Advice from a Screenwriter on College Essays
I’m often thinking about movies. Both because I’m a screenwriter and because I think movie structures can be a great way to think about college essays. Here are three pieces of advice from my movie-writing-experience that easily apply to personal statements:
1. Spend Time Brainstorming
As a screenwriter, I sometimes spend weeks (if not months) “developing” a project. I’ll think deeply about why I want to write that thing and what’s the right way to go about it. I think college essays are similar.
Let’s say you want to write your college essay about an experience you had at summer camp three years ago. Ask yourself: “Why?”
Aha! That’s something interesting. Okay, that might be an oversimplified example of a brainstorming session, but you get the idea. My next questions from there would probably be: “What side of yourself? Why hadn’t you found that side of yourself before?” And this cycle of questions can go on forever.
Dig deeper on your concept, be specific, and find the theme (or big idea) that makes your story truly unique to you.
2. Narrative & Structure
I like to think of personal statements like movies. They should probably have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Since I love a superhero moment, I’ll use THE INCREDIBLES as an example.
In the beginning, Mr. Incredible hates his office job and just wants to be a superhero again.
In the middle, he finds a way to live out his superhero dream, but realizes that his desire to be super again put him and his family in danger. (His very human flaw!)
By the end, Mr. Incredible defeats the villain and finds balance between being “normal” and being “super.”
How can your personal statement also be a journey? If your essay tells a tale about a challenge you overcame, where does your story begin? What did you believe at the beginning? How can you show how that hardship challenged you? How did it make you feel? And, ultimately, where does your story end up? Did your outlook on life change through the experience?
By asking these questions, you give yourself the opportunity to share something deeper and personal through your college essays. You might even touch on your own very human flaw and what that shows about yourself.
A key to finding narrative structure (aka that beginning/middle/end) is the outline. Sorry, I’m not sorry, but outlines are CRAZY useful. Use them to your advantage!
3. Find Your Voice
Months into the editing and revising process of personal statements with my current students, I’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon: a sudden change in their essay in a way that feels… unnatural or doesn’t fit with the rest of the essay. When I ask why, I’ve heard: I started reading my friends’ essays and worried this wasn’t good enough.
The biggest disservice any writer can do their personal statement is try to be somebody else’s essay.
No two personal statements are the same! Which means there isn’t a magic formula for the structure or the content or the creative liberties one should take in a personal statement. I totally support reading other essays, whether that be your peers or examples you find out in the ether. They might inspire you and show you directions that you could take your essay. But at the end of the day, your essay will probably take a different shape to your friends or those idolized essay examples you’ve found online. Why? Because your personal statement is unique to you.
Read other essays, but remember: you are not that other essay. Be true to your own voice.
— Carrington Walsh, December 2024
About the Author:
Carrington Walsh is a screenwriter from Los Angeles, CA, currently residing in Paris, France. She graduated from Harvard College with a degree in Economics, a secondary in English, and a citation in French. Carrington has experience in the worlds of tech, politics, and entertainment. With seasons of experience as a college essay coach, she loves merging her artistic talent as a writer with teaching students how to find their voice and narrative.
To schedule a one-on-one session with Carrington, feel free to reach out directly at carringtonwalsh@gmail.com.
