This Q&A first appeared in Write at the Edge, a newsletter from Mallary Tenore Tarpley featuring tips and best practices for seasoned and amateur writers who want to hone their craft. Subscribe to Write at the Edge here.
Those of you who have followed this newsletter for a while know that I’m a big fan of Roy Peter Clark — a longtime writing coach who has had a significant impact on my career as a writer and professor. He has written 21 books on the craft of writing — including “Writing Tools,” “Murder Your Darlings” and “How to Write Short” — and is now out with a new book. His latest, “Writing Tools for the College Admissions Essay,” was published this month and is definitely worth checking out.
I had the privilege of blurbing the book, which is an indispensable guide to writing personal essays for college, graduate school and professional school. As I wrote in my blurb, the book “offers up gems of wisdom for students of all ages and walks of life. Every page instructs and delights. Readers will come away as better writers — and will be well-equipped to write their way into their dream school.” Though geared toward people applying to college or graduate school, it’s a helpful book for any writers who want to deepen their understanding of the art of personal essay writing.
The book includes analyses of several college essays, including eight from my University of Texas at Austin journalism students, who offered to share their essays with Roy when he was a guest speaker in my introductory journalism course in 2023. (A big thank you to Sofia Alvarado, Abigail Breyfogle, Grace Gates, Analise Pickerrell, Pili Saravia, Claire Schulter, Maia Thomas, and Eva Yakubov!) I’m proud of them, and I’m delighted that their essays are acting as teaching tools.
I’m also proud of Roy, who is one of the most prolific writers I know. I’ve long thought that part of what makes his books so effective is the fact that he writes them from the perspective of both a teacher and a writer. He always seems to be writing a new essay, article, or book, which enables him to engage in the craft right alongside us instead of teaching about it from afar.
This makes me think of my high school cross-country coach, who was an avid runner herself. I distinctly remember the first time she made us do hill workouts. Rather than instructing us from the bottom of the hill, she coached us as she ran up and down the hills alongside us. This instilled trust and respect, and it made her coaching seem more authentic and effective.
So much of what I learned about running came from her, and so much of what I’ve learned about writing has been inspired by Roy. He and I first met when I was a junior at Providence College, our shared alma mater. He helped me get my first job at Poynter in St. Petersburg, Florida, and he and his wife Karen looked after me as a young college student who was far from home. In the years since, Roy and Karen have remained dear friends and are even my daughter’s godparents. Roy wears a couple different godfather hats, as he has also been referred to as “the godfather of good writing” (and “America’s writing coach”).
It feels especially gratifying to know that all these years later, Roy and I are both publishing books within three months of each other. We’ve been cheering each other on every step of the way and, as good friends and writers do, supporting each other’s work.
I recently did a Q&A with Roy about his new book and am happy to share it with you here.
Mallary Tenore Tarpley: You’ve now authored or edited 21 books on the craft of writing and journalism. (I think that’s a record!) What compelled you to want to write this latest book?
Roy Peter Clark: When I was 30, I wrote a column saying that I wanted to write one good book before I turned 40. By the time I hit book #19, I felt I had said everything I could possibly say about writing. But then the pandemic hit, and I began to pay close attention to the dedicated public writers who were helping us through this emergency. That book, “Tell It Like It Is,” reveals the best practices of dedicated writers. I wrote it with the urgency of a deadline writer.
Just as I relaxed and started thinking about golf and rock and roll, I got a message from my editor at Little, Brown asking if I would be interested in writing a version of my book “Writing Tools” for students writing their college admissions essay.
I laughed and told them I had proposed such a book a dozen years ago. I have worked with public school students for most of my career and have coached lots of students — for free — on their personal essays. This proposal happened to coincide with a time when I was writing personal essays for the Tampa Bay Times, so I knew I could come at this as a reader, a coach, a writer — and, looking back — a parent.
Tarpley: If you had to narrow it down, what would you say are the top three qualities of an effective college admissions essay?
Clark:
- It should sound like a real person, not a formal student or writing robot.
- It should have a focus — and start off with a bang.
- It should be a story, or at least have some story elements.
Tarpley: Many college essays come with prompts. You advise students to use the prompt as an open door, not a narrow window. Can you say more about this helpful tip?
Clark: I learned from some local admissions officers here in St. Pete, Florida, that most of the essays they receive sound the same. A small percentage are terrible, even misspelling the name of the school. A small percentage are so great, they slow down their reading to enjoy them. And then there are the many who just check off the boxes.
A prompt like “overcoming obstacles” can be made manifest in countless ways from actually climbing a mountain to winning a prize in an arcade game. We show examples of both of those, and many more. My advice, which is unusual for me, is to follow your gut in choosing a prompt. One of the choices may lead you to a passion that defines you.
