Q - I am having a little bit of trouble picking an essay topic and I was wondering if you could give me a little help. The three topics I have narrowed it down to are 1) Spraining my foot during my senior year soccer playoff game which we ended up winning and having to decide whether to play in the next game which could be my last soccer game ever (which I did end up doing) . 2) Having mono and how it affected my sophomore year of high school and things like soccer, school and family. 3) I have a huge fear of speaking in front of classrooms and last year I had a huge senior project where I had to do a 10 minute presentation in front of my classroom and then 4 teachers. I worried about it for months but faced my fear and ended up doing great on it.
I am not even sure if any of those are good. I am having alot of trouble with picking the right one.
A - First, check out what Mike Warren posted on the blog and my response
Second, all of your ideas are excellent. Remember that I'm just a reader -- I'm not you as the writer -- so consider these comments as a thoughts only.
I'm drawn to the soccer experience and to the public speaking experience more than mono, only because both are more focused.
Re: soccer, the focus is on your decision to play a game at the risk of injury (lots of conflict leading up to your decision and nice resolution with playing - then you can show us how it worked out).
Re: public speaking, the focus is, again, on a specific event that you had to get through to (crisis) to the other side (resolution). The tension rises as you recount the build-up to speaking, as you capture the FEELINGS (fear? anger?). The crisis moment of actually speaking will make for an excellent scene (as will the soccer game above).
Finally, most people can identify with the fear of public speaking. Fewer people your age, but still some, will be able to identify with a hard choice about playing at the risk of ruining your ability to play again.
You should be very pleased with your ideas. I like all three but believe you'll find soccer or public speaking "easier" and of these two, you might that the realization from the speaking experience is more manageable for your first essay.
May I please post this on the blog -- either crediting you or not? It's such a great example of good ideas that call for "Exhilaration" now that you've done some excellent work
A - First, check out what Mike Warren posted on the blog and my response
Second, all of your ideas are excellent. Remember that I'm just a reader -- I'm not you as the writer -- so consider these comments as a thoughts only.
I'm drawn to the soccer experience and to the public speaking experience more than mono, only because both are more focused.
Re: soccer, the focus is on your decision to play a game at the risk of injury (lots of conflict leading up to your decision and nice resolution with playing - then you can show us how it worked out).
Re: public speaking, the focus is, again, on a specific event that you had to get through to (crisis) to the other side (resolution). The tension rises as you recount the build-up to speaking, as you capture the FEELINGS (fear? anger?). The crisis moment of actually speaking will make for an excellent scene (as will the soccer game above).
Finally, most people can identify with the fear of public speaking. Fewer people your age, but still some, will be able to identify with a hard choice about playing at the risk of ruining your ability to play again.
You should be very pleased with your ideas. I like all three but believe you'll find soccer or public speaking "easier" and of these two, you might that the realization from the speaking experience is more manageable for your first essay.
May I please post this on the blog -- either crediting you or not? It's such a great example of good ideas that call for "Exhilaration" now that you've done some excellent work
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