The Ultimate Revision Pep-Talk

Photo by Super45

So, you’ve come up with the perfect college essay topic. When you sit down to write it, one of two things will happen to you: you will breathe a completed masterpiece into the world like air, or you will get stuck waiting for inspiration to strike and die staring at a blank screen dreaming of the college football games you will never attend.

Are you worried now? Don’t be. The first paragraph was a lie. Good writing never happens in one sitting. And if your first idea turns out to be a bad idea, you can change it!

I know that revision can feel like admitting defeat. It’s like saying, “This wasn’t good enough the first time,” but revision is also part of every great writer’s process. Think about this: it took Bruce Springsteen 6 months to write “Born to Run” and Kanye says it took 5,000 hours (that’s almost a whole year!) to write “Power.” And those are just songs. Donna Tartt spent 11 years writing The Goldfinch and now she has a Pulitzer Prize. It doesn’t matter how crappy any of these things were at the beginning because now they are masterpieces.

Please: DO. NOT. SPEND. 11 years on your college essay. Just remember that you don’t have to get it right the first time. You don’t have to write the Great American Novel. In fact, your first draft can be downright crappy. There. I said it. The first draft of your college essay can be bad. Do you feel better? Breathe.

The first step towards writing something good is writing something bad. Throw all your ideas onto a page (or screen) and see what you like. If you have no idea how to revise an assignment like this, here’s one of my favorite ways to get started:

  1. Read it aloud. Maybe to yourself, in front of a mirror, staring longingly into your own eyes — or maybe to your friend. (I would recommend the second option.)
  2. Keep track of what feels weird. Anything that feels uncomfortable to read isn’t in your voice. It might not even be in grammatical English.
  3. Notice when you add, subtract, and rearrange details. Afterwards, you’ll know exactly what kind of restructuring to do in order to write a more compelling, unique story.

The most amazing thing about revising a college essay is that you can focus on what is working best for you, and not on what you think will get you an A. So pay attention when you reread your work and ask: does this sound like me? Is this who I am or who I want to be? Trust your instincts. And most importantly, remember that you can do this. You can!

Inspired by the awesome folks over at College Essay Advisors.