"Dear Diary..." You have undoubtedly heard this famous line in your lifetime, probably a few times! You may even have written it yourself for your personal writing. Personal writing refers to any form of written expression that originates from the personal experiences, thoughts, feelings, or opinions of the author. Unlike academic or professional writing, personal writing is often subjective and less formal, focusing more on personal expression and storytelling.
Take a moment to think about a time when you wrote a diary or journal entry (whether or not it began with 'Dear Diary' doesn't matter), or a time when you wrote some poetry just because you felt like it, or penned a letter to a friend or relative.
These pieces of writing likely felt personal and important to you when you wrote them, but does this make them personal writing?
In this article, we'll look at some definitions to help you understand and identify personal writing. We'll also look at some examples of personal writing and will offer some creative ideas to inspire your own personal writing.
Fig. 1 - Diaries and journals are certainly personal, but are they personal writing?
Personal Writing Definition
What is personal writing? Let's look at a definition:
Personal writing is a written work that describes the events or experiences of one's life in an informative and engaging way. Personal writing can be a form of anecdotal (based on personal experience) storytelling and often imparts some kind of lesson or wisdom to the reader.
What distinguishes personal writing from merely storytelling?
A key difference is that personal writing has a more profound point or purpose, whereas storytelling can simply entertain or amuse.
Let's look at some features of personal writing to help consolidate our understanding of what it is:
Personal Writing Features
These are some of the key features of personal writing:
- Subjectivity: Personal writing is often subjective, reflecting the author's thoughts, feelings, or experiences.
- Informal language: Personal writing tends to be less formal than academic or professional writing.
- First-person perspective: Personal writing often uses the first-person perspective ("I", "me", "my"), though it can also include others' perspectives.
- Emotional honesty: Personal writing often involves sharing honest emotions and personal reflections.
- Storytelling: Many forms of personal writing, like personal essays or memoirs, involve storytelling or narrative elements.
A strong hook
A hook does what it says on the tin – it hooks the reader's attention and makes them want to continue reading. If a piece of personal writing starts with really mundane or overly complicated information, the reader might think, "Yup, this is not for me," or "Ugh, what are they talking about?" and stop reading then and there.
I hope I shall be able to confide in you completely, as I have never been able to do in anyone before, and I hope that you will be a great support and comfort to me.
- Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl, 1947
This is the opening line of Anne Frank's diary, later published as The Diary of a Young Girl in 1947.
This line is a compelling hook as the reader may feel Anne Frank is directing her sentiment toward them by using the personal pronoun you. Because Anne Frank is also talking about needing to confide in someone, the reader is left wondering what she could say next, making them want to continue reading.
A compelling story
As we've already covered, personal writing is a form of storytelling. To do this, you need to have, well, a story. If the story you're writing about isn't interesting and engaging, why would people want to read it? A good story should have believable characters, a vivid sense of setting, and a plot.
A meaningful lesson or point
One of the key differences between personal writing and fictional writing (apart from the fiction vs. non-fiction part, of course) is that personal writing imparts a lesson or piece of wisdom to the reader based on the writer's own experience. Fictional writing does not need to do this and can be solely for entertainment purposes. A good way to think about personal writing is storytelling that gives advice or teaches something.
Fig. 2 - Personal writing entertains and teaches a lesson at the same time.
Personal Writing Examples
There are several different types of personal writing, or rather, several forms that personal writing can take to reflect the author's personal experiences, thoughts, or emotions. Examples of personal writing include:
- Diaries or journals where one records daily events and personal reflections.
- Personal essays, such as a narrative about a significant life event or a reflective piece on personal growth.
- Memoirs or autobiographies that recount the author's life experiences.
- Personal letters or emails where one shares personal news, thoughts, or feelings with another individual.
The most common type is the personal essay. Personal essays can come in different forms and can be written for several different purposes. We will cover personal essays in more detail in the next section, but examples of personal essays include:
College admission essays.
Personal statements for job applications.
Written pieces for blogs or other publications where the writer shares their personal experiences and the lessons they've learned or realizations they've had.
