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By this point, you should have a simple outline that includes:

1. A potential topic

2. 4-7 different examples for your topic

3. At least one value for each example

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, or just want to go back to the examples to refresh your memory, click here.

Assuming you have this, the next question is: What do you need to write a great first draft of a montage essay on an extracurricular activity? Three things:

1. A simple, clear opening

2. 4-7 paragraphs with specific examples and values

3. An ending

Important: Extracurricular activities are one of the most popular/common topics, so in order to stand out it’s important that either a) your extracurricular activity is an uncommon one, or b) you write about it in an uncommon way. I’ll show you how to do this below.

In a later lesson, I'll walk you through what a great final draft requires. But first things first.

Step 1: Write a simple, clear opening.

Your goal with your first draft isn't necessarily to blow our minds with the most clever opening ever. I say this because lots of students delay in getting started because they try to do just that. The thing is, we first need to find out if the middle of the essay works (i.e., the 4-7 paragraphs of examples and values). And how can we do that if we're waiting for the perfect opening? Or what if you write the perfect opening, then find the topic isn't all that awesome? It may be wasted time.

My advice: Remove the mental barrier of writing "the perfect opening" by writing a simple, clear opening that will serve as a placeholder. (Keep in mind you can always come back and edit this later once you know the essay topic as a whole can work.)

Example 1 (parkour):

I'm standing on the roof of my gym looking down at the mats in the parking lot twenty feet below. I close my eyes to prepare for the plunge and calm my nerves, though logically, I know that I won't miss my target. I take a deep breath, bend my knees, and dive downwards into my flip ...

For three years, I've been training parkour and freerunning.

Alternatively, if you're writing about an extracurricular activity or hobby that is uncommon, you can simply start by naming the thing itself, like this:

• "I'm fascinated by medieval blacksmithing."

• "I'm all about kombucha."

• "Perhaps nothing has shaped my life more than the game Magic the Gathering."

Why do this? It's an attention grabber.

I wouldn't, however, recommend naming the topic straight away if it's a common topic, like this:

• "I was born to play basketball."

• "I have been playing the violin since I was four years old."

• "I love tutoring."

Why not do this? Because, as I mentioned, so many students write on these topics, it's going to be difficult to stand out ... it's worth spending a couple minutes thinking of an uncommon intro for these topics especially.

So ask yourself now: What's a simple way I can lead the reader into my topic for the purpose of this first draft?

[action_item] 

Action Item (2 min): Write a placeholder opening.

Again, for the sake of simplicity, you could describe yourself doing the activity; if your activity is more uncommon, your opening could be as simple as, "Ask me anything about constructed languages. No really—anything." And boom, we're into the essay. Again, your goal isn't to wow us (we'll explore how to write a great opening in a future lesson)—right now your goal is to remove the obstacle of the opening so we can get into writing the examples.

[And, if you're a perfectionist like me and want to remind yourself to come back and change the opening, you can put your placeholder opening in brackets, like this.]

Step 2: Bring your 4-7 examples to life.

This part is what my friend Mignon Fogarty (a.k.a. Grammar Girl) calls The Meaty Middle. It's really the make-or-break part of your essay. If this part doesn't work, consider brainstorming another topic.

Take a look at your examples—you're about to expand on them a little so you can turn them into paragraphs for your essay. And let's use the "Boy Scouts / Hiking" essay as a model, since you've read that one. The values the author wanted to demonstrate and the examples he used to show them were:

• Nature + beauty → taking walks as a kid

• Resourcefulness → making things for Scouts

• History → leading historical hikes

• Teaching → teaching various Scouting skills

• Environmentalism → applying lessons from AP Bio

• Helping others → going for a walk with Louis

For each of your examples, you'll write down 2-3 details that might help illustrate the value or quality you want to show. Here's how that author did it:

• Nature + beauty → taking walks as a kid

  • Ex: "I remember watching the white egrets strut along the water's edge, peering in to look for sunfish, and counting the noses of snapping turtles resting at the water's surface."

• Resourcefulness → making things for Scouts

  • Ex: "Despite several of my friends quitting Scouting to focus on athletics or other activities, I stayed. I loved everything from creating makeshift slings from neckerchiefs to constructing shelters in the middle of the woods."

• History → leading historical hikes

  • Ex: "Through Boy Scouting, I was able to arrange and lead Historical Trail hikes, giving myself and my troop firsthand perspectives on a Valley Forge winter, or the actual walk up Breed's Hill along Boston's Freedom Trail."

• Teaching → teaching various Scouting skills

  • Ex: "Hiking also gave me the opportunity to teach younger Scouts about various Scouting skills, from orienteering (using a map and compass) to conservation principles like Leave-No-Trace."

• Environmentalism → applying lessons from AP Bio

  • Ex: "I especially relished the opportunity to apply what I had learned in AP Biology towards actually helping preserve the environment from the harmful effects of invasive species by identifying and removing harmful plants such as thorny multiflora rose. It is one thing to learn about pollution, global warming, and invasive species in a classroom; it is another thing entirely to see the biodiversity of an ecosystem quickly succumb to man-made pressures."

• Helping others → going for a walk with Louis

  • Ex: "On a recent hike, I was walking with a new Scout, Louis, who had just crossed over from Cub Scouts. Louis confided in me how disconnected he felt away from his video games. To get his mind off of his electronics withdrawal, I stayed with Louis for the remainder of the hike and pointed out everything from milkweed stalks to coyote scat. After the hike, Louis was exhausted but had a glimmer of excitement towards the environment around him, and could even tell the difference between poison ivy and Virginia creeper."

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Action Item (10-15 min): Brainstorm 2-3 details for each example.

This may take more than 10-15 minutes. If so, that's okay.

Here are two tips as you brainstorm your content:

1. Use specific, visual examples to show your values.

Example: "Last weekend I spent ten hours in the kitchen cooking a rosemary shrimp pan-seared in olive oil, a celery and green apple salad and a homemade pasta and ragu for my girlfriend's family. I cook because it allows me to meditate, which allows me to reflect upon the past week." Notice how that last sentence clarifies the value for us: meditation.

2. See if you can provide 2-3 examples instead of just one.

Example: "Through Boy Scouting, I was able to arrange and lead Historical Trail hikes, giving myself and my troop firsthand perspectives on a Valley Forge winter, or the actual walk up Breed's Hill along Boston's Freedom Trail. I became the troop storyteller along these hikes, adding my own tidbits of information such as pointing out Eisenhower's five-star general flag waving from his personal putting green in Gettysburg, or how Spuyten Duyvil was perhaps named following one of the first reported shark attacks in America in 1642."

Step 3: Write an ending.

It doesn't even have to be a good ending right now; it just has to end. Again, your goal on this first draft is not to write the most mind-blowing conclusion ever; you simply want to land the plane. Your ending could be as simple as, for example, ["Each of these experiences has shaped me into the person I am today."] That's super cheesy, so you'd for sure want to put that in brackets and edit it later, but it would get the job done and get you to the next step.