What vexes, perplexes, and engages you? The personal essay, from the French essayer - to try - asks the writer to meditate on paper, spin out on a topic you can't get out of your mind. The form is often intimate, confessional, humorous and can accommodate a rambling structure and unconventional themes. Personal essays marry the techniques fiction, the development of voice, character, often scene and dialogue with the depth of more formal essay styles.