4 ms·

What is the difference between an essay and a blog post?

by parfe 16y ago

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
sprout 16y ago
Essay implies you follow some actual style guide, even if it's unwritten. Blogs require no structure.
- parfe 16y ago
  That's a fairly snobbish response. So basically an essay is not a blog post because you say so?
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
- pg 16y ago
  To me the difference is the amount of effort one puts in. Originally a blog post, as the name "web log" implies, was something one wrote that day-- a log entry. Whereas essays sometimes take weeks. The distinction has gotten blurred, but insofar as there is a distinction I think that's the root of it.
- btilly 16y ago
  The style ideas you have for essays almost certainly don't match what Paul Graham sees an essay as. Read http://www.paulgraham.com/essay.html http://www.paulgraham.com/essay.html for details.
patrickk 16y ago
Between one of pg's essays and a typical blog post? Pg spends weeks writing a typical essay of his (or at least he used to), editing it and getting feedback from colleagues and HN alumni before, whereas a typical blog post is banged out in a couple of hours, with little or no rewriting. Also, just look a the page of one of his essays versus all the visual clutter on the typical blog post. Maybe superficial you may say, but I don't think so. It speaks volumes about the motives of the author. Maybe the blog writer wants to SEO optimise, promote their business, serve AdSense ads...whereas a pg essay is an extremely refined stream of thought on a specify topic. And his primary motive appears not be to sell you something, but figure stuff out as he writes. So the difference between an essay and a blog post? Huge differences I think.
frobozz 16y ago
Where did that question come from? This is about Twitter, so the more relevant question is "What's the difference between an essay and a tweet?" I'm not sure how to define that difference without something weak like "essays are longer", but even abstracts are typically expected to have more words than a tweet has characters.
- parfe 16y ago
  I was asking because the OP wrote "he prefers writing in essay format" which seems to be giving PGs writings some sort of prestige beyond calling it a blog post. Yes, PG has lots of experience and writes well, but I don't see a need to elevate his blog to something more.

What is the difference between an essay and a blog post?

by parfe 16y ago

What is the difference between an essay and a blog post?

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

sprout 16y ago

Essay implies you follow some actual style guide, even if it's unwritten. Blogs require no structure.

parfe 16y ago
That's a fairly snobbish response. So basically an essay is not a blog post because you say so?
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
pg 16y ago
To me the difference is the amount of effort one puts in. Originally a blog post, as the name "web log" implies, was something one wrote that day-- a log entry. Whereas essays sometimes take weeks. The distinction has gotten blurred, but insofar as there is a distinction I think that's the root of it.
btilly 16y ago
The style ideas you have for essays almost certainly don't match what Paul Graham sees an essay as. Read http://www.paulgraham.com/essay.html http://www.paulgraham.com/essay.html for details.

patrickk 16y ago

Between one of pg's essays and a typical blog post? Pg spends weeks writing a typical essay of his (or at least he used to), editing it and getting feedback from colleagues and HN alumni before, whereas a typical blog post is banged out in a couple of hours, with little or no rewriting. Also, just look a the page of one of his essays versus all the visual clutter on the typical blog post. Maybe superficial you may say, but I don't think so. It speaks volumes about the motives of the author. Maybe the blog writer wants to SEO optimise, promote their business, serve AdSense ads...whereas a pg essay is an extremely refined stream of thought on a specify topic. And his primary motive appears not be to sell you something, but figure stuff out as he writes. So the difference between an essay and a blog post? Huge differences I think.

frobozz 16y ago

Where did that question come from? This is about Twitter, so the more relevant question is "What's the difference between an essay and a tweet?" I'm not sure how to define that difference without something weak like "essays are longer", but even abstracts are typically expected to have more words than a tweet has characters.

parfe 16y ago
I was asking because the OP wrote "he prefers writing in essay format" which seems to be giving PGs writings some sort of prestige beyond calling it a blog post. Yes, PG has lots of experience and writes well, but I don't see a need to elevate his blog to something more.