By
Kelly Tanabe
, SuperCollege.com
Writing Tips To Create An Irresistible Essay
Before you get started on
your essays, read a few of the following writing tips. It's a good idea to
review them from time to time while you are writing. Also, don't forget to read
the Essay-Writing Absolute Don'ts and Totally Dumb Topics sections
in Chapter 5 of Get Into Any College: Secrets Of Harvard Students before
you start writing.
Be Yourself. It is important to show the admissions officers the real
you. You want to show why you think or act the way you do, what drives you, or
what has moved you. As we said before, choose only the topics that are truly
meaningful to you. Speak in your own voice. If you felt secretly happy that your
evil opponent lost the quiz bowl, say so. By explaining how you really felt and
not how you think the admissions committee would like for you to have felt, you
will not only be truthful but will also help to insure that your essay is
original.
Razzle, Dazzle, And Captivate Your Audience. When you begin writing, keep
in mind that you need to write a truly memorable essay. You want your essay to
razzle, dazzle, and captivate your audience. To do this, you need to draw the
admissions officers into your essay with a quick, catchy, and creative
introduction. You want to pique their curiosity by posing questions they will
want the answers to and dilemmas they too have faced. Most important, you want
the admissions officers to be able to relate to your essay (not necessarily to
the actual events but to the feelings involved).
How you write is just as important as what you write. You should constantly ask
yourself if you would be interested in your essay if you were the reader.
Imagine yourself as the admissions officer as you read the first few paragraphs
and ask yourself what makes you want to finish it? Do not just rely on your
opinion. Seek the opinions of others. If your essay does not captivate, does not
compel the reader to finish, you will need to rework it.
Create Some Mystery At The Forefront. Start your essay with an
introduction that surprises the readers and makes them want to read past the
first sentence. For example, you could start your essay with a description of
your fear of the sounds of heavy artillery and roaring rapids when you are
talking not about your latest trek to the firing range or your summer trip down
the Colorado River but actually about your phobia of visiting the dentist. Keep
in mind, however, that you have a limited space and therefore your introduction
will have to be fairly brief. Do not get too carried away with your own
creativity.
Raise Intriguing Questions Or Dilemmas. Ponder questions to which you
think the admissions officers would be interested in finding the answers. If you
raise a question or a dilemma you faced, ask yourself if the reader would be
interested in knowing the results of your decision.
Use Original Language. Try to describe people, places, and events in a
unique--but not awkward--style. Appeal to the different senses. What can the
reader see from your essay? Hear? Smell? (Hopefully nothing rotten.) By adding
rich detail you can often turn an ordinary topic into a one-of-a-kind
masterpiece. The more you can bring the reader into your essay by using
description the better. Try to think of language as a toy, and play with it.
Just make sure that if you use unfamiliar words, you use them correctly. It is
better to use ordinary language correctly than to use roller coaster-exciting
language incorrectly.
Be Witty, But Only If You Can. Showing your sense of humor will help to
make your essay memorable. If you can make the admissions officers laugh or
giggle, it will be a definite plus for your application. But, do not go
overboard with the humor and remember to have someone else check to make sure
that what you think is funny really is funny. Admissions officers love essays
that make them laugh. However, admissions officers also despise essays that
intentionally try to be funny but are not or that use humor that is simply silly
or immature. Our advice is to forget about trying to be funny and just tell an
interesting story. If your story is well told and interesting, chances are that
any inherent humor in it will show through.
By keeping these points in mind, you should be able to write a decent first
draft toward your ultimate goal of creating that irresistible essay. Remember
that an irresistible essay is an original that employs a unique angle, addresses
a meaningful question or dilemma, and is crafted with thoughtful language.
CampusNut Notes:
These SuperCollege people are like that writer who writes Men are from Mars,
Women are from Venus. All of their tips are so damn obvious. You
will say to yourself, "Why the hell did I buy this book just to hear
obvious advice?" Well, John Gray sold millions of copies with his
advice. So there is probably some truth to having good sound advice in a
book. By the way, the CEO of this company once bought "Mars and Venus
on a Date" and hasn't found a date since. It just goes to show that
you can buy the book and not follow the advice. Don't be like the CEO of
CampusNut.
