Call/Text: (510) 229-0100 Email: lesley@lesleyquinn.com

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"I want to write [things] that unlock the traffic jam in everybody's head."

~ John Updike

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"Let us not talk falsely now. The hour is getting late."

~ Bob Dylan

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"The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof shit detector.'"

~ Ernest Hemingway

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"What's another word for thesaurus?"

~ Steven Wright

..College Applications & Personal Statements

You already know your essay or personal statement has to sparkle if your application is to rise to the top of that massive pile of competing applications. You have 500 to 1,000 words to make yourself memorable, to illustrate the aspects of your character and experience not visible in your grades, your test scores, your extracurricular pursuits—500 to 1,000 words to breathe enough power into your application to catapult it directly onto the ‘Absolutely Y-E-S’ pile.

Let’s work together to make that happen.

the Process

Using brainstorming tools I’ve created to help you, we zero in on your most promising material. When in your life did you feel most fully alive? To whom do you turn when you need help? What’s your most surprising skill? Have you ever made a really big mistake? What’s the biggest decision you’ve ever made?

Next we work together to match up your essay prompts with your best stories. We also evaluate all the prompts for your target colleges to see where it might be possible to write a single shimmering essay for multiple applications.

Then the writing begins! We move from stream-of-consciousness free-writes, to rough drafts, through as many revisions as necessary to make your essay clear, compelling, and as perfect as possible.

After one in-person meeting when geography allows—or via Skype when it doesn’t—we can generally do all this in an exchange of e-mails and scheduled phone calls.

Student Acceptances

One Careful Sentece

how to make

write your way in

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