Washington Post Article

A quick read on writing college essays.

writing beyond the first layer

Writing is like solving an algebra equation…rearranging, replacing, multiplying, dividing, adding, subtracting. The first step is hardly ever the last, and there are often various ways to solve.

Unlike algebra equations, however, the finished result is never finished. Writing is one of the most enlightening forms of expression because its lifespan can be a few seconds to an eternal work-always in progress, always growing and becoming even better. It can be one layer, or a palimpsest. You can write your first thoughts and keep that version as the final piece or you can dig deep into the surface,  revise, cut, rearrange….where you discover more, disclose more and create a piece that conveys as much as an image.

The pleasurable part is changing one word countless times, replacing it with a more vivid word, and with each change you notice the piece begins to paint instead of describe. The exciting part is consulting the thesaurus if you need to. In that process, vocabulary is heightened. The reader is led through words on pages that become a painting, a photograph, or motion picture. The equation and toil, and the peace that follows...

Charlie Brown humor

My absolute favorite, humorous example of the labor that writing requires is in 'Happy New Year Charlie Brown,'  when (I believe it is) Linus speaks to Charlie Brown as he anguishes over reading Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.”   Charlie Brown complains to Linus about 1146 pages of reading. Linus says to him, in a :cry me a river cadence….

"When Leo Tolstoy was writing ‘War and Peace’

his wife Sonia copied it for him seven times

and she did it by candle light

and with a dip pen

And sometimes she had to use a magnifying glass

to make out what he had written

They had to do it after their child had been put to bed

and it was quiet

Just think Charlie Brown,

she wrote the book seven times

and with a dip pen"

I Love it!