Step 6 focuses on expanding your content. This step involves a simple exercise that will get you to add a bit more detail to your essay, maybe from a different perspective than you’ve considered before.
I have identified 3 specific parts of your essay that I want you to elaborate on more. Use ALL YOUR SENSES to describe what happened. For example, if you are talking about a scene in a cabin ask yourself: What time of day was it? Was it light out? What did it smell like? Where was I sitting? Who else was in the room? What were they doing? Was it noisy or quiet? Did someone just cook bacon in the kitchen? Do you hear kids swimming out in the lake? Perhaps I’m asking you to reflect on the lessons you learned during your experience. Try to dig deep and think about how the event has impacted you. These kinds of details add depth and interest to an essay and draw the reader in. I’ve included some specific questions to help get you started. Again, do not be concerned with word count. We are still in content-gathering mode, so let go of any expectations of what is too much.
Next Steps: Go to the Essay Folder in CounselMore and open Step 6-1: Going Outside the Essay. When finished, check the “Done” assignment box in CounselMore and wait for feedback.