Every story is about conflict and change, and the truth is that essays are about conflict and change, too! The difference is that in an essay, the conflict is between different ideas, the change is in the way we should perceive those ideas.
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Introductions are often the hardest part to write because you’re trying to summarize your entire essay before you’ve even written it yet. Instead, try writing your introduction last, giving yourself the body of the paper to figure out the main point of your essay.
The truth is, education is an opportunity many people in the world don’t have access to. It’s a gift, not just something that makes your life more difficult. I don’t want you to make the mistake of just “getting by” through school, waiting desperately for summer breaks and, eventually, graduation.
3. As you research, ask yourself, “What surprises me about this subject?”
- Thesis: While most students consider writing an essay a boring task, with the right mindset, it can actually be an enjoyable experience.
- Body #1: Most students think writing an essay is tedious because they focus on external rewards.
- Body #2: Students should instead focus on internal fulfillment when writing an essay.
- Body #3: Not only will focusing on internal fulfillment allow students to have more fun, they will write better essays.
- Conclusion: Writing an essay doesn’t have to be simply a way to earn a good grade. Instead, it can be a means of finding fulfillment.
I can’t guarantee you’ll get a higher grade (although, you almost certainly will), but I can absolutely promise you’ll have a lot more fun writing.
A note about “I”: Some teachers say you shouldn’t use “I” statements in your writing, but the truth is that professional, academic papers often use phrases like “I believe” and “in my opinion,” especially in their introductions.
Remember: Your feelings don’t control you. You control you. If you want to write, then do it.
In 2013, I’ve made it my goal to read 100 books, and I know this new focus on reading will help my writing. What’s your reading goal for 2013?
Rest makes you creative, and if you’re not resting, you won’t be as creative as you could be. (Note: for it to count, you have to be resting from hard work, not just resting for rest’s sake.)
Bob Dylan discovered this in 1965 when he decided to quit being a musician. Burnt out and fed up with the scene, he decided to retreat to his cabin in upstate New York and become a novelist. A few days into his exile, however, he wrote “Like a Rolling Stone,” one of the most successful songs in the history of rock and roll.
6. Write Anyway
Morning pages is a discipline invented by Julia Cameron. Julia suggests free writing three pages by hand when you first wake up as a way to ignite your creativity. You don’t show these pages to anyone. They are not meant for publication. Instead, it’s a way to remind yourself that writing is, first and foremost, for you.
Even if you can’t write, you can always read. In fact, if you’re not reading, that may be the reason you don’t want to write in the first place. Reading fuels writing. It inspires. It motivates. Reading is one of the best ways to improve your writing.
Writing stories should be fun! However, when you’re an English Literature major, like I am, you learn how to take stories very seriously. The problem is that when you try to take you’re writing too seriously, it becomes this overwhelming burden that you have no desire to carry.
As you think about the upcoming year, what adventure could you have? What can you do to make 2013 a year worth remembering? You don’t have to go on a road trip or jump out of a plane to go on an adventure. Instead, visit your local library with your journal or read that 1,000 page classic you’ve been putting off.
Remember: Your feelings don’t control you. You control you. If you want to write, then do it.
In 2013, I’ve made it my goal to read 100 books, and I know this new focus on reading will help my writing. What’s your reading goal for 2013?
Rest makes you creative, and if you’re not resting, you won’t be as creative as you could be. (Note: for it to count, you have to be resting from hard work, not just resting for rest’s sake.)
Bob Dylan discovered this in 1965 when he decided to quit being a musician. Burnt out and fed up with the scene, he decided to retreat to his cabin in upstate New York and become a novelist. A few days into his exile, however, he wrote “Like a Rolling Stone,” one of the most successful songs in the history of rock and roll.
6. Write Anyway
Morning pages is a discipline invented by Julia Cameron. Julia suggests free writing three pages by hand when you first wake up as a way to ignite your creativity. You don’t show these pages to anyone. They are not meant for publication. Instead, it’s a way to remind yourself that writing is, first and foremost, for you.
Even if you can’t write, you can always read. In fact, if you’re not reading, that may be the reason you don’t want to write in the first place. Reading fuels writing. It inspires. It motivates. Reading is one of the best ways to improve your writing.
