Misc.

October 27, 2008 at 5:47 pm (Uncategorized)

Wow I am in AGONY writing this personal statement.

Does anybody want to read my MS and tell me what needs fixing, moving around, throwing out?

13 Comments

  1. the almost right word said,

    October 27, 2008 at 5:57 pm

    I am, at this very moment, experiencing the same agony. I’m pretty sure this is draft number 5. I’m crossing my fingers that there will be no more than 7. ;)

    Reply

  2. anatomyofadress said,

    October 27, 2008 at 6:03 pm

    I can’t even make it through draft number ONE! I type three sentences, go “Wow, this is self-aggrandizing fakey I-am-so-great bullshit they’re going to see right through” and go back to revising my manuscript.

    AGONY, I tell you.

    Reply

  3. immensee said,

    October 27, 2008 at 6:41 pm

    sure.

    Reply

  4. The Lower Octave said,

    October 27, 2008 at 6:42 pm

    Let Mackerel write it.

    “It was the best of times. It was the meow of times.”

    Reply

  5. jskah said,

    October 27, 2008 at 6:44 pm

    suggestion: “My mission is to be awesome.”

    Reply

  6. unreliable narrator said,

    October 27, 2008 at 7:36 pm

    HAHAHAHAHAHA it is total hell. The only way out, pace Frost, is through.

    Reread Anne Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” if necessary; write in third person if necessary, as someone who loves you; write with toes in crayon if necessary. Write one sentence every hour. Write the most fakey self-aggrandizing bullshit you can come up with. Turn it into a contest! The prize is, you get to flush your head down the toilet.

    Editing is the mind-killer.

    Reply

  7. anatomyofadress said,

    October 27, 2008 at 8:03 pm

    And here I thought it was fear. Same thing?

    Reply

  8. elizabeth said,

    October 27, 2008 at 9:51 pm

    i can read it for you if you want. i also have some sample ones i got from former mfa students i could send yr way. they were pretty helpful for me.

    my email is slowfold (at) yahoo.com

    Reply

  9. unreliable narrator said,

    October 27, 2008 at 10:22 pm

    Frank Herbert was just too *scared* to say “editing.”

    Reply

  10. s said,

    October 28, 2008 at 3:19 am

    i’m up for it. as long as it isn’t 100 pages.
    i’m having to write three semi-personal statements right now too. it’s pretty painful. but whoever said editing them is the worst part … is right.

    Reply

  11. s said,

    October 28, 2008 at 6:02 am

    wait.
    what is an ms?
    i thought it was an essay.

    Reply

  12. Aran said,

    October 28, 2008 at 9:01 am

    You will kill it! You will destroy it! First, the GRE fell before you, and now…. the personal statement meets the same fate at your hands! Victory

    Reply

  13. anatomyofadress said,

    October 28, 2008 at 5:02 pm

    @S: Good eye, sugar pie! MS means manuscript. It is not an essay, but I do need help with bofe, actually.

    Reply

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