As the early application deadlines for many colleges are upon us, the last minute scrambling to finish college applications is also present. Essays are one of the hardest sections of the application; trying to squeeze in all the information you want without just having a list of qualifications is rather difficult. Many colleges have prompts, each prompt trying to help the writer get a basis for their essay.

Often, the question is where to start. Rather than starting at a specific topic and trying to meet the word limit, type out all the information about a subject, going into as much detail as possible, and then, when you have all the information you want, pick and choose what will remain. Choose each section that is valid, but never go into too much detail, as now you have to make sure that you fall within the word limit set by the essay. These steps may have to be repeated as you want to include all the information. As each bit of information comes in, you may want to add it to your larger chunk of text, then completely re-write the essay to make it flow smoothly.

After you have proofread your essay, and feel it says what you think you want to say, compare it again to your essay prompt (if you have one). Once you feel you have completed this task, it is time to find someone who can proofread your essay. Ask them to check for spelling and grammar, especially since it is rather easy to overlook something when reading something you have written yourself. Then, ask this person to read the essay again, though this time for flow and to see if the essay conveys the idea and thoughts you want it to convey. This entire process may show that your essay needs to be completely rewritten, but you will also have learned what parts you should keep in your essay.

This entire process may take days, or even weeks. If you are in a crunch for time, make sure to have someone else read over it at least once to make sure you don’t have any simple mistakes in your essay. This entire system, though, does not necessarily have to be for college application essays. It could also be re-functioned for any type of essay or speech. However, it always depends on personal preference to how you want to go about writing an essay or a speech.