Writing stories should be fun! However, when you’re an English Literature major, like I am, you learn how to take stories very seriously. The problem is that when you try to take you’re writing too seriously, it becomes this overwhelming burden that you have no desire to carry.
As you think about the upcoming year, what adventure could you have? What can you do to make 2013 a year worth remembering? You don’t have to go on a road trip or jump out of a plane to go on an adventure. Instead, visit your local library with your journal or read that 1,000 page classic you’ve been putting off.
Your essay can be the difference between an acceptance and rejection — it allows you to stand out from the rest of applicants with similar profiles. Get a free peer review or review other students’ essays right now to understand the strength of your essay.
Don’t feel restricted by the boundaries of brainstorming exercises
Your essay can be the difference between an acceptance and rejection — it allows you to stand out from the rest of applicants with similar profiles. Get a free peer review or review other students’ essays right now to understand the strength of your essay.
Colleges also understand that not everyone has access to the same set of opportunities. Your geographic location, your socioeconomic status, your family connections, and many other factors have an impact on what you can do during your high school years. Admissions officers certainly aren’t going to penalize you if, for instance, you haven’t had the chance to travel the world, or you couldn’t afford to take part in certain activities.
Does your Common App essay actually stand out?
You should also avoid essay topics that involve obscene language, illegal activities, violence, or graphic subjects. While writing a strong essay about one of these topics may be theoretically possible, it’s extremely difficult, and attempting to do so is generally not successful. If you’re considering writing about anything that could be considered controversial, keep in mind that the people reading your application may very well disagree with you completely, so don’t make personal attacks on or assumptions about those with different opinions.
Don’t worry! You don’t need to have had a particularly extraordinary experience to write a compelling college application essay that shows off your writing skills and allows colleges to learn more about you personally. Read on for more tips on how to write a great college essay, even if you don’t feel you have anything interesting to write about.
- What’s the last news story you read and found interesting? This question can help you identify an issue that you are passionate about or a cause that matters a lot to you.
- What is your proudest accomplishment so far? What about it makes you feel proud? This question can reveal what you consider most important about yourself and what you want colleges to know about you.
- When have you been the most nervous, and why were you nervous? What was the outcome of the situation? This could cover anything from an important performance to a big test to standing up for an issue you care about.
- What’s the most recent topic you researched on your own just for fun or self-improvement? Have you found yourself in a downward spiral of reading Wikipedia articles recently? Colleges would love to know what you found so fascinating and why.
- What have you learned from the community you grew up in? What do you value about that community? This topic can not only make for an interesting essay, but can also give colleges some valuable background information about you.
- When have you most recently changed your mind about something important? This topic will not only allow you to talk about an issue about which you have strong feelings, but will also allow you to present a narrative of growth about how you became the person you are today.
But this abject poverty was their life, their reality. And for the brief ten days I was there, it would be mine too. As all of this realization came at once, I felt overwhelmed by the weight of what was to come. Would I be able to live in the same conditions as these people? Would I catch a disease that no longer existed in the first world, or maybe die from drinking contaminated water?
This is a very broad generalization, which doesn't tend to be the best way to formulate an argument—or to start an essay. It just makes this author sound dismissive of a huge swath of the population.
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Star Trek fans are a dime a dozen. But a Trekkie who is also a graffiti aficionado? Now that's a novel intersection of cultural tastes.
Condescending, Obnoxious Tone
Don't be a passive panda. Be an active antelope.
One way to get this part wrong is to exhibit very faulty writing mechanics, like unclear syntax or incorrectly used punctuation. This is a problem since college-ready writing is one of the things that's expected from a high school graduate.
The essay is the place to let the admissions office of your target college get to know your personality, character, and the talents and skills that aren't on your transcript. So if you start with a terrible topic, not only will you end up with a bad essay, but you risk ruining the good impression that the rest of your application makes.
The meat of the essay is that the two versions of himself that the author thought about portraying each fails in some way to describe the real him. Neither an essay focusing on his off-beat interests, nor an essay devoted to his serious activism could capture everything about a well-rounded person in 600 words.