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The Secret Architecture of Great Essays
An essay is good if it fits a context made up of 1) the truth, 2) the intellectual needs of the writer, and 3) the reader's mind. The better the form fits that context—the truer, more insight-generating, and resonant it is—the better the essay.
Henrik Karlsson • Everything That Turned Out Well in My Life Followed the Same Design Process
In his 2012 essay, “More people should write,” writer and programmer James Somers described this process as creating a mental bucket for an idea, thereby unleashing a magnetic force between that idea and the world:
... See moreWhen I have a piece of writing in mind, what I have, in fact, is a mental bucket: an attractor for and generator of thought. It’s like a
Quick pitch for Essay Architecture: Before I was a writer/editor, I was an architect. While that field has really strong books that teach the entirety of the craft, writing advice is scattered (also, too general / too specific). This makes it hard to improve at essay writing. A visual map of the craft makes it easier to grasp, and measurable patter
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Write Time: Guide to the Creative Process, from Vision through Revision—and Beyond
amazon.com
”In my experience, here’s how essays form: You get all these bits of data that stick in your head… file drawers in your head. At a certain point you realize one of the drawers is now full, and you might have an essay.” Tim Kreider on the artist at midlife.