Essay

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Non-fiction writing ideas Your task is to write non-fiction narrative essay (or in other words, tell us a true story). Here are some possible writing ideas to get you started:

a. Secret window: Describe a real, non-fictional scene or item that you walk past every day.

It could be a place you pass near your home, on the way to school, or near the train; it

could be a physical object that you see every day; it could be an exchange that you hear

every day between particular characters in your life. Here's the catch: Make that scene

feel extraordinary. It's not just an everyday moment, it's something wondrous, horrifying,

breathtaking, nauseating. Explore the details of the thing to really bring out its true

nature as you see it. The idea is to choose something that other people might overlook

and infuse it with your sense of its true grandeur (or horror-- you can think of something

wonderful or terrible, your choice

b. Choose a photo that is important to you. Study it and list any details that you observe.

What happened before the photo was taken? What happened immediately afterward?

c. Taking “Lost and Found” by Colson Whitehead as your inspiration, write an essay that

tells us who you are by exploring the place(s) that you’ve come from.

d. Tell a story that takes place in two (or more) time frames: one past, one present (or

future!) Feel free to move back and forth between the time frames. How can you show

us change by juxtaposing the two times?

e. Tell a story about a transformative moment in your life (i.e. moving away from home,

breaking off a relationship, getting a tattoo, meeting someone important to you, etc).

Focus on the moment of transformation: What did it feel like?

f. Tell a story about a cultural ritual or event that is important to you. This could be your

family’s culture, a national culture, Chicago culture, etc. Put the reader in the moment,

and let us experience the event through your eyes.

g. Tell a story about a memorable meal you’ve eaten. Where were you? What was the

occasion? Remember to include lots of sensory details.

h. You can also choose your own topic as long as it abides by the guidelines in the

paragraphs below.

Do some initial freewriting until you choose a topic; then expand your initial thoughts

into scenes with people talking, moving, acting. Since a narrative essay is a true story,

you should include specific storytelling details about the scenes you show us—what you

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were doing, where you were, how old you were, etc. Include dialogue and scene

description as applicable.

The key is to try to show us information about the scene (especially about emotions)

rather than just telling what’s going on. For example, "I felt embarrassed" is much less

moving than immersing your reader right in the details that show us how embarrassed

you were—your sweaty palms, your face turning red, the kids around you laughing, etc.

Help the reader see the scene as you see it and feel the emotions you feel by using lots

of specifics.

Keep in mind that your essay will have two layers: One is the plot: what the story is

about at the surface level (e.g. moving away from your childhood home). The other is

the larger, underlying idea: What is your essay really about? (e.g. change, loneliness,

etc). At the end of your essay, we should have a sense of your overall purpose: What

does this story mean to you? To your life? (Don’t tell us directly, but we should be

able to infer this by the end of your essay). You won’t probably have a sense of the

deeper layer until at least the second draft; for your SFD, concentrate on exploring your

ideas and adding specific details. Once you start to get an idea about why the story is

important to you, you can go back and emphasize some of those details or add some

reflection to your second draft.

Draft lengths:

 SFD: 2-3 pages (max) (double-spaced)

Submitted for feedback; graded for completion and creativity.

 Workshop draft: 2-5 revised pages (max) (double-spaced)

Used in class during small workshops (participation points).

 Second draft: 4+ revised pages* (double-spaced)

Submitted for feedback and a grade.

* If you plan to go beyond 10 pages on your second draft, please email me in advance to

discuss your essay.