Any tips for essay writing?

Colleges & Universities University of Chicago
1

<p>Hey guys!</p>

<p>So, I’m having a VERY hard time deciding what to write about for my essays… I think I have the biggest case of writers block ever! Does anyone have any tips that they found helpful in the essay process?</p>

2

<p>Let the prompts sit in your mind for a while; relax. Pay attention to everyday life and what you notice in yours. With alertness, the prompts themselves, your own observations and thoughts, or a combination of both, may inspire an essay.</p>

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<p>Try to get all the essay prompts in the back of your head (for every essay you need to write, from every college you’re applying to) and continue to live your life while looking for inspiration. It will come…eventually. It’s also a good idea to have all the prompts in your head since, sometimes, one prompt might give you an idea on what to write for another.</p>

<p>But I bet I had it worse :P…I spent a month and a half thinking (for just ONE essay), and when I finally got it and started something down, I realised it was rubbish and had to throw it away :D. The rest of my essays seem to be a lot easier to write…I just keep getting stuck on one :(</p>

4

<p>I copied this from a post on CC, but don’t remember where, because I thought it was insightful:

</p>

<p>Also there is this, which might be helpful:</p>

<p>Writing Your Term Paper in 15 Minutes a Day
[The</a> Harvard Crimson :: Magazine :: Writing Your Term Paper in 15 Minutes a Day](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=180520]The”>http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=180520)</p>

<p>And the talk by B.F. Skinner she references:
<a href=“http://www.abacolombia.org.co/bv/semskinner/how_discover_say.pdf[/url]”>http://www.abacolombia.org.co/bv/semskinner/how_discover_say.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>^ thanks, idad.
Missed it the first time, but this is good stuff.</p>

6

<p>I don’t mean to discourage you, but that’s sort of the way it works. I was going to be all ambitious and start my essay in August when I applied. It hung over my head for two months until I finally had to hastily throw one together a week before I sent in my EA application. It turned out to be a pretty good essay, but I certainly thought about it way too much.</p>

7

<p>I work best right before the deadline. That might not be true for you, but whenever/wherever you work best - write there. </p>

<p>Also, wait a month. Get some school essays under your belt.</p>

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<p>Also, just start writing one. Choose a prompt that you like, and try writing it. It’ll get you really thinking, even though you’ll not necessarily finish soon afterwards. You don’t even have to use it necessarily, but it’s a good way to force yourself to think. It helped me a lot.</p>

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<p>For me it is like this write the one that ccomes most naturally to you, the one that enjoy writing about. Because if you don’t enjoy writing the essay most of the time the admission people won’t enjoy reading it.</p>

<p>For me last year I chose a topic immediately, i was going to write about the question, then late october like weeks before it was due I was struggling to barely find a question much less live it.</p>

<p>So I chose th most natural one, not the one that seemed most impressive. I enjoyed writing it and I think they enjoyed reading it because I got in.</p>

<p>If up til now it is my fave college essay. and i did the columbia and yale apps</p>