#AtoZChallenge: Genres–Informal Essay

The A to Z Challenge asks bloggers to post 26 articles on a themed topic. It’s supposed to be every day except Sundays during the month of April but I find that too busy and decided to post mine ‘about’ once a month. Yes, it’ll take me a couple of years. Sigh.

My topic, like the last three times, is writing genres.

This genre:

Informal Essay

Definition

written for pleasure to help organize thoughts on a topic, to reflect on readings, to express different points of view. Also known as ‘personal essay’ and ‘familiar essay’.

Tips

• These are short writings curated by theme.
• This is often about personal experience but not always.
• The format is traditional–introduction, body, and concluding paragraphs–but flexible.
• It may be fiction but still follows general informal essay rules.
• It may be reflective rather than informational.
• Can be any length though they do tend to be shorter than longer.
• By their nature, they don’t have to be published in a traditional book. Any method of publishing is fine as long as it collects the themed essays into one easy-to-access spot. Andrew at Andrew’s View of the Week suggested informational informal blogs
• Be well familiar with your topic.
• Writing should show your personality and attitudes.
• An example of topics:
  • The Best Journey of My Life
  • The Point in My Life Where I Would Start Over
  • The Perfect Woman/Man, Marriage and Divorce
  • My Religion
  • The Celebrities Give Us Bad/Good Examples
  • Reincarnation
  • The “Delights” of Our School Cafeteria

Popular 

I confess, I struggled with examples of this genre. Any additional ideas?

1. Libre Paley by Libre
2. Nature Tails by Gabychops
3. Essays of E.B. White by E.B. White
4. Essays of Virginia Woolf by Virginia Woolf
5. Franklin as a Chess Player by Anonymous
6. Portraits and Observations by Truman Capote

BTW: If the book you’ve written fits into any of these genres, let me know in the comments and I’ll include you, the book title, and where to purchase it.

Click for complete list of these 26 genres

Click for a complete list of all genres I’ve written about

More I Genres:

• Imaginary Voyage
• Inspirational
• Islamic Fiction

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Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy, the Man vs. Nature saga, and the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers. She is also the author/editor of over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, blog webmaster, an Amazon Vine Voice,  a columnist for NEA Today, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, Laws of Nature, Summer 2021. 

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