Hello,
Over the next few months, I'll begin crafting my person statement. A professor I have has written several creative non-fiction books, and I'm planning on using him as my editor. In his writing, he says that it is okay to begin sentences with conjunctions, use contractions, refer to the reader as "you" as well as pose questions within the narrative. Essentially, he wants good punctuation mechanics, but the grammar can be more colloquial. Is this advisable for a law school personal statement or should I keep it more formal while still telling a good story?
Thank you all for any advice.
Personal Statement Style and Mechanics Forum
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- Posts: 27
- Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2010 5:32 pm
Re: Personal Statement Style and Mechanics
It's difficult to answer your question meaningfully without specific examples. It depends what you mean by colloquial writing. On the one hand, I would advise against expressing yourself in cliches. On the other hand, you should adopt a relatively personal tone. After all, this is a personal statement, not an academic essay.
- thewaves
- Posts: 384
- Joined: Sun May 12, 2013 7:26 pm
Re: Personal Statement Style and Mechanics
I used things you mentioned in my PS and have had successful results.
- Tyr
- Posts: 246
- Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 12:15 pm
Re: Personal Statement Style and Mechanics
I appreciate the responses. It sounds like it's okay to use certain techniques that you find in creative non-fiction that would normally be frowned upon in academic papers. Thanks again!
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