Essay Architecture | Michael Dean | Substack

Table of Contents

Essay Architecture (the whole book)

READ THE LATEST

#essay architecture

Summer syllabus for Essay Club

Mondays at 7pm ET, 12 classics between now and Labor Day

Jun 20 • Michael Dean

Winners of the $10k essay prize

Congrats to Tommy Dixon and the 10 finalists in our new print anthology, The Best Internet Essays 2025

Mar 11 • Michael Dean

The feedback you won't get from your friends, family, and chatbots

Oct 12, 2025 • Michael Dean

Table of Contents

Essay Architecture (the whole book)

Sep 16, 2025 • Michael Dean

I’m giving $10,000 to the best essay of 2025

And the finalists will get published in a printed Metalabel anthology (submit by 11/23/2025)

Sep 1, 2025 • Michael Dean

Best American Essays?

Let's analyze composition across the 2024 anthology

Jan 31, 2025 • Michael Dean

Essay Writing as Personal Sovereignty

Shaping AI to preserve the slow craft of critical thought

Oct 29, 2024 • Michael Dean

A Pattern Language

You don’t need templates, advice, rules, or Rick Rubin; you need to become fluent.

Oct 13, 2024 • Michael Dean

Essay Architecture

Essay Architecture

Mapping the secret architecture of great essays.

Elements

Have you tapped into your personal and cultural memory to build an argument that supports your thesis?

Sep 15, 2025 • Michael Dean

Have you organized complexity through a central idea that is concrete, contextual, and catalytic?

Sep 15, 2025 • Michael Dean

Have you crafted an alluring, phonetic phrase that represents your main idea?

Sep 15, 2025 • Michael Dean

Do most paragraphs open with tension, move with flow, and close with reward?

Sep 15, 2025 • Michael Dean

Have you selected, arranged, and detailed your material to minimize confusion?

Sep 15, 2025 • Michael Dean

Are you creating stakes and anticipation so the reader cares what happens next?

Sep 15, 2025 • Michael Dean

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