You’ve written a personal essay, you’ve revised it, maybe even had a friend read it and give you feedback, but it’s still not quite up to snuff. You know it could be a great piece, but something isn’t quite clicking. Now what?

Creating a satisfying narrative arc out of your own life story is so difficult, partly because you're still living it. How do you write a story where there is no real "end," and when life doesn't actually develop in a series of "aha!" moments?

Some stories can’t be contained by the tidy linear narrative—they need to spill out into multiple streams, running alongside each other, telling more than one story at a time, bringing in research, art, and other outside references in order to make themselves clear. Braided essays are complicated and layered, like real life, built on association and resonance rather than a singular A-to-B storyline.

This independent study will guide you through a three-step process to write an outline. If you’re still in the drafting and revision stage, the outline you’ll put together here will help you see your structure clearly so you can rework and hone it. And then when you’re done revising (or if you’ve come to this independent study with an already finished and polished manuscript), you can also use this outline for your book proposal.

Editors always say they’re looking for new, fresh, exciting, surprising angles for personal essays. They want to see something they haven’t seen before, to approach universal topics in brand new ways. But what does that even mean, and how are you supposed to know what they have and haven’t seen before? This independent study will teach you a few strategies for finding that fresh angle, digging into your unique perspective to find new ways into stories that only you can write.