The Statement of Purpose

I'm sure that I will write more than one post on this, but this is definitely something I believe you want to start early. I started a week ago. Thus far, I've made two versions and have two drafts of the first one. The important thing is to start early and give yourself time for drafts. When you draft a paper, especially one that may be personal to you, you get attached, so you need time to separate yourself  to re-write.

On the Aspiring JETs forums, I've had some brilliant advice posted. So I am going to list out some of the advice I got there and some advice of my own. Some of this is specifically directed towards the JET SoP, but most of it is applicable to writing in general.

1) Write everything you want to write. It's easier to cut out something than to regret not writing it at all.
2) Start early and do multiple drafts.
3) Write multiple papers so that you can pick what you like and see what works and isn't.
4) Read it out loud. Reading out loud allows you to find things that you may miss when reading in your head. Things like commas, wordy or confusing sentences, and just bad sentences stand out more when you speak.
5) Have friends and family read your paper. They won't assume the things you assume as the writer; they catch lots of things you don't.
6) Use details. When you get vague, you get boring. Details make it YOU isntead of any person off the street. But, don't get too detailed because then it gets dragged out and you end up wasting space.
7) Make sure that your voice is in the piece. Every writer has a voice and you want to stand out. Don't be TOO formal or TOO casual, it's about avoiding extremes; on one end you sound unprofessional and on the other you sound like a rock.
8) If you have a writing center or any resource to check your SoP, DO IT! That's what they are there for. I have a relative who used to work with JET and didn't ask for her to read my paper last year, but did this year (this was really dumb of me).
9) Use an anecdote. I always recommend having a personal story as the hook because it shows something of you that makes it more interesting.
10) HAVE A HOOK. Readers need to be caught, they are not forgiving, they are not the captive audience that you had in school.

I'm sure I'll have more advice later and more thoughts, but I'll post those when I have them.