How to Record Scratch Your College App Essay Stories

                       How to Background an Anecdote (Includes 5 writing examples at the bottom!) If you’ve done your homework on how to write an effective college application essay, you probably know the place to start is with your real-life stories. The...

How to Find and Write Anecdotes

College Application Essays In Search of an Anecdote Just yesterday, one of my tutoring students, a high school junior, wanted help on her English assignment: To write a practice college application essay. One tip from her teacher was to tell a story. (I first...

Essay Topics That Worked–And Why

College Application Essays How Anecdotes Make Them Work   One of the best ways to learn what types of topics make the most interesting essays is to check out what other students wrote about. Especially if those students had the right guidance and came up with...

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....

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...