When You Realize Your Personal Essays Suck
I’ve been on this platform long enough to realize the difference between a powerful personal essay and a powerful-ish piece of writing that feels somewhat…incomplete. The majority of my posts fall in the latter category. That is why, upon finding the news that I’ve been accepted in the Boost program, I went from being pleasantly shocked to panicking really fast.
It is an honor as much as it is a slap in the face. Imposter syndrome, anyone? Not even the greatest minds our world has seen and read (think Maya Angelou, J.D Salinger) could escape their inner critic from overshadowing all the positive feedback their work was getting. What chance do I stand?
I’ve been picking apart my work for the last week or so, mainly focusing on the flaws, and searching for ways to feel less miserable about them. Grateful for Roxane Gay’s work, which is a godsend. Her course on writing helped me shift my focus from “my writing sucks” to “this is how I can improve my personal essays to make them more impactful”. Roxane took me back to the root reason I started writing and editing in the first place — inspire others to do the same.
When we craft personal essays, we don’t just write for ourselves, we write to connect with our readers. As Roxane rightfully…
