitate just start!
  Don’t get too hung up on this. It’s just good to re-see your piece and give yourself a
few hours or a few days or weeks to let the piece sit.
 Read your work aloud- you can see if your thinking is said, if you’ve said what you
wanted, if you’ve said what you want to say and included enough research etc.

Good Revision Questions:

 Is your sense of purpose clear?
 Are you developing narrative tension?
 Are you evoking a sense of place?
 Who are the characters and are they fleshed out?
 Is the dialogue interesting?
 Is your voice clear and strong?
 Is there a strong beginning middle and end?
 Is your tone consistent and is it appropriate?

Join a writing group if you want feedback. There are virtual writing groups too.
Feedback is subjective.

Key Idea: Getting Published

 Look at a writers bio and see where they’ve been published and contact those
publications.
 The Writers Market- a list of every magazine in the country
 Do a trope is a good resource too but has a fee
 New pages. You shouldn’t pay to submit your work unless its for a contest
 Every publication has a website and have submission guidelines
 You have to write a cover letter with your submission. Short and simple
 Never explain what your essay is about

HW: Find three publications that fit your style and submit your work!