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On Openings Essays, Conferences Talks, and Jam Jars

maggieappleton.com · 3,559 words · saved by 2 readers

People trying to get better at narrative, non-fiction, opinionated writing like essays, blog posts, and conference talks. Most of this advice won't necessarily apply to fiction writing, academic writing, or technical documentation writing... but it might help. Most of the narrative non-fiction opinion pieces I read online do not grip me in the first sentence. People often start pieces somewhere sensible, but boring. Like the chronological start of a story. “I first became interested in data structures 17 years ago while pursuing my undergraduate degree. I was reminded of them last week, and decided to write up some notes on what I've learned since then.” The beginning is almost never the most compelling or important part. It's just the bit you thought of first, based on your subjective chronology. Or far worse, people begin at The Beginning Of Time. Invoking paleolithic people is an overplayed way to convince us your topic is cosmically important. “For tens of thousands of years, human

Table of Contents Table of Contents Assumed Audience People trying to get better at narrative, non-fiction, opinionated writing like essays, blog posts, and conference talks. Most of this advice won’t necessarily apply to fiction writing, academic writing, or technical documentation writing… but it might help. Opening Essays and Other Pieces of Narrative Writing Most of the narrative non-fiction The Finest Narrative Non-Fiction Essays Narrative essays that I consider ideal models of the medium opinion pieces I read online do not grip me in the first sentence. People often start pieces somewher

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