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Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

This is the real deadline! Publish by October 1st and join this call to have others in the club read and comment on your work. We'll be reading for the full hour.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join us to read “On Lying in Bed” by G.K. Chesterton. The session includes a quick presentation giving context on the work, 25 minutes of analytical reading time, a breakout room to talk through your reactions, and then a group discussion on the patterns. You'll leave with practical writing/editing concepts to try, along with a recommended reading list of more essays from the author.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

This is the real deadline! Publish by September 1st and join this call to have others in the club read and comment on your work. We'll be reading for the full hour.

Join us to read “Goodbye To All That” by Joan Didion. The session includes a quick presentation giving context on the work, 25 minutes of analytical reading time, a breakout room to talk through your reactions, and then a group discussion on the patterns. You'll leave with practical writing/editing concepts to try, along with a recommended reading list of more essays from the author.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join us to read “The Fourth State of Matter” by Jo Anne Beard. The session includes a quick presentation giving context on the work, 25 minutes of analytical reading time, a breakout room to talk through your reactions, and then a group discussion on the patterns. You'll leave with practical writing/editing concepts to try, along with a recommended reading list of more essays from the author.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join us to read “Once More to the Lake” by E.B. White. The session includes a quick presentation giving context on the work, 25 minutes of analytical reading time, a breakout room to talk through your reactions, and then a group discussion on the patterns. You'll leave with practical writing/editing concepts to try, along with a recommended reading list of more essays from the author.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join us to read “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell. The session includes a quick presentation giving context on the work, 25 minutes of analytical reading time, a breakout room to talk through your reactions, and then a group discussion on the patterns. You'll leave with practical writing/editing concepts to try, along with a recommended reading list of more essays from the author.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

This is the real deadline! Publish between August 1st-5th and join this call to have others in the club read and comment on your work. We'll be reading for the full hour. Note: This shifted from the 3rd to the 5th, because it was originally overlapping with our Monday night reading call.

Join us to read “Street Haunting” by Virginia Woolf. The session includes a quick presentation giving context on the work, 25 minutes of analytical reading time, a breakout room to talk through your reactions, and then a group discussion on the patterns. You'll leave with practical writing/editing concepts to try, along with a recommended reading list of more essays from the author.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join us to read “On three kinds of social intercourse” by Michel de Montaigne. The session includes a quick presentation giving context on the work, 25 minutes of analytical reading time, a breakout room to talk through your reactions, and then a group discussion on the patterns. You'll leave with practical writing/editing concepts to try, along with a recommended reading list of more essays from the author.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join us to read “Homeschool” by Meghan O’Gieblyn. The session includes a quick presentation giving context on the work, 25 minutes of analytical reading time, a breakout room to talk through your reactions, and then a group discussion on the patterns. You'll leave with practical writing/editing concepts to try, along with a recommended reading list of more essays from the author.

*RESCHEDULED from July 17th to July 15th* Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join us to read “Notes on Camp” by Susan Sontag. The session includes a quick presentation giving context on the work, 25 minutes of analytical reading time, a breakout room to talk through your reactions, and then a group discussion on the patterns. You'll leave with practical writing/editing concepts to try, along with a recommended reading list of more essays from the author.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join us to read “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The session includes a quick presentation giving context on the work, 25 minutes of analytical reading time, a breakout room to talk through your reactions, and then a group discussion on the patterns. You'll leave with practical writing/editing concepts to try, along with a recommended reading list of more essays from the author.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

This is the real deadline! Publish by July 1st and join this call to have others in the club read and comment on your work. We'll be reading for the full hour.

