Couple of tricks that I found helpful as I try to develop my writing muscles:

1. Fewer I’s by de-centering oneself. “I heard the birds out the window” vs. “The birds chirped out the window.” Framing everything through personal perception can weaken writing by distancing the reader from the action, especially in personal essay where it is so tempting to dwell, ruminate, and interpret from a distance. (That said, being charming helps. Montaigne has almost 6,000 I’s in his essays.)

2. Same number of I’s, but better velocity into other, more interesting nouns. For example, the opening chapters of something like Matthiessen’s The Snow Leopard has plenty of I’s, but they pass unnoticed because he quickly moves on to other people, places, ideas, and action.

My preference is to write whatever comes out to get a first draft, then edit. My first edit is typically an ego check. Curious to hear what the more professional writers think and do!

Oh, one other observation: removing the perceptive frame typically yields better verbs. (e.g. “heard” is meh, “chirped” is much better.)

— Frank Chimero → Alex Eaton, Reply to Alex Eaton asking how to use “I” less when writing, The Good Place, 2025