Smith, Alexander. "On the Writing of Essays." Quotidiana. Ed. Patrick Madden. 27 October 2006. Web.
I've already mentioned that I have some sort of weird crush on Alexander Smith. Rather than bore you with the details of my fixation, I will instead annotate the source. You can meditate on his wonderfulness on your own. Smith's purpose in writing this essay seems to be essentially theoretical--he explores the essay as a genre by exploring its different facets and explaining what he believes the essay to be (according to his own writing as well as the writing of Montaigne and other essayists). Smith writes, "a quick ear and eye, an ability to discern the infinite suggestiveness of common things, a brooding meditative spirit, are all that the essayist requires to start business with." Rather than just fill space, this quote really gets down to the core of the personal essay. Smith posits that all an essayist needs to write is a keen perception of the common, mundane, everyday things. This is essential to my writing because in order to be an essayist, you have to understand the importance of the everyday, the quiet moments in life that most people pass by without a second thought. So my love Alexander will help me achieve this in my writing by guiding me, as Lopate does, through the nuances of the personal essay.
Because you don't need grandeur to find joy, or fame and glory to write essays.
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