Brainstorm

Get out a pencil and paper and go to town thinking about your subject. This means you should write down everything that comes to mind. Even ideas that seem disconnect should be jotted somewhere so that you can refer to them later if you discover a logical way to use them. When you brainstorm, brilliance shines through. Too often, by censoring ourselves, we toss out our best ideas. Put a stop to this before you get to college. Think critically; don’t be critical of your thoughts.

Organize

When you are done brainstorming, organize your ideas into the most logical order. From these ideas, you should be able to see an outline for your thesis.

Research

You’ve established which brilliant ideas have made the cut, so support them. Textual support from noted authors or literary texts is always helpful. Use their ideas to add commentary onto your own. Just be sure to cite your sources.

Write

The old adage: “you get one chance to make a good impression” couldn’t be truer when it comes to your scholarship essay.  Give yourself plenty of time knowing that you will probably need to write, rewrite, and possibly write it again; all that before you have several of your very smart friends, family, and/or teachers (who will tell you the truth) read it over for you.

*      Be Enthusiastic:  Your interest in the topic you are writing about will shine through. If your writing says, “My mom made me write this essay and my hand hurts,” it will not distinguish you. If you don’t know your subject, involve yourself in it by doing research.

*      Share Information:  When you write, you give another person (the reader) access to your thought life. For many people, this is why writing is so intimidating; if you can get past the intimidation, however, and be entirely honest with your audience, something magical happens — your voice/thoughts become something of interest to another human being.

*      Teach Your Audience:  By sharing with your audience, you create an opportunity to teach them. You’ve got their attention; after all, they believe you are a credible individual with interesting insight. Now they can learn. And guess what that makes you? Their teacher.

Avoid an Unconventional Format

Now is not the time to test out your creative abilities. If you are serious about the scholarship you are applying for, focus your creative energy into your synthesis of ideas. By playing with the formatting too much, you detract from your writing abilities. Your essay should include:

*      Introduction:  Include your thesis within the introduction. If you are a talented theses writer, it can extend into two sentences. Keep your introduction short and punchy. A long artistic introduction is tempting, but resist the urge. You have a point (and likely a word limit) to get to.

*      Body:  Make at least three discernable points within the body of your essay. Each point should be in a paragraph of its own so that the reader can easily identify it. Additionally, weave sources into the body of your essay if possible. It will make your writing stronger and also show that you committed yourself to researching the topic at hand.

*      Conclusion:  “In conclusion,” statements are out. Lead into your conclusion clearly and gently. The body of the piece should work towards the conclusion, so your final comments should capture your own reflections. A conclusion shouldn’t appear to be the introduction regurgitated.  A reader will catch on to this.