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Crafting The Personal Essay: A Guide for Writing and Publishing Creative Non-Fiction Paperback – September 8, 2010

by Dinty W. Moore (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 246 ratings
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Award winning essayist Scott Russell Sanders once compared the art of essay writing to "the pursuit of mental rabbits"—a rambling through thickets of thought in search of some brief glimmer of fuzzy truth. While some people persist in the belief that essays are stuffy and antiquated, the truth is that the personal essay is an ever-changing creative medium that provides an ideal vehicle for satisfying the human urge to document truths as we experience them and share them with others—to capture a bit of life on paper.

Crafting the Personal Essay is designed to help you explore the flexibility and power of the personal essay in your own writing. This hands-on, creativity-expanding guide will help you infuse your nonfiction with honesty, personality, and energy. You'll discover:

   • An exploration of the basics of essay writing
   • Ways to step back and scrutinize your experiences in order to separate out what may be fresh, powerful, surprising or fascinating to a reader
   • How to move past private "journaling" and write for an audience
   • How to write eight different types of essays including memoir, travel, humor, and nature essays among others
   • Instruction for revision and strategies for getting published
Brimming with helpful examples, exercises, and sample essays, this indispensable guide will help your personal essays transcend the merely private to become powerfully universal.
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  1. Print length
    272 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Publishing Group
  4. Publication date
    September 8, 2010
  5. Dimensions
    5.52 x 0.74 x 8.41 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1582977968
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1582977966
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dinty W. Moore earned a BA in writing from the University of Pittsburgh, worked briefly as a journalist, and also served short stints as a documentary filmmaker, modern dance performer, zookeeper, and Greenwich Village waiter. It was only after failing at each of these professions that he went on to earn an MFA in fiction writing from Louisiana State University. He has guest taught creative nonfiction seminars across the United States and in Europe. In addition to editing the internet journal, Brevity (www.brevitymag.com), he is on the editorial board of Creative Nonfiction and is coordinating editor for the annual anthology Best Creative Nonfiction (W.W. Norton). Moore teaches writing at Ohio University and serves on the Board of Directors of The Association of Writers & Writing Programs.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Publishing Group; 1st edition (September 8, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1582977968
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1582977966
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.52 x 0.74 x 8.41 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 246 ratings

About the author

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Dinty W. Moore

Dinty W. Moore

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Dinty W. Moore was born and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania, and spent his formative years fishing for bluegill, riding a bike with a banana seat, and dodging the Sisters of St. Joseph. He earned a BA in writing from the University of Pittsburgh, worked briefly as a journalist, and also served short stints as a documentary filmmaker, modern dance performer, zookeeper, and Greenwich Village waiter. It was only after failing at each of these professions that he went on to earn an MFA in fiction writing from Louisiana State University.

A National Endowment for the Arts fellowship recipient, Moore has guest taught creative nonfiction seminars across the United States as well as in Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Canada, and Mexico. In addition to editing the journal, Brevity, he is on the editorial board of Creative Nonfiction magazine.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
246 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book informative and helpful for understanding essays better. They say it has plenty of reading and writing exercises that encourage them to write. Readers describe the writing style as excellent, clear, and common-sense. In addition, they say it challenges them to become better writers.

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30 customers mention "Information value"30 positive0 negative

Customers find the book informative and helpful for understanding essays better. They say it contains great examples of narratives that make for pleasant reading. Readers also mention the references are literary and the style is invaluable.

"...This particular book was a breath of fresh air. Well written and relatable. A must have for Writers." Read more

"...Dinty Moore’s Crafting the Personal Essay is an interesting and helpful read...." Read more

"...Each area includes helpful tips and even creative writing prompts that got my head whirling with ideas...." Read more

"...Thanks for a great and interesting read!" Read more

24 customers mention "Writing style"24 positive0 negative

Customers find the writing style excellent, clear, and common sense. They say it challenges them to become better writers and is well worth reading in depth. Readers also mention the chapter headings make the book easy to use as a reference book for specific writing assignments.

"...This particular book was a breath of fresh air. Well written and relatable. A must have for Writers." Read more

"...Each area includes helpful tips and even creative writing prompts that got my head whirling with ideas...." Read more

"...Clarity and common sense language indicating they have the "chops" and have been in our moccasins...." Read more

"...'s structure and clearly titled chapter headings make it easy to use as a reference book for specific writing assignments or as a textbook in a..." Read more

3 customers mention "Humor"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book humorous and entertaining.