Join us to read “The Empathy Exams” by Leslie Jamison. The session includes a quick presentation giving context on the work, 25 minutes of analytical reading time, a breakout room to talk through your reactions, and then a group discussion on the patterns. You'll leave with practical writing/editing concepts to try, along with a recommended reading list of more essays from the author.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join us to read “Consider the Lobster” by David Foster Wallace. The session includes a quick presentation giving context on the work, 25 minutes of analytical reading time, a breakout room to talk through your reactions, and then a group discussion on the patterns. You'll leave with practical writing/editing concepts to try, along with a recommended reading list of more essays from the author.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Unlike a book club, an essay club has no homework. They're short enough that we can all jump on a call and read together, swarm a gDoc in unison, and then talk it over. This summer starting June 22nd, I'll be hosting a weekly reading session on Mondays at 7pm ET. We'll cover DFW, Leslie Jamison, Emerson, Sontag, Meghan O'Gieblyn, Montaigne, Virginia Woolf, George Orwell, E.B. White, Jo Anne Beard, Didion, and Chesterton. For each one I'll present visual annotations and diagrams so you can see the Essay Architecture patterns in context. These readings will be part of Essay Club, but all are welcome to join the kickoff session, and I'll share the full syllabus at the end of the call. We'll cover: - How should an essay writer read? - Mortimer Adler's different types of reading (analytical vs. syntopical) - Reading exercises - How to become fluent in a pattern language (or anything) - A tour through some classic essay writers How Essay Club works: we meet Mondays at 7pm ET for reading sessions, Fridays at 3pm ET for feedback on your own drafts, and we coordinate async through our own forum. Each month we set our publishing goals, and all strive to finish by the 1st. We'll have a Q&A at the end of the session.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

This is the real deadline! Publish by June 1st and join this call to have others in the club read and comment on your work. We'll be reading for the full hour.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join us Monday, May 18th at 7pm ET on Zoom to read an essay by Paul Graham—we'll try a new format that includes reading a classic essay on the call, discussing it in breakout room, and then returning at a group to see the patterns visualized.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join us Monday, May 11th at 7pm ET on Zoom to read an essay by Paul Graham—we'll try a new format that includes reading a classic essay on the call, discussing it in breakout room, and then returning at a group to see the patterns visualized.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

This is the real deadline! Publish by May 4th and join this call to have others in the club read and comment on your work. We'll be reading for the full hour.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join us Monday, April 27th at 7pm ET on Zoom for our monthly call—we'll try a new format that includes reading a classic essay on the call, discussing it in breakout room, and then returning at a group to see the patterns visualized.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join us Monday, April 6th at 7pm ET on Zoom for our monthly call—we'll try a new format that includes reading a classic essay on the call, discussing it in breakout room, and then returning at a group to see the patterns visualized.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

This is our deadline! Publish by April 1st and join this call to have others in the club read and comment on your work. We'll be reading for the full hour.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

This is our deadline! Publish by March 2nd and join this call to have others in the club read and comment on your work. We'll be reading for the full hour.

I’m currently taking Alex’s course, and it’s been a massive unlock for me. Even though I’ve been using AI to code for two years, my approach has been slow and methodical, where I still write some code, review most of it, and even make Miro diagrams to understand the app’s architecture. Alex, on the other hand, is a vibe coding ninja. I watched him go from idea to published website in <2 minutes, and realized I needed to understand the fast side of the spectrum. After a few weeks, I find it extremely useful for (1) building tools, interfaces, and scripts to work with data on your computer, and (2) to launch simple prototypes and websites. I wanted to have a call with him to see how he uses it for his writing (I know he pushes to his website automatically by checking a box in Obsidian), and I figured I’d open the event to the club so you can all ask him questions too. It will be right after our Friday working session.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

New ritual: on the last Monday of each month (in this case, January 26th at 7pm ET), we’re going to have an all-club meeting. You guys voted on “monthly readings,” so this will be the time to meet up and discuss those. Ideally, you read the essays in advance, and if not, I’ll have visual diagrams so you can learn something from them. It’ll also be a space for breakout rooms, convergence, and celebrations.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

This is our deadline! Publish by February 2nd and join this call to have others in the club read and comment on your work. We'll be reading for the full hour.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

New ritual: on the last Monday of each month (in this case, January 26th at 7pm ET), we’re going to have an all-club meeting. You guys voted on “monthly readings,” so this will be the time to meet up and discuss those. Ideally, you read the essays in advance, and if not, I’ll have visual diagrams so you can learn something from them. It’ll also be a space for breakout rooms, convergence, and celebrations.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.

The beginning of the year is a great time to reconfigure your writing practice. This is a workshop session with writing prompts, breakouts, and discussion to help you kick off 2026.

Join to exchange drafts, talk through ideas, or focus on writing. Join before :10 after the hour. We'll be in breakout rooms for 40 minutes. We close with a group discussion, and sometimes have an optional after-hour hangout.