There will come a point in school when you need to write an essay about yourself.
You can analyze two things in this task:
College paper and yourself.
By definition, a college paper is a type of academic assignment which gives an overview of a subject. The student analyzes the topic and expresses their thoughts and opinion on it.
This allows the teacher or professor to see the depth of knowledge on the topic discussed.
In other words, it is thorough research and understanding of the assigned topic.
If the college paper needs to discuss certain aspects of your life, then that makes it more difficult and interesting at the same time.
This will need some time for most people. Because to write about oneself, you ponder on questions like “who am I?” and other heavy philosophical questions. Doing this might take you down on a surprise existential journey.
This is a form of autobiography. There’s a tinge of pressure to write it in the most creative way possible, making it even more difficult to write. The seeming infinite choices will leave one paralyzed and unable to even start.
But you don’t need to be afraid of getting lost when writing this.
In this guide, you will find useful tips and ideas to get the ball rolling.
Find a Goal
How do you start a college paper about yourself? Draw a map.
Like many aspects of life, knowing the route and mapping out the entire journey is worth the time you take.
Make sure you are clear on what you want to achieve.
Do you want to present yourself as an interesting person or talk about something you’re passionate about?
The idea is to make it as simple as possible. Ask what is the central goal or what do you want the reader to feel or think about you after reading your work.
Work on the embellishments, like supporting scenarios or important details later. (Keep your expertise on dog breeds until later no matter how strong the temptation. You will get there.)
You can map out the journey you want to take. Outline the things you want to mention in your essay, and then make a choice which ones will work best to reach your goal.
Choose the ones that make your goal clearer. Remove the rabbit trails.
Remember, the point in writing a college paper is to make a clear essay about a chosen topic. A woolly essay will show a sloppy thought process and will come off as unprepared and unprofessional.
Actually, Write
Ann Handley, a renowned digital marketer and content creator call this process The Ugly First Draft (TUFD).
It is important to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) aside from the initial outline.
This is where you “show up and throw up” as Ann Handley put it.
This is where most writers, or those who aspire to be full-time writers, fail. If you want to write, then there’s no other way to do it. You have to write.
Pretty much like someone who wants to be a great classical pianist. While there is some merit to listening to Bach or Beethoven, they still must sit down and play the keys and dedicate time to honing their skills at it.
Even if you don’t dream to be a world-famous author, your college paper will not write itself. You have to put in some time for it.
But if you are having difficulty putting your thoughts into paper, there are still ways to make your outline come to life. If you’ve been thinking, “Can I hire someone to write my paper for me,” the short answer is yes, you can.
There are websites with writers who can write the best essays for you and assist students in writing academic papers.
Revise at Least Three Times
When you’ve written your article, it helps to put some distance between you and your content.
This allows your brain to rest and reset.
While this is happening, your emotional attachment to the piece of work is removed. This allows you to relentlessly edit and butcher your work.
This is especially important as clear college paper needs a thorough revision. This is where you weed out extra words or useless thoughts you added because, at the time of writing, you thought they were very funny or interesting.
Look for unnecessary adjectives and omit them. Find complex sentences, and give them a simpler take. You can use online grammar editors to check your, well, grammar.
Like many things, the simpler the output, the better it would be for you and your reader.
Write the Headline
This is a common mistake for many beginning and casual writers.
The headline, while at the top of the page, is not necessarily written in the beginning.
Think of it this way, it is the first impression of the reader and a glance at the whole article.
So, you don’t want to write the headline willy-nilly.
You want it to stand out. You want to hook the reader with it. You want it to catch someone’s attention that readers can’t help but read the whole article for the sake of that headline. You want it to be awesome.
Is that enough pressure for you?
Simply put, you have to make the headline as eye-catching and thought-provoking as possible. Write it with respect.
Put as much time and thought in writing the headline as with writing the whole article.
Test It on Someone
If you have a writing buddy, then you can do well to have them look at it. If not, then have someone look at it and ask for their thoughts.
It pays to have an extra set of eyes go through it.
They will be helpful in terms of polishing the article and checking the readability of your work.
Ask for feedback, and improve upon something they noticed.
Note that you don’t want your mom to read your article as it may backfire in many ways.
Let someone you trust to be honest with you have a go at it. You’ll find this more liberating as well as valuable at the end.
In summary, how do you start a college paper about yourself?
- Find a goal.
- Actually, write.
- Revise at least three times.
- Write the headline.
- Test it on someone.
These steps aim to to help you get out of the rut of kicking yourself in the head and get started on writing your college paper at once.
If you have other tips on writing, let us know in the comments below.