How to Write Great Essays

HOW TO WRITE GREAT ESSAYS
CHAPTER 6
Untimed Essay Writing Strategies
70
■
Write a letter to someone who has had a significant influence on you.
Use as
many details as possible to 
show
, rather than 
tell
, why they are so important to
you.
■
Choose a current event and discuss its importance to you.
Be as personal as
possible: how has the event changed your thinking? How does it make you
feel? How has it impacted your daily life or your future plans?
■
Describe a risk you took, and what you gained or lost by taking it.
Did you
learn something about yourself or the world? Are you a changed person
because you took the risk? Was it worth it?
■
Choose a work of creativity (visual, musical, literary, scientific) that is of
particular importance to you.
How has it influenced you? Describe it in great
detail and remember to keep it personal.
■
Tell about a travel experience that affected you somehow.
Recount the expe-
rience as specifically as possible, using the five senses to detail it.
■
Describe a ritual you perform often that has meaning to you.
Think small.
Do you meditate while setting the table? Listen to a certain kind of music
while studying or reading? Cook something for yourself when you are stressed
out? Don’t worry if the ritual is quirky, or if it won’t seem important to some-
one else.
■
Imagine a perfect world.
What does 
perfect
mean to you? Get as detailed as
possible. Aside from the requisite world peace and clean environment, think
about the day-to-day things that would make a difference to you. Would every
coffee maker have a “pause and serve” feature? Would your favorite band per-
form free concerts at your school every Saturday? Would everyone in your
state, upon getting their driver’s license, be given the car of their choice?
Once you begin the essay writing stage, your journal will become an invaluable tool. It
can help you to use the right tone, neither too casual nor too formal, so that your essay sounds
like you. While rereading it, make note of the words you use and what your voice sounds
like when you write. Also, make note of the ideas and topics that hold your interest. Some-
times we are not aware of our feelings about something until we take the time to explore
them. Use your journal entries to search for possible essay material.