Monday Morning Greetings 2026 #1 – The Art of the Essay and Happy Tenth Birthday, Monday Morning Greetings!

That’s over five hundred original essays! In my first essay of every year, I celebrate the birth of my blog by writing about writing.

One thing that I am proud of, and I hope that doesn’t sound egotistic, is that I have honed my craft. I write about that every year. This year, specifically I want to share some writing about writing by some prominent American authors that encouraged me to feel that my craft is going in the right direction.

Robert Atwan – The four qualities of a good essay

The essay is a particular genre of writing. Years ago, to hone my essay writing, I started to read anthologies of notable essays from the beginning of the genre, which is credited to Montaigne. Every year, I would get the anthology of American Best Essays founded by Robert Atwan, the series editor since its inception forty years ago.

I was especially interested in his foreword each year. In these, he extensively discusses in different ways the genre of essays. In one piece he outlined “four qualities we can find in all essays that have lasted beyond their moment of composition: 1) they explore original ideas about specific topics; 2) they include the vivid presence of the writer who readers can discern and track; 3) they incorporate moments of both self-awareness and skepticism primarily through reflection; and 4) they resist what Atwan calls “standardization” in content or form.

I thought, “this is what I try to do!” I hope my audience can sees this too in my writing.

I also related to this reference:

“[E]very work, be it fiction or serious treatise, is embalmed in some fantastic wrappage, some mad narrative accounting for its appearance, and connecting it with the author, who generally becomes a person in the drama itself, before all is over.”

—Thomas Carlyle, on Jean Paul Richter (1827).

Ernest Hemingway – Seven Tips for Good Writing [1]

Ernest Hemingway was a Nobel Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer and journalist. Recently, I came across several of his tips for writing. I felt gratified that without ever being taught those principles, I had already incorporated some of them in my own writing. These were the points I especially related to:

2: Stop writing for the day while you still know what’s coming next.

“Always stop when you’re going well and know what will happen next. That way, you’ll avoid getting stuck.”

4: Begin each writing session by reading what you’ve written so far.

“When it gets too long to read it all, go back a couple of chapters each day. Then each week, read from the beginning. This practice helps one reconnect with his story’s flow and keep continuity.”

5: Don’t describe emotions—create them.

“Newspaper writing tells what happened, often creating emotion through timeliness. Real writing, however, conveys the emotion as truthfully as possible. Instead of explaining feelings, let readers feel through the action and dialogue.”

7: Be brief.

“The Gettysburg Address was brief by design. The rules of prose are as unchanging as those of physics. Use valued concise, powerful prose that make every word count.”

Roy Peter Clark –“Murder your darlings”

Roy Clark is an American writer, editor, and writing coach. One of his most famous works on writing advice is called “Murder Your Darlings.”[2]

He wrote:

“Ask yourself, ‘Am I including this because it provides the reader with a memorable and delightful piece of evidence to prove the point of my text? Or is it beside the point even though it reveals what a good wordsmith I am?’ In other words, the phrase, sentence, or paragraph that’s the most precious to you, but doesn’t really add anything to your thesis, must go.”

I think this is one the most important things I Iearned about writing. It took me some time before I got it, but I am ruthless now in removing anything, no matter how seemingly profound or charming, that doesn’t serve the flow and focus of my writing. “Murder Your Darlings” is an essential writing tip.

Stephen King – “The adverb is not your friend”

The Adverb is Not Your Friend [3] is an essay by the famous novelist Stephen King that was shared with me by one of my writing mentors. I followed his advice of eliminating unnecessary adverbs, which means most. It made me a better writer.

It is beyond the scope of my post here to elaborate, but I recommend you read that essay The Adverb is Not Your Friend, if you want to be a better writer

All the posts for the past year can be found on www.wavesofdevotion.com. If you have the time and inclination I would appreciate if you could send me your favorite Monday Morning Greetings. Feedback helps me to focus on what to write.

All the best for a prosperous and spiritually uplifting New Year from Monday Morning Greetings!

[1] These tips aren’t from a single formal essay by Hemingway but are compiled from his letters, interviews, and essays, particularly those later collected in the book Ernest Hemingway on Writing (edited by Larry W. Phillips).

[2] https://barbaraleeharper.com/2023/04/25/murder-your-darlings/

[3] https://mecheng.iisc.ac.in/cnuiisc/DSRC/be.iisc.ac/13_StephenKing_adverb_is_not_your_friend.pdf