The Difference Between a Personal and Academic Essay

There are seemingly erudite writers who not only publish writing we expect, such as novels, nonfiction books, and short stories but also write essays. I used to wonder what an essay was and how to write and sell one. After years of playing with this and publishing quite a few myself, I thought I’d share my thoughts here.

The first thing to know is that a personal essay and an academic essay are two different things. There is no such thing as an essay, just as there is no such thing (other than generically) as a nonfiction book. Personal and academic essays are completely different animals. My direction is the personal essay because I want to reach a larger and more specific commercial audience.

Personal essays are personal. They delve into your experiences, reflections, and insights, often evoking emotions, memories, or self-discovery. This personal touch is what makes them particularly appealing, as their purpose is not just to entertain, connect, and share a unique perspective with the reader, but to create a profound connection, just as I’m doing here in this essay on the difference between personal and academic essays. On the other hand, academic essays seek to inform, analyze, argue, or explore a topic using evidence and structured reasoning. One might say that’s what I’m doing here, but I’d argue my tone is off for an academic essay, my structure isn’t correct, and I’m certainly not citing any sources other than my personal experience. The academic essay focuses on demonstrating knowledge, critical thinking, and the ability and tone to engage with the reader in a scholarly way. I think my essays, as a rule, are far from scholarly.

The audience for the personal essay is you. It targets readers of the general audience interested in personal narratives like creative nonfiction. I’m talking with you here. I’m not lecturing. My personal essays are published in literary magazines, blogs, other websites, my Clay Stafford website, and one day, I hope, in a collection of essays on a given subject. The latter, I’m not there yet. Academic essays are geared towards academics: professors, peers, or professionals in a particular field, in my case, those focused on writing or Southern culture. These are harder to write, and I say this seriously, much harder to please. Peer review drives me nuts. I’d rather write something that means something personal to me and be done. Although academic essays certainly have their purpose, they also take much more time and work and usually have little more (generally less) numerative compensation, at least for me.

The tone and style are different between the two. I hope this essay you’re reading now comes across as informal, conversational, reflective, and subjective and includes my anecdotes, opinions, and even light emotions. It’s personal. If I were getting into it, I’d add more creative and descriptive language, but the purpose of this essay is more about sharing information, so there’s no need to make it “pretty.” Academic essays are formal, objective, evidence-based, clear, concise, written in scholarly language, and undoubtedly packed, or have been my few scholarly essays, with footnotes and endnotes. In my academic essays, I feel compelled to prove everything. In my personal essays, these are my opinions. That is that.

The structure for the personal essay is flexible, often narrative or thematic, as you can read what I’m doing here. I use fragmented sentences, and if this were something more visceral, I’d probably throw in more poetic language. What you want in this is information, so that’s how I’m structuring it. I’m going with a stream-of-consciousness flow rather than an academic formula. I’m not one for formula writing. Drives me nuts. The academic essay comes with a defined form. There is a clear introduction, a thesis statement (I hate those things), body paragraphs, and a summary conclusion. I also don’t forget the standardized formats such as Chicago, APA, or MLA, which I always break because I aim to have a more conversational flow in my writing. I feel like I’m writing in a box when I write an academic essay.

Personal essays, like the one I am writing here, rely on my personal experience, which is my evidence. Academic essays don’t care much about my opinion. They want facts, research, data, statistics, citations, and a bibliography. They have their place, but for me (and probably for you), they are not as much fun to write.

Personal essays can be about anything. This one is about the difference between personal and academic essays. Other topics of a personal essay could be relationships, identity, struggles, passions, and defining moments. I hope I’m not meandering, but if I am, I fit fine within the form, which is sometimes open-ended, never coming to a solid conclusion, and is usually exploratory. For this essay, I’m exploring the difference between the two essay forms. That’s about the extent of the excitement, but there could be more. Academic essays will focus on academic subjects, theories, or issues such as literature, film, stagecraft, science, sociology, psychology, economics, and other things you might find as a college major. Here I am telling you what I think and about my experiences. I’m giving no source material other than my own experiences and opinions. This is not directed at a college professor or researcher but to writers who might want to explore the personal essay. We’re not doing any analytics or scholarly study. I’m simply giving you info from my personal experience.

Both kinds of essays have their place. Personal essays are designed to be more like personal conversations if sitting over a drink in a restaurant, talking about a mutual subject of interest, or relating an exciting story. They are not about proving a point but about sharing a personal journey, and that’s the kind of conversation I like to have. It's a way of connecting and understanding each other deeper. This is the unique value of personal essays, as they offer a platform for individual expression and connection that academic essays may not provide.

Try both. Both are fun. Both have challenges. Both are outstanding publication credits. Many writers don’t think about writing essays. Consider it. With personal essays, it is like a diary you share with friends. I awoke this morning thinking about a personal experience I thought I’d like to write about and explore, maybe even publish. And that led me to this. An academic essay is less a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants experience. With my cup of coffee this early morning, I’m much more interested in having a conversation and sharing with you what I have planned for the day.

Write a few personal essays and see how they play out. Consider an academic topic where you have great expertise and prove a point you have academic beef with, citing other sources to prove your point. Both are great exercises and may even give you additional publishing credits, opening your mind to exploring your thinking and beliefs. For those who like to explore the peaks and valleys of our prefrontal cortex, essays are an incredible exercise in fun, exploration, and sharing. And sometimes, crazily, you realize you learned something about yourself by the time you get to the end of your essay, and maybe what you thought initially is no longer valid. When that happens to me, it is mind-blowing, even if the essay never sees the light of publication.