How to write an essay collection
Sage Kay
Writer, reader, outfit repeater.
Essays. The word that sends a shiver down the spine of every high schooler, grips the collar of every adult who thought they were finished with academia and rips them back to their school days.
Researching, staying up late to catch a deadline, mindless typing to meet a word count for a topic that you never cared for—this is what most people might think of when they hear the word "essay." But what if I told you that an essay doesn’t have to be about some scientific topic that you were forced to write about and, instead, can be about anything you want!
Because, dear reader, essays are not limited to academic topics or high school/college, and you’re not in school anymore (well, you might be, but still). You can treat writing essays as any other piece of creative writing in which you can choose the topic, tone, length, and content. In fact, many writers take their essay writing skills and use them to craft numerous essays based on their thoughts and life experiences and bind them all together into a single collection.
But what even is an essay collection? What makes a good one? I hear you and I give you: How to write an essay collection.
What is an essay collection?
An essay collection is a series of thoughtful papers that delve into the thoughts and experiences of the writer. While there is often a topic of theme tying them all together, no topic is off limits. The author can write anything they'd like, but it is specifically non-fiction. You could think of it as a memoir, except it's not so much a collection of memories as it is a collection of musings that are often based around a theme.
For example, writer may reflect on their experiences with their sexuality, contrasting their thoughts of childhood with adulthood and ultimately coming to some sort of conclusion.
In short, it’s a place for anyone with strong opinions to share their own personal perspective on a subject. You could even use data and research to back up your conclusions, or just stick to whatever’s rattling around in that skull of yours. It’s your essay collection, your choice!
Who should you write an essay collection?
Basically, if you’ve got thoughts, you’re qualified to write an essay collection. Congrats, I’m pretty sure you’re qualified! Really, the why of it all is up to the writer. It could be something as important as social justice or as personal as why an issue is important to you. You could aim to educate a population and shed light on a certain subject. You could correct all the wrong opinions of a particular subject you’ve seen on the internet. You could use this medium to share your voice in a way that not only plays to your strengths but reaches more people.
Or maybe you just have a lot of thoughts and nowhere to put them. Whatever the reason, just know that they’re your thoughts, your voice, and you’re free to present them however you’d like.
How to write an essay collection
Now that you know what it is and why you might write one, let’s talk about how to do it. The vast majority of how it's done is up to you, but here are three guidelines to keep you on the right track:
1. Find your theme
Every type of collection needs to have a theme. A unifying concept that ties all your ideas together so that you’re not just taking every thought from your head that has significance and duct taping it together.
The theme can be anything. Climate change, the publishing industry, your gripes with classic literature. Finding a subject you’re passionate about is a good place to start. From there, start identifying specific topics within that subject that you want to tackle.
2. Find your goal
Okay, you’ve found your theme. You know what concept all of your essays will revolve around, great. Now, consider: What’s the point of these essays? I said you can relate essay collections to memoirs, but you shouldn’t just be reminiscing about the past. Every piece should have a thesis, a point you’re trying to prove, just like an academic essay. Once you’ve found what you’re trying to prove, the rest is easy. What do you do next? Prove it.
3. Organize your essays
If you’re thinking "Great, I’ve found my theme, I’ve written my essays, now they can all be bound in a single booklet and shipped off to be read by the world!" I’m slamming my hand on the biggest red button anyone has ever seen.
Unfortunately, you cannot just write a bunch of essays and slap them all together. Collection organization is just as important as the theme and goal of your collection. Each essay should be thoughtfully placed in the order that it is. Ideally, you’ll find a natural order that allows your thoughts and ideas to flow together. They should build off of each other from one essay to the next. If your reader has just read an essay introducing them to the topics of your collection, they’ll be all turned around if the next essay goes into the most specific issue of the subject and then the next essay zooms back out to a more general topic. Keep things consistent and logically ordered. You could try going from broad to narrow or vice versa. Make the order feel intentional.
Your essay collection does not need to tackle the most important or pertinent issues to be a good one. Whatever your topic, follow these guidelines and you’re sure to craft a collection worth reading!
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