What Is a Graphic Essay in Writing?
In this post, we look at what a graphic essay is, including what makes it different from other types of essays and when writers may prefer to use this style.
Recently, I covered the what a fragmented essay is, and I want to keep the essay momentum going by doing the same for graphic essays. There's a whole world of essay styles available to writers, so we'll get to each as we can.
In this post, we're going to look at what a graphic essay is, including what makes it different from other types of essays and when writers may prefer to use this style.
What Is a Graphic Essay in Writing?
A graphic essay is an essay that uses images and graphics to complement the writing. This could be an essay that is explained via comic book panels or in the style of infographics (but as an essay).
As such, a graphic essay is more visual and design based, which can make it fun. But the same essay-writing criteria applies as in other types of essays. Writers still need to deliver engaging content that either delivers fact-based information, data, and/or a compelling story.
Writers may choose graphic essays over other styles of essay writing for a few reasons. First, it can be a more visually interesting method of delivering your words to readers. Second, the visuals can help add more emphasis (or context) to what the words say. Finally, images are just fun.
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This course guides beginning and intermediate writers through elements of how to write a personal essay, helping them identify values expressed in their stories and bring readers into the experiences described. Writers learn how to avoid the dreaded responses of "so what?" and "I guess you had to be there" by utilizing sensory details, learning to trust their writing intuitions, and developing a skilled internal editor to help with revision.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
