Just received this url from a friend, and wanted to pass it on. This mirrors many of my own feelings about writing an essay. In general, the most important point on which I agree with this essay is the concept of an essay not as an argument, but as a system for discovery and learning. An essay should be written to learn – to explore a question the writer has – rather than to argue a foregone conclusion. Essays written in this way are interesting, full of the excitement of discovery, and probing. They try out new ideas, and move beyond the argument to something much deeper and more meaningful. The audience helps one to write more carefully, more precisely, perhaps even in a more entertaining way, but the audience is really just along for the ride: witnesses to the education of the author at worst, participants at best. Which is my surprise as I write this – the Internet does seem to be the golden age/location of the essay, because the essay is interactive. Wonderful. give this a read: http://www.paulgraham.com/essay.html