<p>I'm trying to write my common application and supplement essays, but every time I sit down to do it I freak out. I'm normally at ease in the medium of words (I've won poetry contests and creative writing awards), but the whole business of my future depending on my essays is driving me to distraction. What should I do?</p>
<p>Buy a tape recorder.</p>
<p>Then have a conversation with someone who knows you / is familiar with the subject / can have an intelligent conversation. Talk about what you think you will write your essay about. Tell them to ask probing questions as if they were an interviewer trying to write an article about your experience.</p>
<p>After a lengthy discussion, replay the tape. Pay attention to HOW you naturally describe things, what phrases you use to describe certain situations or how you articulate the significance to you.</p>
<p>This will effectively be a talk-through of your essay, and you just have to transcribe it later</p>
<p>I think that is good advice. I did similar with S. I discussed with him what he is going to write about, asked him quesitons, did some brainstorming. He didn’t use a tape recorder. We just took notes. S found that very helpful.</p>
<p>What are you considering writing about?</p>
<p>I think the idea of the above posts is that you need to have a solid topic for your writing. Having a conversation is one way to get ideas. For me, being a very introspective person, I just spent a month or so going through the motions of my daily life and thinking about what in my life would be interesting to write about that admissions people would like. It could be an observation you’ve come to gain about the world within your experience, a struggle you constantly must deal with, a person you are close to, etc. Of course, always keep the prompts of your essays in mind and consider how relevant these things are to the question. This can be tough when some schools throw off-the-wall questions at you, but these questions are meant to be open to interpretation. Your interpretation of the question is part of what they will learn about you through the essay.</p>
<p>Once you have your idea, think of a creative way to present it in writing. You should have no problem with this considering your writing awards. The hard part of the process for you, it seems, is getting inspiration. I hope this helps.</p>
<p>sit down and don’t think of it as something that determines your future… think of it as another poem or story, only its about yourself… then when you are done put it aside for a couple of hours to a day and then go over it again, already having something written should ease your anxiety, if not, maybe you should talk to your doctor for some anxiety medication until your done filling out college stuff… thats what my older brother had to do.</p>
<p>We use the phrase “throw something on the page” in our house. Just sit down and write something - anything - on the paper (OK, the computer screen). Approach it with the idea that whatever you write today won’t end up in your final essay, it’s just a brainstorming session. This can be a rambling paragraph, bullet points, a random list of words or thoughts - anything. Just keep reminding yourself that what you’re writing today isn’t what you’re going to end up sending - you’re just doing some prep work. A lot of time, once you get past the initial writer’s block, things start to flow pretty well.</p>