How can I write essays that people will read?

Hello, this is Yasu, who was told by his wife, "Yasu, your favorite person is Yasu, right?" ...Yeah, this opening has nothing to do with the main topic. I just brought it up because I thought it was funny.

An essay is a piece of writing where you freely express your opinions and thoughts.

On the other hand, a column is a critical essay that includes the writer's opinions. Columns are what we call the boxed articles published in magazines and newspapers.

You can think of an essay as anything goes. You can write freely. That's why the notes and blogs written by individuals are almost all essays.

Being told to "write on the theme of XX" is more like a column. Since I am "stating the author's opinion on the theme of writing," the salon-exclusive articles I write are columns.

I wonder what kind of essays people actually read. Since you are free to write whatever you want, you can write about anything. But if you want people to read it, you have to entertain your readers.

What's easy to understand is "useful articles." If an article about a total lunar eclipse includes the start and end times of the eclipse, how many years until the next one, or what people in the past thought when they saw a lunar eclipse, that information would have been useful to everyone on the day of the eclipse.

I used to write essays in the past and failed. They were just articles that forced my own opinions on others.

Complaints, grievances, the idea that everyone around me is wrong and I am right. No matter how logical the argument is, an article that pinpoints and denies someone else won't be read. Well, it might get read, but it won't get a reaction.

Let's see. For example, suppose there is a flashy article that says, "Today I went to eat with so-and-so. I heard a lot of meaningful stories and my stage in life has leveled up!" What if someone actually wrote an article like this? Let's believe it's okay because there's no one like that around me.

This is not an essay. It's a report. What is a meaningful story? If you add what you thought and how you felt about it, then it becomes an essay.

And then, there are people who read such articles and write their own opinions. Since they are stating their own opinions, it is an essay, but it's off the mark. Yes, that was me in the past. Something like this:

"Going to eat with a celebrity and writing about it is nothing but flashy bragging. It's not even 1 millimeter interesting, and it's far from self-branding. Is it about authority? It's no different from a fan's blog post about taking a cheki photo with an idol."

Yes. That is fiercely out of bounds. It pinpoints and denies the author. You can get empathy from people with the same opinion. There will always be people who have similar thoughts.

But you know, even if you get empathy, you will be elegantly ignored. Because if a reader likes or comments on that, they might be thought of as denying the person just like you. Readers are smart.

I didn't understand this. Even if I thought to myself, "Huh? I'm right, aren't I? That's an interesting opinion, right?", people would read it but not react to it. And the troublesome thing is that because there is no reaction, it becomes even more extreme. My past self, wake up!

Your own opinions can also be born from denying a certain opinion. However, you must not deny the individual. This is the same even if you become "someone."

Even if you gain influence and have many fans, denying individuals is not good. If a celebrity writes an article denying an individual, it will go up in flames.

As I write this, I am denying the people who write denial articles, though.

[Summary Conclusion]
◆ Freedom comes with responsibility

[Photo cooperation: Sachiwa]

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Kiyofumi Noto
A money expert for the 100-year life era who loves the Japanese spirit (6th book now on sale!). What is "US Treasury investment" for Japanese people? 5000 YouTube subscribers!
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