<p>anyway, do you think I could write "writing an autobiography and plan on getting it published" in erm...god the word is not coming to my head, i had it like 2 seconds ago...argh wow fail, RIGHT college application LAWL wow</p>
<p>anyway do you think I can write that in applications to like top ten colleges, uc berk, stnaford, etc</p>
<p>I want to start in the summer and write about my life, the hardships I am facing in high school and how I went deaf a few months ago and what I'm doing to make the best of my life, how i lost a lot of my friends but how I keep struggling and pushing myself to come to school? lol I really want to write it, but not right now since junior year is killing me. But once summer comes, I will dedicate myself to writing it, and trying to find an agent and publisher, etc</p>
<p>But can i say it like this? "I am currently writing an autobiography about how I want to inspire others, etc.."</p>
<p>I think it would be acceptable to send your work thus far in as supplemental material. However stating your ambitions for your autobiography to be published seems a bit off. I apologize if I sound brash.</p>
<p>Hmmm, yeah, you don’t really have to say “plan on getting it published,” but I think it’s fine if you do.</p>
<p>And it’s definitely a good idea to let them know that you’re working on this and to submit an excerpt as supplemental material. Just use discretion as to how much you show them; you don’t want to make them spend an extra 10 minutes on your app, but you want to give them an idea of the book.</p>
<p>So instead of saying–“I want to write my autobiography”–which implies that you are vain and looking for a book deal, say instead “I want to somehow share the lessons I’ve learned in facing hardships with others”–implying instead that you are looking to be as helpful as possible in helping others facing similar difficulties–which I think is what you actually ARE trying to accomplish with your book.</p>
<p>yes that is what i want to do. i don’t care about book deals or any of that, i have struggled in my junior year and i know others out there that struggle. i want to inspire them so they don’t give in to any hardships and become successful in life</p>
<p>It’s extremely difficult to get published. Have I tried it? No. But I’ve heard some horror stories about the entire process (okay, I’m exaggerating, but Stephen King got rejected loads of times before a publishing company accepted him). Getting published is by no means a guarantee. Christopher Paolini only got published at such a young age because his parents own the publishing company; if he’d dropped ‘Eragon’ on anybody else’s desk, let’s just say that he would’ve gotten a huge stack of rejection letters (because that book is a pile of crap). Not to mention that, well, it’s said the first million words you (“you” being everybody, not “you” personally) write are going to be, quite simply put, crap. </p>
<p>So, have you written a million words? :)</p>
<p>I’m not trying to put you down and sorry if I sound a bit hostile, but be realistic.</p>
<p>What you can do is write about your autobiography project in your essays (or in that random EC blurb on the CommonApp). Or you can talk about how you think writing is a great medium through which to communicate your experiences, how much you love writing, etc.</p>
<p>(In retrospect, I’m not really addressing your question–just addressing the entire publishing/writing thing. Right.)</p>
<p>Again, sorry for any hostility implied in my post. :)</p>
<p>It would be more impressive to say that you have already been published. There are lots of essay and other writing contests, for example ones listed on Fastweb or cogito.org. Perhaps you could write about one particular incident or experience and enter that into some writing contests. Plus you would have a head-start on your college application essays.</p>
<p>Planning to get published is meaningless. So many people try and fail, especially with autobiographies, which have a lot of people writing them but not that many reading. So, if you want to send in your work as a supplement, go ahead and do so, but don’t say anything about being published unless you’re going to get publsihed.
If you have connections though, it’s a lot easier. My aunt’s a pretty big author, so it’s easier for me.</p>