Up: [[Personal Essay and Memoir]] Created: 2024-04-03 When it's just the case that something happened, that's an anecdote. Even a change in circumstances, like getting fired, is an anecdote. It's the change points, the learnings that make you different, that gives a relatable story; that takes the material from personal to universal. See also [[Drill Your Own Well to Hit the Universal Water Table]] So Joanne having her computer and camera stolen in Europe is an anecdote. Her stopping obsessively keeping spreadsheets of every cent she spends because she realized she'd never once referred to them? That's a change and therefore worthy of an essay. > [!Orbit] [[Phillip Lopate]] > Without conflict, your essay will drift into static mode, repeating your initial observation in a self-satisfied way. What gives an essay dynamism is the need to work out some problem, especially a problem that is not easily resolved.