"In an essay, you need to show your own path. It's a kind of electrician's work — when we look for some threads, transitions, wires. You need to figure out where there is a break, where there is a fall and what its cause is. Finding connections and observing one's own thinking in the process — that's what an essay is."

On December 18, as part of the mini-festival "Essay Days," Ukrainian writer Taras Prokhasko explained the uniqueness of this genre and how to write a good essay.

Essay writing began with Michel de Montaigne, who was the first to explore not only what happened to him but also to pay attention to the course of his own thoughts at that moment. Over time, many subgenres of essays emerged, intertwining with forms of other prose, but an essay can be recognized among other genres by several things.

The most important material of an essay is the history of thought, behind which lies openness to the world and constant embedded observation of it. While creating an essay, the writer explores the world through themselves, their own subjectivity — something not found in a report, pamphlet, study, etc. An essay is more like a detective story, as in both genres the search begins with a question, something unknown. Then it turns into a report to oneself — how the thought worked, what impressions and associations were in the chain of research.

Since in an essay text, what is important is not "how it was" but "how it seems to me, I saw," essays do not necessarily reflect the objective truth about the world but are the truth about the world in the author's understanding. Ultimately, essay writing, devoid of the author's subjective view and worldview, ceases to be one.

Thus, the value of an essayist's work lies in not cutting off their trunk when writing essays and taking into account all knowledge, associations, and memories. Essay writing is transforming oneself into a laboratory for exploring one's own consciousness and at the same time creating a mental field where the reader and author can exchange thoughts.

"When I write essays, I abuse schematics, I have no plan. This genre is interesting to me as a document of what is done spontaneously. So I write an essay in one go — I know what I want to tell and include associations. A good essay comes out if the text combines personal experiences, cerebral corporeality, and the object of observation."

You can get acquainted with Taras Prokhasko's essays in the collection "Yes, but...", which was shortlisted for this year's Yuri Shevelyov Prize.

Taras Prokhasko: "Essay Writing — Transforming Oneself into a Laboratory for Exploring One's Own Consciousness"