Trouble chopping down statements?

4everchasing

Is anyone else having trouble chopping down your statements? Or have advice on how I can?

Picking a topic, figuring out what to say, and all other facets has been exhausting and excruciating. I finally have something down and it is much too long (a little more than 2 full pages before being double-spaced). I have FOCO (fear of cutting out something that might be great).

Rigid Designator

For me personally the key was to really try and pin down what it is I wanted to communicate with the statement, or what my narrative was. At that point it's easier to cut things out. I think the fear of cutting something good out is perfectly normal, but keeping your writing relevant and concise is probably as important as any other qualities an essay can have.

For example, I wrote about weightlifting. But the narrative was more about how weightlifting impacted my life. Thus, although I liked the writing, it felt natural to cut out a lot of descriptive detail about the actual weightlifting itself. My essay wasn't about weightlifting per se, the narrative was about my journey of change. The descriptive stuff just didn't add to this narrative, so I cut it out (even though I liked it).

I would really recommend the 7sage admissions course as it has some very good, specific advice about writing your statement. It's a bargain!

StellaBlue

+1 to all of @"Rigid Designator" 's post! After I wrote a draft that made me happy, I sort of reverse-outlined the piece to make sure it flowed, and really cut it down to like two main points I wanted to convey. If you have anything that doesn't further your narrative purpose or contribute to the ultimate goal, it can go.

(I know that's easier said than done, especially when you're staring at a beautiful sentence you're pretty sure is Pulitzer-worthy, but I think it actually feels pretty liberating to slash and burn!)

4everchasing

Thanks to both of you, really helpful!

Kayyyyyyy

Mine is also around this length. How long should it be? I know it's too long but not sure how much I need to cut...