By Laura T. Coffey

When does it make the most sense for a feature writer to tackle a first-person essay instead of a reported story?

Follow-up question: Just how terrifying is it to share a deeply personal story with

strangers?

Three of the Society for Features Journalism’s award-winning essay writers — Théoden Janes of The Charlotte Observer, Alexandra Rain of Deseret News and Janelle Harris Dixon of Shondaland — answered those questions and more at a Dec. 12 virtual session all about first-person writing. The discussion was moderated by SFJ board member Stefanie Loh, the assistant managing editor overseeing features at The Seattle Times.

You can watch a recording of the presentation via this link.

During the session, the writers discussed their decisions to share their essays

with family members before publication — or not. They also offered tips for making a personal story as universal and relatable as possible.

“It’s so important that we tell our stories because I think we need them,” said Rain, whose essay reckoned with the love and the loss of an addicted parent. “Our connective tissue to each other is vulnerability and writing and reading and talking and sharing our stories.”

Janes noted that all three panelists wrote essays about “the greatest struggles of our lives” and explored them “in ways that we hadn’t wanted to confront or attempted to confront before.” In Janes’ case, his essay chronicled his decision to take a deep dive into his own adoption story as his 50th birthday approached. Janes was adopted from South Korea when he was 9 months old.

Harris Dixon described her personal love story as an essay “about intentional healing, accidental love and how getting married reinforced my belief in big, fantastic possibilities.” She encouraged her listeners to be fearless about sharing their unique perspectives with readers. “You are your own greatest source of writing inspiration, that’s for sure,” Harris Dixon said.

Here are more details about the panelists’ essays, which won awards in SFJ’s contest category for “Best First-Person Narrative or Essay” in 2023:

• As a baby, I was left on a street by … someone. As an adult, I tried to figure out why, by Théoden Janes. (First place winner in SFJ’s Division 2 for publications with circulation between 90,000 and 199,999)

• The prodigal mother: Amid the detritus of her mother’s addiction, the author finds solace in the life she lost, by Alexandra Rain. (First place winner in SFJ’s Division 1 for publications with circulation up to 90,000)

• Love Stories: Our Love Taught Me Anything Is Possible, by Janelle Harris Dixon. (Honorable mention in SFJ’s Division 3 for publications with circulation of 200,000 and up and for digital-only organizations) 

Huge thanks to these writers for taking the time to share their stories and experiences with us!

Laura T. Coffey is president of the Society for Features Journalism and a longtime editor and feature writer. She’s also the author of the bestselling nonfiction book “My Old Dog: Rescued Pets with Remarkable Second Acts.” Connect with Laura here.