Writing the Essay - Part I
When you're applying for a scholarship, an unforgettable scholarship essay greatly enhances your chance of success. Instead of doubting your ability to write the award-winning narrative, remember that what you think and tell yourself creates an impact. Give yourself a break! Get into your groove and get going. The world wants to hear from you.
Getting Started
Study the topic question carefully. Reread the question several times so you clearly understand what is requested before you begin to write.
Brainstorming Exercises
Brainstorming (free-writing) exercises can be very helpful in getting your thoughts down on paper or on the laptop screen before actually creating a first draft of your scholarship essay. Set aside fifteen minutes of uninterrupted time. Begin by allowing all thoughts just to just drift gently away. Pretend you do not have a care in the world and are basking on a beautiful beach in the Caribbean. As soon as you are comfortable with this new-ly found paradise, become aware of every idea that crosses your mind. Do not think during this exercise. All you are required to do is sit back and observe note every single thought that crosses your mind for fifteen minutes. To be honest, it may be easier to do this on a laptop computer than with pencil and paper. Pushing the pencil around takes time. Keystrokes can actually keep up with your brain.
Cluster Mapping
Cluster mapping is another type of brainstorming technique. Starting at the center of a sheet of paper, draw large circles that contain important, key ideas. From the inner circle outward, sketch lines that reach faurther out and are connected to more circles. Fill in the circles with an association of ideas as they come up occur to you. Some folks like to experiment with a star, galaxy, or sun image. As you work with this exercise, give no thought to neatness, order, or priority. Follow your impulses as they move you across the paper. You might surprise yourself at the result.
Recorded Ideas
If brainstorming and or cluster mapping just isn't your thing, how about working with a tape recorder? Sometimes ideas do and will come to us when we are not able to write them down. Long periods of study often leave folks tired and drained, but when they shift activities the brain suddenly starts popping out ideas like firecrackers. It is Unccommon to have places to have that a breakthrough are sometimes in the shower, while driving,driving in the car, working in the garden, or taking a walk. Shifting gears from one environment to another is usually what is needed to get out of overcome writer's block. The brain gets over-taxed when subjected to intense concentration on a single issue, but will respond accordingly when provided a slight variation of stimuli.
Use an Outline
After you have completed the initial brainstorming process, the next task is to sort through that treasure tgrove of information for all the gold nuggets you can find. Creating an outline is not the tedious, boring, you gotta be kidding, worst-case nightmare you think it is. Forget about using an elaborate Rroman numeral, three-tiered system. Start withat a logical beginning, place of beginning, which is typically with a main idea. After writing a main idea (topic) sentence, follow beneath that sentence with other sub-ideas (sub-topic sentences) that support it. Outline sentence structure can be as fragmented and topical as you please. No one is going to read this but you. The first draft of your outline mightay really stink, but it's only a draft. Once you get your first abominable draft on paper, you can go back and clean it up by placing ideas in an order thatn makes more sense. Remember, an outline shows a progression of thought from one paragraph to the next, one page to the next. Try to keep your ideas tightly connected so you produce a well-crafted, narrative essay.
Provide Interesting Examples
As you create your signature outline, include ideas for examples to help the reader of your scholarship essay get a sense of who you really are and what you are about. All the talk, talk, talk in the world does not compare with actually being able to see (via words) what you mean. Show what you mean by providing vivid and interesting examples. Don't just list things as if you were writing a shopping list of activities and awards. Excuse me! The selection committee wants to be dazzled and impressed by you, not put to sleep.