How to write great essays and SOPs
I’m going to introduce you to the three vital elements of writing a good essay. These are the easiest ones to get right, and ironically, where most writers go wrong at.
Structure: There is no better way to structure your essay, especially if it is an SOP, in the format of the “five paragraph essay”. In this format, your first paragraph always tells the reader what the writer intends to communicate. In the case of an SOP, it would be the reasons why the writer is seeking admission in your college. In the second, third and fourth paragraphs, the writer shows the reader what those reasons are. And in the fifth and final paragraph, the writer says, in essence, “remember all those things I said I would show you in the first paragraph? Well, I did show you, and this paragraph is just to remind you that that is exactly what I did.”
Content: “Show, don’t tell.” You may have noticed the words scattered across the second paragraph. In essay writing, these words have a very specific meaning.
For example, don’t just tell me that you are hard-working. Show me how you worked 18 hours everyday for 6 months straight to finish your thesis. Don’t just suggest to me that you are creative. Tell me the story of how you solved a problem which everyone with their linear approaches were hitting a brick wall.
You may have realized that the five paragraph essay format induces you to “tell first, and show later”. That is fine, because telling first sets the stage for what’s coming next. You can’t just launch off into a deep story about why you picked your choice of study, just as Tolkein didn’t take Frodo straight into Mordor. You have to set the stage in the Shire, make the reader understand that this was a hard journey and you learnt a lot of things about yourself and the world in the process.
And finally, rewrite, simplify, rewrite, simplify, rewrite, simplify. Some tricks I use to simplify are:
Read it aloud: so that you see whether your words flow smoothly from your tongue. This is a good way of weeding out complicated turns of phrase, double negatives and redundancies. Remove phrases and words which are Indianisms, like “putting in your papers”, “henceforth”, “thereafter”, and so on. The essay should read like something you would say in front of a group of people.
No oblique references: I see a lot of people make a passing reference to something which they’re not explicitly discussing in the essay, just so that “oh, so they know that I’ve done something on these lines too”. For example:
I enjoyed the car building project because it gave me a chance to explore my creative urges. I built up the chassis from scratch, while sticking to all the rules and packaging all the parts. The entire process of creation gave me great joy. I also worked on the electricals.
For me, this kind of an “inclusion” is a big no-no. If the electricals are so important, talk about them properly!
Finally, there is Vonnegut’s golden rule of writing:
In the case of an SOP, every sentence should either reveal more of your character, or of the circumstances under which you were working. If it does neither, remove it.
And that’s how you make a great SOP! Use the five paragraph essay to structure your idea, “show, don’t tell” to narrate great stories which make an impact on the reader, and finally simplify it so that even your mother has a lovely time reading it! Hope this helps you writing great essays!
