The Essay as Method – in development

For much of my life I thought of myself as a writer. I worked across government, industry, trade-unions, journalism and publishing. Along the way I learned how stories are researched, how arguments are assembled, and how meaning is carried from one mind to another.

What I did not fully appreciate was that the essay had quietly become my preferred way of working. – Not the essay as a literary form. – The essay as a method.

I have always been drawn to things that do not quite fit: a contradiction, an anomaly, a tension between two apparently reasonable positions. My instinct has rarely been to resolve these immediately. Instead, I find myself exploring them, describing them, and testing them against experience. The essay offers space for that kind of inquiry.

It allows evidence, experience and reflection to sit alongside one another. It makes room for uncertainty without surrendering rigour. It can accommodate both observation and interpretation. Over time I have become less interested in arriving quickly at conclusions and more interested in understanding how significance is discovered, organised and shared.

That process begins with attention. – Why did this particular thing attract notice? – Why does it matter? – To whom does it matter? – How have I organised its significance? – And what assumptions have I carried into that judgement?

These questions have become as interesting to me as the subjects themselves. The purpose of this site is to explore those questions through the lens of essayism. It is not a guide to essay writing. It is not a set of rules. It is a working exploration of the essay as a method of inquiry, attention and understanding. Or, put more simply:

This is where I stand.

This is what I can see from here.

Come and look with me.

David Marshall
11 July 2026