Essay Architecture | Michael Dean | Substack

Table of Contents

Essay Architecture (the whole book)

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#essay architecture

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

Quality is the transcendence of categories

Announcing the judges for the 2025 Essay Architecture Prize & the judging system that will shape the anthology

Nov 23, 2025 • Michael Dean

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

Oct 12, 2025 • Michael Dean

What's it like to live in 2025?

In this post I cover the prompt for The Essay Architecture Prize, why I picked it, some approaches, our judging criteria, the rules, 50+ examples …

Sep 16, 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

Burn down your architecture

Why I rebuilt Essay Architecture from scratch

Aug 15, 2025 • Michael Dean

Best American Essays?

Let's analyze composition across the 2024 anthology

Jan 31, 2025 • 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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