Welcome to the 200th episode of Freelance Writing Direct! I’m incredibly grateful to every guest who has generously shared their wisdom over the years, and to all of you who listen, watch, subscribe, review, and support the show. Reaching this milestone has been a joy, and I’m excited to continue bringing you conversations that help you grow as a writer.

To celebrate this special episode, I’m joined by acclaimed author and teacher Brenda Miller, whose work has shaped generations of creative nonfiction writers. Brenda coined the now widely used term Hermit Crab essay, and together we explore how borrowed forms can help writers discover emotional truths, deepen their stories, and find unexpected creative freedom.

In this episode:

• What a Hermit Crab essay is and why borrowed forms are so powerful
• How braided essays weave together memory, research, metaphor, and reflection
• Why play and experimentation belong in every writer’s practice
• The importance of echoes, resonance, and connective tissue
• Brenda’s classroom exercises that unlock creativity
• Revision as the place where an essay discovers what it’s really about
• Finding the deeper question beneath every personal essay

Brenda also reads from A Braided Heart, talks about her latest hybrid memoir, shares the story behind her beloved essay “We Regret to Inform You,” and offers practical advice that memoirists, essayists, journalists, and fiction writers can put to work immediately.

Watch on YouTube

About Brenda Miller

Brenda Miller’s new hybrid collection, Love You, Bye: A Daughter’s Journey in Essays and Poems, is just out from Skinner House Books (April 2026). She is the author of six additional essay collections, including A Braided Heart: Essays on Writing and Form, and An Earlier Life, winner of the Washington State Book Award for Memoir. Her work has received seven Pushcart Prizes. She co-authored, with Holly J. Hughes, The Pen and the Bell: Mindful Writing in a Busy World, and, with Suzanne Paola, Tell It Slant: Creating, Refining, and Publishing Creative Nonfiction, now in its third edition. She coined the term “Hermit Crab Essay.” Her website is www.brendamillerwriter.com.

Get More From Estelle Erasmus

My next Musings on Magazines: The Story Behind the Story substack live will be on July 30 at 4 pm ET. I can’t wait to share my guest with you. Sign up for my substack and don’t miss a post.

My latest substack post is The Echo Effect (Part 2): Make Your Writing Linger Longer.  Sign up to get all my craft, pitching and publishing posts.

I loved talking about writing, publishing and my memoir plus in progress on Diana Daniele’s instagram program Musings Time (love the name, because anything with Musing works for me). Check it out here.  Thank you for inviting me, Diana.

My next Editor-on-Call event with NYU is on Wednesday, September 16, with Electric Literature Executive Editor and Publisher Denne Michele Norris. Sign up here: https://events.nyu.edu/event/400238-light-up-your-literary-life-with-electric-literatures

Private Small-Group Memoir/Essay Class
My next six-week session beginning in September 2026 is sold out. Please email me to be added to the waiting list for the next session. Contact freelancewritingdirect@gmail.com for details.

Watch
Estelle’s TEDx Talk: How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond

Book
Writing That Gets Noticed — named a Poets & Writers “Best Book for Writers.”

Listen/Watch
Freelance Writing Direct Podcast — 2026  Podcast of the Year, Business (American Writing Awards) https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast

About Estelle
Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist, TEDx speaker, and author of Writing That Gets Noticed. She is the host, founder, and executive producer of Freelance Writing Direct, an adjunct professor at NYU, and the former editor-in-chief of five national magazines with a combined reach of 10 million readers.

Her work has appeared in more than 150 publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP The Magazine.

Follow Estelle

Instagram: @EstelleSErasmus
TikTok: @EstelleSErasmus
Twitter/X: @EstelleSErasmus
Bluesky: @estelleserasmus.bsky.social

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