"This book really helped me understand essays better. also it was funny and understanding of writing dilemmas." Read more

"Entertaining, instructive guide to essay writing with plenty of fun writing prompts and confidence boosters for a new writer...." Read more

"...It's informative and entertaining. It contains great examples of narratives that make for pleasant reading." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Hale
5.0 out of 5 stars A Gem in the Writting Community
Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2024
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I’ve read many books by authors about writing. This particular book was a breath of fresh air. Well written and relatable. A must have for Writers.
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Stephen W. Hiemstra ﻦ
5.0 out of 5 stars Moore Crafts the Personal Essay
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2016
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Walking into a dinner of venison leaves one suspicious that you are too late for the hunt. An essay is more about the hunt and less about the dinner, according to Dinty Moore. It is the tension of the hunt that draws the reader in.

In his book, Crafting the Personal Essay, Moore both describes the genre of an essay and how it is constructed. There are, of course, numerous types of essays, each with its own particular interests and contributions to the genre. Moore writes:

“The personal essayist (that would be you) takes a topic—virtually any topic under the big yellow sun—and holds it up the big bright light, turning it this way and that, upside and down, studying every perspective, fault, and reflection, in an artful attempt to perceive something fresh and significant. But it is always an effort, a trial, not a lecture or diatribe.” (5)

The interest here in exploring and describing the world (a protestant or reformation idea[1]) and the focus on the essayist’s particular voice (or insights) suggests that the essay is a product of the romantic era of the nineteenth century.[2] In fact, Moore dates the earliest essay to a Frenchman, Michel de Montaigne, circa 1571 (39)—an antecedent to romanticism. Consequently, the work of the Apostle Paul in the Book of Romans would not qualify as a personal essay, even though there is tension between nature and nurture in his arguments, because he looks for the voice of God rather than trying to develop his own voice as a writer.[3]

Dinty Moore teaches writing at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and is the author of many books and articles.[4] In Crafting the Personal Essay, Moore divides his advice to the writer breaks into two parts: “writing the essay” and “reaching readers” (vii—viii). Eighteen of his 23 chapters focus on the writing the essay.

Moore’s advice takes the form of description, story-telling, examples, writing assignments, and handicapping his own and other people essays. Many of his chapters, for example, end with a short-list of tips for writers. In chapter 14, Writing the Humorous Essay, Moore offers these three tips:

“You need a story, not just jokes. If your goal is to write compelling nonfiction, the story must always come first…
The humorous essay is no place to be mean or spiteful…
The funniest people don’t guffaw at their own jokes.” (162)
The different kinds of essays that outlines might make distinct genre in their own right, but add color to as segments of other essays. Much like I might not see myself writing a stand-alone humorous or a gastronomical essay, knowing the basic premise of each helps in throwing a bit of spice into any meal, err—essay!

Although a slow read is appropriate, I found myself anxiously turning the pages to see what would come next. This was especially true in chapter 10 (A Closer Look: Ah Wilderness) where Moore writes about a canoe trip that he took down the Rio Grande River. Moore starts this chapter with a question:

“You can steer, can’t you?” (114)

What an introduction! Can you image being stuck in a canoe for several days with a hyper-active, know-it-all canoe partner? (At this point, I was having flashbacks to my days as a canoeing instructor in a scout camp). The point is that Moore doesn’t just tell you how to write, he shows you—that is, in fact, one of his tips.

As a lifelong writer, I found his advice on rewriting most convicting. He writes:

“What is required, if your essay and writing skills are going to improve by leaps and bounds, is a total reconsideration of each every element of yours essay.” (220)

It’s like starting a remodeling project by moving absolutely all your furniture and furnishings into the front yard and only bringing back to room items that fit your new concept for the room (220-221). Ouch! That sounds like real work—like typing your dissertation on a manual typewriter before the invention of whiteout type work…

Dinty Moore’s Crafting the Personal Essay is an interesting and helpful read. Writers of all genre and skill levels will want to take a look.

References

Dyrness, William A. 2001. Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue. Grand Rapids: BakerAcademic.

McGrath, Alister. 2004. The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World. New York: DoubleDay.

[1] Calivin, for example, writes: “let us not be ashamed to take pious delight in the works of God open and manifest in the most beautiful theatre.” (Dyness 2001, 53).

[2]“For some, the intellectual leaders of society were poets—the ‘unacknowledged legislators of mankind,’ as Percy Bysshe Shelley called them. The poet bore the heavy weight of articulating a moral vision for humanity, grounded in reason and nature, and inspiring a community to yearn for a new and better order…” (McGrath 2004, 50). Instead, what they got were the French and Russian revolutions.

