We all appreciate consistent effort to achieve future gain. Colleges are no different. They especially recognize teen writers who have worked hard on their passion project. Colleges recognize that these students have dedicated themselves to the goal of writing a book, not just over the summer but over the years, sacrificing other activities to do so. Parents can easily fret that their child won't have taken the right extracurricular activities to get into college. However, last month I corresponded with someone from Smith admissions who commented that they do see students–only one or two–each year who have written a novel. “These students are stand out applicants,” --her exact words.
I was thrilled to hear that. Other ingredients to include if your teen has written a book:
include a supplemental essay about writing their novel, memoir, or collection of short stories
include a writing sample
include a supplemental essay about writing a full draft of a book
ask the instructor to write a supplemental recommendation as well
There’s more advice she offered about how a student can strategize for college that I’d happily share. Feel free to reach out for more information.
KEEP WRITING MUSCLES STRONG: AVOID SUMMER SLIDE
For parents who want to see gains in grammar through creative writing, as well as gains in their learner's ease of writing and focus, weekly creative writing sessions going through the summer will lock in those gains--and still be fun.
CONSISTENCY PAYS OFF - You gain motivation by doing, not by waiting
When I was working on my master's thesis and then later when I was writing a novel, I wondered which was better: writing when I felt like it, or writing regularly? I did an experiment: for one month I wrote when I pleased, but I tracked it.
The results: My writing wasn't 'forced' and I was pleased with the quality of many thousands of words.
Then I began writing first thing in the morning (after exercising) Monday through Friday.
The results: My word count graph was an S curve. It looked like sea waves: up and down, up and down. Some days I wrote hundreds of words, some days I wrote thousands of words.
While I was not consistent with my high word count days--I wrote more than three times as much in a month when I aimed to write every day. Moreover, the quality of my writing went up overall after a month.
The most noticeable result was my motivation for the project. It was sky high. I had momentum.
DOING SOMETHING REGULARLY BRINGS THE BEST RESULTS
"Experience is a dear school, but fools will learn from no other." -- Ben Franklin.
You'd think I would have learned from that experience that you need to do something daily or weekly to see results, but when it came to exercise last winter--dur! First I became burned out from too much rowing last fall. Then I decided to exercise only whenever I wanted. In about two weeks, 'only when I felt like it' became never. I got out of shape. I gained weight. Ugh!
This spring was all about redemption. I'm back into running and rowing. I aim to go run every day that I don't row. If something comes up and I can't, well fine. But most days I run up a shady trail for two miles and then back down for two miles, music playing in my ear buds. It's heaven!
I feel better--of course! I look better and have more energy--of course! Being consistent by aiming for every day has made it a habit. Having a habit makes it easier to go daily and I feel more motivated to go as well. I am also enjoying nature and relaxing after a busy day.
What do you wish you did consistently in your own life? Feel free to leave comments or questions below. I've shared some shots from my run below as well.
As always, if you or someone you’re raising is interested in writing a big project, you can let me know in the contact form and we can chat about you/your learner and the project to see if I can help.
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