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.
What makes an essay an essay? Are they just fancy names for blog posts? This is something I'm genuinely interested in since I can't tell the two apart—and I'm not even sure if it matters!
It's a legitimate question. I've been wondering myself... how is what I'm doing on Substack -- often called "posts" (or thought of as blogging) different from writing essays.
In my mind, I'm often writing short essays.
In reality, it's probably more of a hybrid experience (for the reader).
Some of what I share on Substack is organized in a manner that feels like an essay. Other offerings feel more like posts.
Maybe it could be an effect of the times? Tech evolution swirling the meaning like reflection on water.
Now that you bring up posts and the activity of blogging, that could make things a little clearer. A blog is really just short for a web log—a kind of documentation, a word we carried since the internet became a thing. Back when users were a lot closer to noisy servers and tangled wires. But now anyone can write online. What they write could be considered a blog or an essay depending on its contents.
A blog or post is a report of your experience right now ("I'm going on a walk" or "This was my day today"). In contrast, an essay could be more about thoughts.
There's probably a thread of meaning somewhere here but I can't yet see the forest for the trees. Does any of this make sense to you?
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. :)
Makes perfect sense to me :)
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.
What makes an essay an essay? Are they just fancy names for blog posts? This is something I'm genuinely interested in since I can't tell the two apart—and I'm not even sure if it matters!
It's a legitimate question. I've been wondering myself... how is what I'm doing on Substack -- often called "posts" (or thought of as blogging) different from writing essays.
In my mind, I'm often writing short essays.
In reality, it's probably more of a hybrid experience (for the reader).
Some of what I share on Substack is organized in a manner that feels like an essay. Other offerings feel more like posts.
Further thoughts?
Maybe it could be an effect of the times? Tech evolution swirling the meaning like reflection on water.
Now that you bring up posts and the activity of blogging, that could make things a little clearer. A blog is really just short for a web log—a kind of documentation, a word we carried since the internet became a thing. Back when users were a lot closer to noisy servers and tangled wires. But now anyone can write online. What they write could be considered a blog or an essay depending on its contents.
A blog or post is a report of your experience right now ("I'm going on a walk" or "This was my day today"). In contrast, an essay could be more about thoughts.
There's probably a thread of meaning somewhere here but I can't yet see the forest for the trees. Does any of this make sense to you?
Good suggestion.