[3] See: Romans: Faith Seeking Understanding [...].

[4] [...]
10 people found this helpful
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John Reisinger
4.0 out of 5 stars Solid starter book on essay writing...
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2013
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The most helpful part of this book is how it orients you to the myriad of different types of essays. Each area includes helpful tips and even creative writing prompts that got my head whirling with ideas. In terms of fulfilling it's promise on "crafting" the personal there are books that go far deeper like Story Craft and You Cant Make This Stuff Up. The real value in Dinty's book is in helping budding essayist understand what they're getting into, and to "assay" if creative non-fiction is for them. On that front, it does it's job brilliantly.
12 people found this helpful
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Patricia A. Grenelle
5.0 out of 5 stars A Great How To Book on Personal Essays
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2024
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Moore’s book is a delight to read. He takes you from the very initial stages of writing to how to craft a personal essay to ideas for fodder in each chapter. While reading his book, I identified eighteen different topics on which I was interested in writing a personal essay. I’m still coming up with new ideas on a daily basis. I’ve written two and submitted one with the second one not far behind. Thanks for a great and interesting read!
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P. Boddy
5.0 out of 5 stars If You're Only Getting One Book, This May Be The Choice
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2013
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I like to check a few things initially when getting a reference/idea book. 1) If I open it to any page, will I get something from it useful and want to keep reading. Check+, 2) Are there samples, references, and source material...i.e. url's to use. Check+, and 3) Clarity and common sense language indicating they have the "chops" and have been in our moccasins. Check+ Add this author is the synapses behind Brevity Online Magazine, it is a book with lots of info for a myriad of newbie and experienced author types out there, and I'd give it 8-10 stars if needed. Sure beats a "webinar" or one-day class that leaves the bank account tapped and that 30-hours-later angst of "whiskey-tango-foxtrot" did I spend my money on. Just my opinion. This is a keeper for sure.
34 people found this helpful
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Koparcener
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Helpful
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2012
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We all have a story. Some are more adventurous, exciting, or glamorous, but all are interesting to someone. We all like to think our lives are more than a footnote in the passing of time and indeed they are for the people who know us. After all, even the worst life can be useful as a bad example. How then do we preserve the important events of our lives and communicate the things we want to say in a way that others will want to read? Dinty Moore is both author and teacher who has been recognized for his work and this book puts in one resource his approach to the various forms of the personal essay. He offers help for the comtemplative essay, the humorous essay, the spiritual essay, and the memoir among others. For anyone who has something to say, whether it's passing on your favorite family recipes, or passing on the wisdom you have learned, if you would like to improve the chances of someone actually reading it, this book will prove a helpful tool.
10 people found this helpful
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James Joseph Brown
4.0 out of 5 stars expert advice from a working writer who knows the craft and the business of creative non-fiction inside and out
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2014
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A very useful guide that covers a wide range of essay writing styles and topics. The author really hits his stride when he uses his own excellent essays as teaching primers, dissecting and analyzing them with us under a microscope so we can really understand how they are put together. This book's structure and clearly titled chapter headings make it easy to use as a reference book for specific writing assignments or as a textbook in a classroom setting.
8 people found this helpful
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William
3.0 out of 5 stars An Essay About Essays
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2020
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I had hoped for more than an essay about essays. By trying to cover too much Moore covered little well. At least for me I buy books to gain focused knowledge quickly. The general knowledge Moore offered did not meet this criteria. This said, I did enjoy the chapters on writing the memoir and spiritual essays. Unfortunately most of Moore’s book is so basic it is not useful. I hoped for more. I got less.

An alternative I might suggest is Phillip Lopate's excellent "The Art of Personal Essay". In his Introduction he provides an excellent tutorial on personal essay. It is very, very good!
12 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Mrs Pepys
5.0 out of 5 stars Learned lots
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 12, 2024
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Taught myself a lot about writing reading this book. Approachable and interesting
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Steph Beth
5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Helpful
Reviewed in Canada on September 23, 2016
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This volume provided much-needed insight and information as I prepared to co-lead a continuing class at a writers' conference.
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Tomtom
1.0 out of 5 stars A waste of money.
Reviewed in Canada on June 12, 2015
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Not to my liking, and it didn't help me one darn.
One person found this helpful
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Mair
4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 5, 2013
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Takes the reader through the various types of essays and explains the differences between then, their function and purpose. Fairly essential for anyone studying arts.
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