Essay Writing Consultant

Talent is overrated (and hard work is underrated). Over the years, I’ve discovered that those who think of themselves as gifted writers often have a much more difficult time with the college essay. Sometimes it’s because they have such high expectations that they won’t let themselves begin until the last minute for fear of writing one wrong word. It turns out that having something you really want to say and working hard to ensure that message comes across to readers trumps many other factors, including that elusive thing we call talent.

Here’s another surprise: Being a busy senior can actually be very good for your college essays. I often talk to parents who are very panicky about exactly how their children are going to squeeze this time-consuming task into already packed days. I understand their concern; between AP course finals, sport teams and deep commitments to art, music, or community service, their offspring are terribly, terribly busy. But here’s the thing: I’ve learned that having too much time to think about writing these essays can actually get in the way.  In fact, from my point of view, it seems that the busiest high school seniors often get down to the process of hammering out businesslike drafts long before their angst-filled writerly colleagues  ever drag themselves and their crumpled sheets to my kitchen table.  The moral of the story appears to be this: the bad drafts that get you to better ones appear to be most easily written when they are squeezed in just before soccer practice or in between the rounds of debate tournaments. If you have a lot of things to do, then writing these essays just goes right on the list in a matter-of-fact way that will help you get down to the business of working on them. And once you’re in motion, stay in motion. Momentum is key. Momentum, I have learned, is critical to your essay writing success.

Tagged with →  
Share →
Share This