Tarpley: You write in the book about finding a special object that has a story hidden within. I love this tip and am wondering if you can say more about what you mean by it.
Clark: A relative just sent me a photo of me and my father from 1952. I was four years old. It was the best such photo I had ever seen, and it sparked great memories that I shared on social media.
I wrote a 10-part newspaper series called “Sadie’s Ring,” about what it meant to me to wear my Jewish grandmother’s wedding ring, and then pass it on to my daughter. Doesn’t Tolkien’s monumental trilogy start with a ring?
A photo, an old piece of clothing, a baseball glove, a poster on your bedroom wall — each of these things, in the notion of poet T.S. Eliot, can be that object that signifies the virtues, ideas, or emotions you are trying to express.
Tarpley: Finding a focus can be challenging, especially when it comes to personal essay writing. I’ve found that when students don’t have a focus going into an essay, they are more likely to end up writing a little about a big topic (aka their whole life), rather than writing a lot about a little topic (aka a sliver of their life). What advice do you have for students who may have trouble finding a focus, and why is it so important to have one?
Clark: I am a follower of the writing coach Donald Murray, who preached that all writers have to solve the same set of problems. And the best way to solve them is to apply a logical process, a set of steps. Everyone has to find an idea (inspired by a prompt); gather good stuff they can put in the essay; limit the scope of the story into a sharp point or focus; select stuff that supports that focus; find an order: a compelling beginning, a solid middle, and a memorable end; create a draft, even if it is early and imperfect; and revise that draft to make things clearer and more interesting.
The key to all these steps is the Focus, something you can say in a sentence or short paragraph: “I did not know I was a good athlete until I broke my arm.” “I went to church every week that summer, not to learn about God, but to make my mother happy.” “The thing about me is: I can walk backwards faster than anyone I know.” Here is one from my young next-door neighbor Charley Daly: “I was born on Valentine’s Day with eleven toes.”
Tarpley: Your chapter on “writing with your authentic voice” is especially helpful. I’ve encountered many students who want help finding their voice. I always tell them that they already have a voice; they just have to figure out how to tune and amplify it. That said, what advice would you give to students who want to tune/modulate their voice?
Clark: The best way to find your voice is to read a draft of your story out loud, or have someone you trust read it back to you. What does that person “sound” like? What virtues and values do they reveal: smart, funny, empathetic, devoted to family, attuned to social issues, ready for the challenges of college? When I dress for an interview, I want to look a little better than my usual self. In the same way, I want my essay to sound like me, and a little better.
Tarpley: Sometimes when writing personal essays, it can be easy to fall back on clichéd expressions (such as “everything happens for a reason”) or to overuse words to the point where they start to sound clichéd. (The word journey, for instance, comes to mind.) How can students avoid falling into the trap of overusing cliches?
Clark: The word journey is OK. It might even be part of a prompt. But attention to word choice is important. But here is an important point: I never pay attention to special or original language too early in the process. It slows me down. Writing a high-stakes personal essay is hard enough.
My tool is the “zero draft,” not even good enough to be a first draft, usually written quickly with low standards. That draft, I hope will become a third, fourth, or fifth draft. With each draft I have the opportunity to cut a word or move a word or change a word. If I find myself using a familiar word or phrase — red as a rose — I give myself a chance to find something original: red as my nose — after a round of golf in the Florida sun.
Tarpley: What would you say to students who may be tempted to use ChatGPT or another generative AI tool to write their essays for them?
Clark: When I tried to write my college essay to get into Princeton (they did not accept me), I wrote with a pencil and a yellow pad and then typed a version on a Remington portable typewriter. No computer. No word-processing. No spell- or grammar-checkers. (Wait, I am stopping for a moment to find out on my smartphone who is texting me!)
Technology will continue to change at a faster rate than we can imagine. It will bring many good things, but also challenge many values and habits that we cherish. My goal is to help young writers — and old writers — to become the most literate students, workers, citizens they can become. I want them to be good writers — and honest ones.
The good habits and values described in my book can carry them into college with literate behaviors that will last them a lifetime. The writing robots, super-fast search engines, might help them with their research. But at this stage, that content is often unreliable and taken, irresponsibly, without attribution.
Tarpley: In the book, you include several examples of personal essays (including eight from my University of Texas at Austin journalism students)! As a writer, what did you learn from the process of reading and analyzing so many college essays?
Clark: My professional and now personal goal is to learn something new about the craft every day. That comes from reading reports and stories wherever I can find them, from high school students to Pulitzer Prize winners.
Each one of your students provided me with an insight into their hopes and dreams. One story about a piece of jewelry, a religious cross necklace that continues to break, took me on a journey of loss and personal discovery that continues to fill me with hope every time I think of it.
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