Between one of pg's essays and a typical blog post?
Pg spends weeks writing a typical essay of his (or at least he used to), editing it and getting feedback from colleagues and HN alumni before, whereas a typical blog post is banged out in a couple of hours, with little or no rewriting.
Also, just look a the page of one of his essays versus all the visual clutter on the typical blog post. Maybe superficial you may say, but I don't think so. It speaks volumes about the motives of the author. Maybe the blog writer wants to SEO optimise, promote their business, serve AdSense ads...whereas a pg essay is an extremely refined stream of thought on a specify topic. And his primary motive appears not be to sell you something, but figure stuff out as he writes.
So the difference between an essay and a blog post? Huge differences I think.
Where did that question come from? This is about Twitter, so the more relevant question is "What's the difference between an essay and a tweet?"
I'm not sure how to define that difference without something weak like "essays are longer", but even abstracts are typically expected to have more words than a tweet has characters.
I was asking because the OP wrote "he prefers writing in essay format" which seems to be giving PGs writings some sort of prestige beyond calling it a blog post. Yes, PG has lots of experience and writes well, but I don't see a need to elevate his blog to something more.
To me the difference is the amount of effort one puts in. Originally a blog post, as the name "web log" implies, was something one wrote that day-- a log entry. Whereas essays sometimes take weeks. The distinction has gotten blurred, but insofar as there is a distinction I think that's the root of it.
The style ideas you have for essays almost certainly don't match what Paul Graham sees an essay as. Read http://www.paulgraham.com/essay.html for details.
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What is the difference between an essay and a blog post?
Between one of pg's essays and a typical blog post?
Pg spends weeks writing a typical essay of his (or at least he used to), editing it and getting feedback from colleagues and HN alumni before, whereas a typical blog post is banged out in a couple of hours, with little or no rewriting.
Also, just look a the page of one of his essays versus all the visual clutter on the typical blog post. Maybe superficial you may say, but I don't think so. It speaks volumes about the motives of the author. Maybe the blog writer wants to SEO optimise, promote their business, serve AdSense ads...whereas a pg essay is an extremely refined stream of thought on a specify topic. And his primary motive appears not be to sell you something, but figure stuff out as he writes.
So the difference between an essay and a blog post? Huge differences I think.
Where did that question come from? This is about Twitter, so the more relevant question is "What's the difference between an essay and a tweet?"
I'm not sure how to define that difference without something weak like "essays are longer", but even abstracts are typically expected to have more words than a tweet has characters.
I was asking because the OP wrote "he prefers writing in essay format" which seems to be giving PGs writings some sort of prestige beyond calling it a blog post. Yes, PG has lots of experience and writes well, but I don't see a need to elevate his blog to something more.
Essay implies you follow some actual style guide, even if it's unwritten. Blogs require no structure.
To me the difference is the amount of effort one puts in. Originally a blog post, as the name "web log" implies, was something one wrote that day-- a log entry. Whereas essays sometimes take weeks. The distinction has gotten blurred, but insofar as there is a distinction I think that's the root of it.
That's a fairly snobbish response. So basically an essay is not a blog post because you say so?
The style ideas you have for essays almost certainly don't match what Paul Graham sees an essay as. Read http://www.paulgraham.com/essay.html for details.