Evrim Tekin

Writing

Writing is thinking you can come back to.

What it is

Writing turns a vague thought into something you can test, share and revise. Many writers say they write to find out what they think.

The essay form began as an experiment: Montaigne called his pieces essais, attempts. The essays on this site are filed under the world where their question lives, and linked here.

Updated 5 November 2026 · 2 sourced facts

Illustration
A generative picture of the idea; it shows no data.

Ideas to carry

  1. 1

    Write to find out

    The draft is where the thinking happens, not where it is recorded.

  2. 2

    Clear beats clever

    A plain sentence that lands is worth more than a pretty one that does not.

  3. 3

    Revision is the work

    First drafts are for you; later drafts are for the reader.

Established What we know

  1. Montaigne published the first books of his Essais in 1580; the title means “attempts”.[1]
  2. Socrates wrote nothing himself; we know his thought largely through Plato’s dialogues, such as the Apology.[2]

Interpretation The older lens · Egyptian myth and Kabbalah

Thoth and Hermes were gods of writing; the Sefer Yetzirah describes letters as the building blocks of creation.

Reading

  1. 1580EssaisMichel de Montaigne
  2. 1946Politics and the English LanguageGeorge Orwell
  3. 1989The Writing LifeAnnie Dillard

Me: I will write one sentence

Me, three hours later: rewrote the sentence 40 times

Made in-house, for fun.

Connected subjects, projects and writing

Sources

  1. Essays of Michel de Montaigne Project Gutenberg, 1580. Checked 5 Nov 2026.
  2. Apology, by Plato Project Gutenberg, c. 399 BCE. Checked 5 Nov 2026.