Read the Blog
Top 5 Tips to Write Faster
Top 5 Tips to Write Faster Top 5 Tips to Write Faster is the secret you want more than any other, and I’m going to give it to you for free. Everyone wants to write faster, but especially students, and especially students writing application essays for more than a dozen schools. So how do you write...
The Worst Beginnings
The Worst Beginnings I thought I’d start a blog post with an example of how not to begin—but I decided I’d lose your attention before I even got to the explanation. With that in mind, if you want to make sure you aren’t choosing some of the most clichéd and dull openings for your essay … read on....
What’s Your Why?
What’s Your Why? Motivational speakers and authors talk a lot about “finding your WHY.” If you’re really clear on why you’re doing what you’re doing, they tell audiences, you’re more likely to get it done and do it well. This is true for mundane things you might need a little boost to complete, as...
Which Details Matter?
Which Details Matter? It’s easy to recognize when a child has edited their writing. Instead of a rambling story that jumps oddly from one apparently unimportant moment to another, you get—a rambling story that jumps oddly from one unimportant moment to another … with lots of completely irrelevant...
Garden Tales
Garden Tales Last summer, my 3-year-old discovered the joys of pulling fresh vegetables from the garden and eating them on the spot. One day, he found a bed full of carrots and pulled one up immediately. When I saw him eating it, I couldn’t figure out where he had gotten it. How had this bed of...
Twenty Questions (And Then Some) With Your Dream School List
Twenty Questions (And Then Some) With Your Dream School List So, how is that school list coming? If you’re applying this summer, you need to be filling—and then narrowing—your list of potential schools so you know what essays you need to start writing in late June or early July. For those of you...
Unexpected Essay Secret Write Badly
Unexpected Essay Secret Write Badly Here’s what you’re doing wrong: You’re expecting it to come out right. It might sound counter-intuitive, but expecting perfection from your draft is the best way to kill it. Actually, it’s the best way to ensure it never gets written at all. The essay in your...
Unicorns Are Not Unique, or No Such Thing as a Synonym
Unicorns Are Not Unique or No Such Thing as a Synonym If you polled every student I have ever had in the classroom, I suspect one of the top three facts you would learn is this: “Mrs. Kalf doesn’t believe in synonyms.” I think they find this deliciously subversive in an English teacher. I only...
The New (Improved?) Common App 2022
The New (Improved?) Common App 2022 The Common App has released its prompts for next year, and I’m delighted to see all of my favorites still on the list. There’s only one prompt that’s new for 2021, and you probably didn’t need the Common App writers to tell you it was directly inspired by our...
The Tool You Didn’t Know You Needed
The Tool You Didn’t Know You Needed What if a student really had nothing to say? The Tool You Didn’t Know You Needed It’s rare that I get a student with no story at all. But it happens that students come to me to write their essays and have few stories that really showcase growth in a vivid way....
