How to Write a Personal Statement 2. (Concretizing Topic/Content Generation)

When you write, you inevitably meet the problem of 'concretization.' Because most thoughts aren't concrete but abstract, and in making them recognizable to others you walk the path of concretization. So I'd like to present a few methods of concretizing. The following strategies are concretization methods I, the writer, use often, and since they're methods made over much time, they may need practice. But since writing is impossible without practice, I say in advance that there's no other way to make a solution.

Methods of content concretization include, for example, these.

1) Recording yourself talking to yourself / having a conversation about the material/topic you're writing on

For one, speaking has a lower cognitive load than writing. Put simply, speaking is easier than writing. So the method of recording yourself talking about a topic and then using it as writing material is useful for people who feel they can't write well. For example, when you have to describe a problem-solving experience, you can speak about what problem-solving experiences you've had. To use my own cases as the writer: 1) solving high-school math problems, 2) solving the problem of a room being dirty with overflowing trash, 3) solving the problem of a group project being delayed because no presenter could be decided, 4) solving the problem of a dangerous pedestrian environment around the school. And so on.

For students who have never once introduced themselves, asking them to talk about a particular topic tends to take a long time. Basically

2) Organizing and subdividing the material/topic

Concretizing 'problems that can occur in a factory,' you can classify the categories into cases where the factory or equipment breaks down / cases where people are injured or die, or into problems caused by human carelessness and lack of maintenance / natural disasters (earthquakes, floods) / compound problems, and so on. Analyzing and classifying one item by several factors like this is called 'subdivision.' The reason you must subdivide is to think logically.