Writing A Creative Essay Exercise
(from: http://www.chsbs.cmich.edu/Robert_Root/AWP/cnf.htm)
Kim Barnes: “What is a Word Worth?”
I often speak to
my writing students about "bringing their intellect to bear" as they
compose their personal essays. What I mean by this is that the best
literary nonfiction should work at a number of different levels, including the
level of intellectual stimulation. The problem we face as writers of
nonfiction is how to challenge our individual stories--how to take the
narrative itself and expand its breadth and reach to encompass more of the
world.
The goal of this
exercise is to weave the word's broader application into the writer's personal
experience. Ideally, the five sections weave together and inform one
another and bring to the essay a kind of intellectual unity as well as a
greater depth and complexity.