Essay Lessons (Part III): Finding Your Voice Through Spoken Words
Writing your college essay can feel really daunting but it doesn’t have to.
This is the third and final post sharing practical lessons I’ve learned as a college essay coach.
Catch up by reading my previous posts:
Part 1: You Matter More Than Your Essay Topic.
Part 2: College Essay Structure: The Small Things Matter
Use Your Spoken Words
Your mouth is a faster processor than your hands. Ask someone you trust to interview you. Record the conversation and get it transcribed by using a tool like OtterAI. Use spoken words from the transcript to inspire your writing voice.
I’ve learned that using your spoken word voice to think about, and make sense of, essay development can produce powerful and authentic content.
Put Away The Blank Page
One parent explained it to me well. She was the mother of one of the first student I worked with, and I was asking her for a testimonial. What value, I asked, did interview-based college essay coaching provide?
“It's much more natural to talk about an experience or a difficulty, to relate a life event, or show excitement for an interest than it is to write about it.”
Writing, she said, “feels so formal and so rule bound. You have to write full sentences. Your punctuation has to be perfect. And it’s slower.”
“It’s much more natural to talk about an experience or a difficulty, to relate a life event, or show excitement for an interest than it is to write about it.”
Connecting the Dots
One student I worked with was writing about picking up trash in his neighborhood. The more we talked, the more clarity and confidence he gained. I’ve learned that students’ insights often aren’t fully baked. These interviews are opportunities to make greater sense of life’s experiences.
He eventually found the words through the interviews that we conducted and they ended up being the opening introduction of his essay.
