An Essay is Enough
Writers are constantly turning an essay’s worth of material into a book.
Instead, allow it to be a solid, concise essay— or a great podcast discussion…
What’s unfortunate is that writers do not get the opportunities associated with book publication for writing a terrific essay. This is an industry problem that needs to be addressed.
Let’s find a way to update the writing community infrastructure to better align with modern tech and engagement styles.
A couple of years ago I thought I had enough material to write a book about my Junior Year Abroad in Germany. I wanted to write a book. But when I went to write it, the details just bogged it down. So I crafted an essay instead. It appeared in The Vassar Review last year. And that was enough. :)
I agree. I wrote an essay that I absolutely loved. I tried to imagine it as a poem or something much grander like a short story or perhaps a basis for a book. But the more I thought, the more I realized how those things would ruin it. It was written to be an essay. 'Nuff said.