Time is the Hidden Ingredient

While “start early” might be standard advice, we tell students to begin before they think they need to for reasons beyond avoiding deadline-stress: committing to a process-based approach to writing means remaining open to exploring new possibilities as they present themselves.

This video was inspired by the author notes from the excellent compilation, The Best American Short Stories 2022. In the author notes, many of the authors write that they had parts of their stories in their heads for years or even decades. Several authors also relate how certain plot elements or themes emerged through the process of writing—as if in a way the story revealed itself.

The experience of writing the Common App personal statement can be similar in many ways. The Common App essay requires students to go through a reflective journey to generate (or retrieve) concepts for their essays, and often the best components of a draft emerge/evolve through trial and error after several iterations.