I was reading Cheryl Strayed's introduction to the 2013 edition of "The Best American Essays" and I came upon this passage which really seems to have completely transmogrified my brain along with my perception of essay writing:
"The word essay means 'to try', 'to attempt', 'to test'... Behind every good essay there's an author with a savage desire to know more about what is already known. A good essay isn't a report of what happened. It's a search for the stuff beyond and beneath."
It's a really beautiful approach to essay writing and I think writing and art in general. The point is not mechanical precision but discovery: to "try", "attempt", "test" in search for the essence of things, their obscured layers. I don't know, I just find this perspective SO liberating!! :))
