<p>a lots of students are curious about:</p>
<p>"whats a good topic?"
"is one KIND of topic better than another?"
"are certain topics too cliched?"</p>
<p>this may be tough to swallow, but its the truth:</p>
<p>the actual topic or content of your essay isn't important at all!</p>
<p>the better approach is to attack it from the other end: THE DESIRED RESULT.</p>
<p>your essay, regardless of what it's about, needs to DO two things:</p>
<p>1) make the reader develop a STRONG picture for who you are, and</p>
<p>2) make the reader EXCITED ABOUT THAT PICTURE</p>
<p>sounds obvious, and maybe a little too easy, but the reality is... pulling it off is challenging. the GOOD NEWS is that the topic itself is, therefore, not something you should worry about.</p>
<p>its the voice, and the style, and the vapors you give off that will rock your readers.</p>
<p>and that's exactly where most students [and parents!] get it absolutely wrong!!!</p>
<p>the essay is not a resume. the schools HAVE all that information in your grades, your rank, the challenge-level of your coursework, and your test scores.</p>
<p>your essay needs to be CHARMING.</p>
<p>CHARMING can take many forms. it can be through wit, a sardonic voice, a quirky take on a trite subject, hyperactive self-awareness, raw and gut-wrenching honesty, stubbornness [that's likeable and not off-putting], a strong point of view, you name it.</p>
<p>okay great, but practically speaking, how do i DO THAT!?!?!</p>
<p>well, there isn't just ONE way to go about achieving that... and theres much more to say about this issue, obviously but heres something EVERYONE can do to start off on the right track:</p>
<p>DO NOT TRY TO IMPRESS YOUR READER.</p>
<p>if somewhere deep down inside, you hope the reader will be impressed by the stuff youve written, you are likely sunk. the reader will be onto you before the first sentence is even over.</p>
<p>this is possibly the most common tendency weve noticed in students first drafts: feeling that gravitational pull to TRY TO IMPRESS.</p>
<p>if, however, your writing shows that you dont even CARE what the reader thinks THAT often translates into confidence.</p>
<p>BINGO.</p>
<p>an essay dripping with confidence promises <em>potential</em> and a student with <em>potential</em> is wayyyy more appealing than a student with a laundry list of impressive accomplishments.</p>
<p>couple ideas on how to go about taking that first crack:</p>
<p>[ol]</p>
<p>[li] pretend your essay will be read by NO ONE. now... you have to really commit to that. let yourself be silly. let yourself be honest. let yourself be sloppy. write stuff down that might shock someone if they were to read it. at the end of it, maybe you really DONT wish for anyone to read something too personal. but perhaps theres something in there thats exciting... that you can parlay into a sparkling piece.</p>[/li]
<p>[li] pretend youre flirting with someone. sound crazy? well, nothing brings home the point of not what you say but HOW you say it better. now, flirting with words is not meant to be taken LITERALLY! this is not a romance letter. rather, if youre writing about why you like Macs versus PCs
or about the epiphany you experienced during your hike to the peak of a mountain, or why your life long dream is to dive into a giant pool of cake batter, cool. but, just for fun, pretend your essay needs to CHARM the person of your affections. do it with your words, do it with the in-between-the-lines stuff. be suggestive, be clever, be slick, be indirect, but never take your eye off the goal... which is to CHARM. sounds INSANE probably, but give it a shot. the BEST writing is often SEDUCTIVE.</p>[/li]
<p>[li] often times, great ideas are LOCKED inside shells that SEEM trite and overplayed. two things are true, all at once: (1) every idea has been done before and (2) there is no such thing as cliched, if your execution is compelling. you can write an essay about how your dad is the best daddy in the whole wide world. and depending on the freshness of your voice and attitude and point-of-view, the result can be SPECTACULAR. it can also be what you fear worst: common. one practical way of getting to the deliciously UNCOMMON stuff within your ideas, is to put them to the ultimate challenge at EVERY. SINGLE. TURN. heres how:</p>[/li]
<p>ask yourself a hurtful question at the end of every thought and sentence: who cares? or equally as effective, so what?</p>
<p>once you answer that question, ask it again, and try to answer it again. feel good, take a deep breath
and then ask it again. keep doing it until your HAIR HURTS from cooking your brain! at some point, youll feel this amazing moment where youve uncovered an interesting TRUTH or indefinable THING that was there the entire time, that you simply took for granted. asking yourself "so what" is a neat tool to help you DIG through to that kernel of gold.
[/ol]</p>
<p>that all might seem complicated, and for sure if you have questions never hesitate to PM me.</p>
<p>cheers,
Raj</p>