What Is a Hermit Crab Essay and How to Write One
- jenhyde
- Jun 12
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 18
A Self-Guided Writing Prompt for Writers
One of the most popular essay forms that I teach in my Creative Nonfiction courses is undoubtedly the hermit crab essay. The hermit crab essay is a borrowed form (receipt, grocery list, instructions) you use to tell a story from your life. You may wonder, why not just tell the story in a more straightforward way? Well, sure you can, but if you’ve ever felt nervous about getting too vulnerable in a piece or unsure of how to encapsulate the entirety of your ideas within the story you’re writing, the hermit crab can free you from these concerns and guide to to the emotional truth of your work in surprising and satisfying ways.
It may sound counterintuitive, but the constraints of a pre-existing form like a grocery list can unlock our creativity. That’s because the form acts as a nontraditional enclosure for a story. Our brains feel relaxed by not having to think in “essay form” and challenged by thinking about our story in a new way. When we can think just about our story and not about both our story and how to tell it best, the mental break we give ourselves can lead to a breakthrough.
I’ve created a complimentary Hermit Crab Essay workbook that you can download at the end of this post.
What Is a Hermit Crab Essay?
A hermit crab essay is a type of creative nonfiction writing that uses a borrowed form to tell a personal story. The term comes from the idea of the essay “finding a shell” in the form of something else—just like a hermit crab. These forms can include:
A recipe
A medical chart
A quiz or questionnaire
A resume or cover letter
A user manual
A set of instructions
Instead of writing a straightforward narrative, the writer uses this “shell” to explore memory, emotion, and truth in surprising ways. The shell of an essay (especially if it’s not an “essay” as a shell) can act as a safety net. This allows our writerly minds to focus on the story itself by engaging in poetic thinking, collaging, and meaning-making through metaphors. Separating form from content gives our brains a little break.
Why Write One?
Hermit crab essays are especially useful when:
The subject is emotionally difficult to write about directly
You want to play with form and structure
You're interested in blending genres
You're looking for a new way to engage readers
The hermit crab essay allows writers to sidestep traditional storytelling and approach their topics at an angle—often yielding deeper resonance and unanticipated truths.
Some Examples
Here are some of my favorite Hermit Crab essays available online.
A Few Math Problems for Mothers by Kate Tellers (an essay in word problems)
The Heart as a Torn Muscle by Randon Billings Noble (an essay as a medical diagnosis)
Mr. Pimpleton’s Revenge by Dinty W. Moore (an essay told using Google Maps)
For more examples, check out The Shell Game an anthology of hermit crab essays edited by Kim Adrian! And if you’re ready to try your hand at a hermit crab essay now, check out the prompts below:
My Prompt for Writing Your Hermit Crab Essay
Think about the story you’re trying to write. Maybe you’re working on a personal essay or a memoir, or perhaps you’re just beginning to explore material. Are there any pre-existing forms that you encounter within that story? Your mother’s recipes, an exam you studied hard for, a housing application or program intake form, instructions for assembling a speaker system?
If you can’t conjure any forms readily, you may consider if there are important objects in your story that have a written record of their own: an encyclopedia entry on record players, an instruction manual for assembling a piece of furniture, a brief history of doryman fishing, you get the idea.
Let your instincts guide you, and feel free to take risks even if the relationship between the form and content of your story isn’t clear. If yelp reviews come to mind, start thinking about your star ratings! If wall texts in a museum come up for you, that’s great!
Draft Your Hermit Crab Essay
Start filling out your shell with your story. You might start out by setting up the structure as you find it in the real world. If your shell is a menu, stick with the flow of the menu: appetizers, happy hour, desserts.
Then, go deeper into the structure with elements of your story. Think of the different sections of your form as an opportunity to zoom into aspects of your story. What sections or questions lend themselves to small details? Different perspectives? Jumps in time?
If and where it makes sene, push the limits of your structure. Where can you be more vulnerable? Where can you safely say what you mean? You don’t have to do this everywhere or throughout the piece. Try picking one question, one line of instruction, one small aspect of your form to push. How does this augment your story? Does anything new come up for you that is surprising or exciting? Do your revelations belong in your hermit crab essay or another piece you’ve been working on?
Finally, let your piece be a standalone work if you want it to become one. Sometimes it’s just enough to use the hermit crab form to get us where we want to go in a writing project we’ve been stuck on. But other times, the hermit crab becomes a standalone work we never expected to write. If the latter, read your piece aloud and revise it for rhythm, emotional insight and tone until the piece feels whole to you.
Reflect and Share
When you have finished your hermit crab essay, ask yourself:
What new layers did this form reveal?
Is this a standalone piece, or is it a stepping stone toward the essay or memoir you’re already draft?
Often, it’s nice to get that feedback from a reader. Share your piece with a friend or writing group for feedback!
If you need a hand taking the next step, I’m here to discuss! Book a 1:1 consultation with me to get feedback on your hermit crab essay or what to do next!
Do you want to save this prompt for later without the hassle of keeping the tab open? Download this post as a FREE PDF workbook!
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