Deadlines Matter

Deadlines matter. It helps to enlist or outsource your deadline keeper. My job as a writing advisor of college application essays was born out of my interest in helping students more easily articulate their dreams, stories and visions. But my job has been sustained by a parental desire to outsource the stress and irritation that these essays cause in their homes during this treasured last year of togetherness as a family. Who can blame parents for wanting to enjoy these last months with their dear child who’s getting ready to leave the nest? I can help by becoming your deadline keeper; allow me to give you deadlines before the big deadline that will help you create memorable, thoughtful and polished essays.

If you respect your deadlines and leave yourself time to really involve yourself in the process, you may find that writing these college application essays offers surprising rewards. I confess that a few times each year, I feel quite moved by something a student writes, whether because of the story or the phrasing. Sometimes students surprise themselves with their own writing discoveries, and occasionally I get nice notes from parents whose children have written something that touches them.  Quite frequently, students really enjoy taking the time to see who they are and actually improve their writing at a critical moment — just before going off to college; after all, that’s where you’ll be asked to write more than even before. If there’s one thing that writers agree on it’s this: The more drafts you produce, the more comfortably you will slip inside your writing voice, the more confident you will be in the skin of your own writing style. Writing that matters for an audience you care about can teach you much about the craft at a time when you can really use that information.