Personal Writing Essays
Personal writing essays, or more simply, personal essays, are one of the most common forms of personal writing. Let's look at college admission essays as an example:
A college admission essay will normally ask you a question or give you a title to follow, and you have to write your essay using your life and experiences as inspiration. The point of a college admission essay is to see how you've overcome hardships, what you've achieved, or what lessons you've learned during your life that will make you a suitable candidate for that college.
Some examples of college admission questions include:
- Think about a time when you questioned or challenged a long-held belief. Reflect on what prompted your doubts and how you resolved or accepted them.
- Describe a time of significant personal growth you have experienced. What factors contributed to this growth, and how has your life changed since?
- Write about a time when you overcame a challenge or hardship. What personal qualities helped you overcome this, and what effect did this have on you in the long run?
As mentioned earlier in the article, personal statements, blog posts, and other pieces of published personal storytelling are also examples of personal writing essays.
Have you ever Googled a recipe but found you had to scroll through three pages of the chef telling you their life story before you could reach the actual recipe? That's an example of a personal writing essay.
Other types of personal writing include memoirs and chronicles. Let's look at each of these.
Personal Writing: Memoirs
What is a memoir?
A memoir is a historical narrative account of someone's life experiences written from personal knowledge. A memoir can be written by the person themselves or by someone who knows the subject of the memoir very well.
What's the difference between a memoir and a biography or autobiography?
Biographies and autobiographies are generally about a person's whole life, whereas memoirs tend to be centered around more specific events or experiences. In some ways, memoirs are more densely detailed as they cover more limited periods of a person's life, whereas a biography or autobiography spans an entire lifetime.
Memoir Characteristics
Drama or conflict. Memoirs need to be entertaining as well as good at storytelling. If the memoir writer has not experienced any hardship, conflict, or challenges, then the piece will be more of a collection of anecdotes rather than a memoir.
A transformation, realization, or resolution. The memoir should detail the writer experiencing a revelation or transformation of some kind to act as the teachable moment where a lesson, piece of advice, or wisdom is passed onto the reader.
Memoir Examples
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
Chronicles
What is a chronicle?
A chronicle is a factually accurate and chronological (in time order) account of significant historical events. The events covered in a chronicle are told from the writer's or chronicler's perspective.
Both chronicles and memoirs are factual accounts; however, memoirs are about people, whereas chronicles are focused on events.
Chronicle Characteristics
- Based on facts - Chronicles are a method of documenting historical events and are therefore rooted with facts rather than being embellished or fictionalized.
- Chronological order - Chronicles are written chronologically and follow a linear timeline. This means events are written in the order they happened.
- Not concerned with emotions or entertainment - Chronicles are written to record historical events. Chroniclers are not interested in entertaining people or conveying the emotions of the events/ societies they write about.
- Sometimes subject to bias - As chronicles are written from the writer's perspective, bias might lead to certain events being left out, for example.
Chronicle Examples
- Annales seu cronicae incliti Regni Poloniae, Poland
- Alamgirnama, Mughal Empire
- The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, England
'Chronicle' can also refer to a very long novel that is one of a series. You might have heard of:
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.
These are all examples of novel chronicles. These chronicles do not fall under the personal writing umbrella, as they are usually entirely fictional (sadly, dragons and hobbits and talking lions are not real).
Personal Writing Ideas
If you want to try your hand at personal writing, here are some ideas to get you thinking:
Personal Writing - Key Takeaways
- Personal writing is a form of writing that conveys the writer's experiences in an entertaining and informative way and acts as a kind of lesson.
- Personal writing comes in various forms, including personal essays, memoirs, and chronicles.
- The key difference between a memoir and an autobiography is that a memoir imparts wisdom, advice, or lesson and is about specific life experiences. In contrast, an autobiography is about a person's whole life.
- Examples of personal essays include college admission essays, personal statements for job applications, and blogs / other published personal writing.
- Personal writing should have a compelling hook, a strong story, and a meaningful point.
References
- A. Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl, 1947
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