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If You are Worried about Your English
　　You cannot change the fact that English is not your native language, but you can still write a good essay. Remember, even native-born Americans and experienced writers struggle with their English writing. This is a common problem because, to say it simply, writing is hard. Not only is writing difficult, but writing about oneself is especially hard. High schools and colleges train students to write formal term papers and reports. Few students gain experience with writing in the first-person, with writing about themselves. So, do not be too anxious. If you are worried about your writing ability, so are probably all of your classmates.
　　The most effective way to help eliminate anxiety and improve your writing is to practice, practice, practice. Not only should you get an early start thinking about the essays for the schools you are applying to, but you should also look at sample essay questions from schools you are not applying to. Thinking about and writing out answers to sample questions is a good way to help improve your essay writing.
The First Draft: Beginning to Write
　　By the time you start writing you will have already done some important prewriting preparation. You will have reviewed your personal history and have written record of it . You will also have researched the universities that you are applying to and carefully read the essay questions in their applications.
Which essay should I begin writing?
　　You can start working on the essays for your first choice school, but do not mail the application until you have completed two or three other applications. Writing essays for your "back-up" schools will help you to think about and revise the essay for your first-choice school. Another tactic is to see if the different schools you are applying to ask the any of the same or similar essay questions and to start working on those.
How do I start writing?
　　After you have chosen your essay topic, you are ready to start writing. If you know how you want to answer the essay, you can first write a general outline to follow while writing. If you uncertain about what to write about, do not write an outline first, this will only confuse you and waste time. Instead, first review the answers you wrote for the self-examination and then write your essay spontaneously, as ideas come to you. After you get your ideas down on paper you can review them and then write an outline, if necessary, for helping you revise.
　　Regardless of if you follow an outline or not, try to control your urge to edit and write simultaneously. For the first draft, focus on writing only, do not edit. If you try to write and edit at the same time, you will spend a lot of time writing very little.
　　Write only. Do not worry about spelling or editing, or how closely you follow your outline. Do not worry if your writing does not seem to have focus or a theme. If you get stuck, refer back to your personal evaluation. Try to focus on writing specifics. Challenge yourself to write down exact details about past experiences.
　　When you are done writing your draft, you should have written much more than required. Except for research proposals, you will have also covered a lot of topics. Your writing may not have a solid structure and probably will not have a real essay introduction, which generally is the first paragraph, or essay conclusion, the last paragraph. Do not worry about this, writing an effective opening and closing comes later in the essay writing process.
　　Now that you have written something down on paper, set your writing aside and take a break. After a day or two, or a few hours if you are in a hurry, go back, read your essay, and begin revising.