In her first collection of poems, \"The Colossus,\" she wrote of a feeling of nothingness: \"white: it is a complexion of the mind.” At the same time, she found solace in nature, from “a blue mist” “dragging the lake,” to white flowers that “tower and topple,” to blue mussels “clumped like bulbs.” After \"The Colossus\" she published \"The Bell Jar,\" her only novel, which fictionalizes the time she spent working for Mademoiselle magazine in New York during college.
Dalam koleksi puisi pertamanya, \"The Colossus,\" ia menuliskan perasaan tentang kehampaan: \"putih: adalah warna dari pikiran.\" Di saat yang sama dia menemukan penghiburan dari alam, dari \"kabut biru\" \"menyeret danau,\" hingga bunga-bunga putih yang \"menjulang dan tumbang\" hingga kerang-kerang biru yang \"berkerumun bak umbi-umbian.\" Setelah \"The Colossus\" dia menerbitkan \"The Bell Jar,\" novel satu-satunya, yang mengkhayalkan saat-saat ia bekerja untuk majalah Mademoiselle di New York ketika ia masih berkuliah.