College Application Essay Grabber Trick: Show First!

  When you write a college application essay, you want to “grab” the attention of your reader from the start. My favorite writing technique to hook readers is to engage them with an anecdote, which is a real-life moment or incident. You might have...

Essay Rocket Fuel: The Anecdote

College Admissions Essays How to Write an Anecdote For Your College Application Essay, Personal Statement or other Essays If you can write an anecdote, you can write a powerful essay. But a lot of students don’t know what an anecdote is, let alone how to write one....

Still Stuck? Here’s a Quick Brainstorm Guide

College Admissions Essays A Step-By-Step Guide to Telling Your Story   Step 1: Write down 3-5 “defining qualities” about yourself. Think of how one of your parents would sum you up to a stranger. My Julie, why, she’s creative, ambitious, caring...

How to Write an Anecdote

College Application Essays How to Tell a Story In journalism, writers often use “anecdotal leads,” that is, starting a news or feature story with a mini-story about a real-life event, one that puts the reader in the middle of the action. Usually, the anecdote only...