by Willette Coleman ©2013
You’re responding to a
college admissions application’s short response essay or applying for public
and private scholarships. Soon, you may find yourself staring into space
contemplating: “How do I craft an essay that creatively addresses
the standard queries – my college plans, career goals, future contributions to
society, and show how the scholarship will help with my short and long term
goals?” You may feel some intimidation, confusion, fear; or all
three. Even with the addition of essay writing to SAT tests in 2006, many students still find
writing challenging.
Hundreds of annual
scholarships worth millions of $$$ are unrewarded because of the fear of
writing essays. Instead of giving up and giving in to fear, EMPOWER
yourself by using these 14 steps.
1. Self-Empowerment. You probably didn’t expect this to be among the steps,
but composing compelling personal essays is best done from a strong self-awareness
position. To tell judges about you, YOU need to know your passion, skills,
experiences, strengths and weaknesses, attitude, even hardships. A self-assessment
Me-Chart helps tremendously. As your baseline/foundation to
rethink, improve, modify and polish your language to fit each scholarship
application you submit, your Me-Chart should include the 7 factors
listed in my post, A Game Plan for Your Career Plan – Part 1. This
tool makes you think deeply to pinpoint your uniqueness, and empowers
you to build strong essays.
2. Generic Essay. After you’ve created your Me-Chart, draft a
personal generic essay. It’s your OPPORTUNITY to talk about YOU
and GET YOUR THOUGHTS ON PAPER or in Word. Writing in Word
helps correct spelling, grammar and word count. But, at this starting
point, don’t stress over perfection. Your generic essay may consist of
all or only some of the factors in your Me-Chart.
3. Read your draft and begin shaping your essay like sculpture.
Add and delete words, sentences, paragraphs; shift sentences and
paragraphs from one place to another to create a good
flow.
4. Essay Opening. Throughout the writing, editing and reading process
think about your opening sentence. Don’t stress. A revelation may
not come forward until you’ve read 4 or more drafts. Just remember, like
media headlines, your opening should be an ATTENTION GRABBER.
5. Stay On-Subject. As I stated in, How Scholarship Applications are Judged,
answer the question. Don’t write about oranges when the provider asked
for apples, unless you can show a clear correlation.
6. WWWW&H. Always follow the Who, What, When,
Where & How rule. Think of storytelling.
7. Keep it Formal. Your overall tone should be professional, but not
stiff. Even with fun or promotional contests your essay shouldn’t read as
if you’re “conversatin’” with a friend on social media.
8. Be Creative. “Blending” is not a good strategy when competing for
a college or vocational school scholarship. A little risk can be
refreshing, so it’s okay to enhance your essay with an off-beat idea or take a
different approach, but stick with the scholarship’s objective. Following
are two examples:
A. Applicants for the Common Application for college admission were told
to “Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or
ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.” Drew took
a risk and wrote:
You can learn a lot about me from a
quick glance in my closet. You’ll find no clothes, but shelves filled with
motorized Lego kits, Erector sets, model rockets, remote control race cars, and
boxes full of motors, wires, batteries, propellers, soldering irons and hand
tools. I’ve always enjoyed building things. No one was surprised when I decided
to apply to college for mechanical engineering. [Read the entire essay and the critique here.]
The judge concluded that Drew’s
essay “succeeds in showing off his strengths at the very time it examines his
weaknesses.” Also, Drew presented a creative way to inform the judges
that his passion is mechanical engineering.
B. Applicants were instructed to respond to the “Topic of Your Choice”
section of the Common Application. Lora wrote about
[Note:
This excerpt is the 6th paragraph into the essay.]
The first couple of meals I had in
France were reassuringly familiar: a little bit of cheese, omelet,
gazpacho, or quiche. Then Patrice, Anne’s father and a marine biologist,
grilled sardines the length of my hand for dinner. His method of grilling
the sardines was charring them. I had tried charred meat before, and
hadn’t liked it. This dinner was charred, a fish, and it was looking at me
with an eyeball in a head that I was going to have to eat. Patrice
explained that the best way to eat these sardines was to eat the whole thing —
bones, skin, eyes, and all. Since my French was still a little shaky, I
hoped that I had misunderstood him — one of the few times I would have enjoyed
feeling stupid. [Read the entire essay
and critique here.]
Although lighthearted, Lora’s essay
has substance regarding her healthy attitude/ personality/character,
international travel experience, and people and language skills.
9. Transitions. Throughout your re-reading, re-writing/editing
process, make sure your essay flows smoothly from thought-to-thought and
paragraph-to-paragraph. Adding a unique detail, or anecdote, that you or
someone else experienced that connects to the scholarship’s objective, can
smooth transitions.
10. Research. When writing about a specific topic, research
supports your statement. For example: To meet the Foreclosure.com
Scholarship Program’s task
to analyze two foreclosure investment properties, then, show reasons supporting
the decision, detailing investment strategy, describing “all that you would
do (improvements, rehab, etc.) and how it would impact your potential bottom
line,” applicants should undergird their arguments with one or two credible
real estate investment facts. [Note: This scholarship’s
deadline ended this month, but check it out in 2014. Top prize
$5,000. Second through fifth place $1,000.]
11. Word Count.
As I stated in How Scholarship Applications are
Judged, word count, COUNTS. The Foreclosure.com
Scholarship essay limit is 800 to 2,000 words. A 1,999-word essay is
best.
Follow the directions in Step 3 to meet word
counts. You may even have to remove worthy information, but that’s part
of the world of writing. [Note: Short response college
essays average 500-word limit.]
12. Action Verbs. I’m an advocate for Action Verbs - they reflect measurable,
observable, verifiable, and reliable behaviors; give your narrative movement
and power; and keep it concise/tight. Lists of action verbs are on English/grammar
websites, and here.
13. Proofread!
Proofread! Proofread and correct spelling, grammatical errors, tenses
and synonyms. Word won’t flag “piece,” when you meant “peace.”
14. Re-Charge. Set aside your essay for a day or two. Let it
marinate. Then, proofread again.
By now, you should feel more
empowered and ready to ask your teacher, coach, parents and/or friends to read
your essay. Listen to their input, but stay confident (not ego/arrogant)
in what you said and how you said it. With confidence, you’ll decide
whether to include others’ suggestions and how much.
Now get started on your Me-Chart
and generic essay! Remember…, they’re your baselines/foundations to
rethink, improve, modify and polish your language to write compelling essays
for each scholarship application you submit.
Magic, Miracles & Blessings,
Willette
