In my recent composition class sessions, my students and I have been reviewing and applying the principles of a meaningful profile essay. The writer chooses a subject (person) to describe so that the reader can get to know the subject (or in the case of a famous person, so the reader might learn something previously unknown about the subject).

One thing has become clear to me as I read final essay submissions this weekend. A well-written profile clearly keeps the subject at “center stage” – and even if the writer decides to insert him or herself into the essay to any degree, the writer’s presence never takes over the meaning and content of the profile story line. That would essentially turn the profile essay into a personal essay.

It is difficult to write truly well across forms and genres. For apart from personal essays and poetry and some non-fiction instructional material, there is nearly no room for a writer to step in and take over a piece of writing. Even if all things must, by nature, be told indirectly from the writer’s point of view and depth of knowledge, the masterful writer will write in such a way that the profile subject, the story characters, or the helpful knowledge being conveyed all remain front and center.

And while finally achieving this balance may bring the successful writer a sense of quiet pride, the truly successful writer must not only be a silent player…he or she must also be truly humble.