<p>Ok, getting down to a major time issue here and D has essay block like you can’t believe. For art school, for LA schools. She had one for the Common APP but decided she didn’t like it. Now trying to start over, one for Common app, one for art school statement of purpose, at least one more to use in LA supplements. She has an outline for the CA essay. Otherwise, nada. This is more of a block than it is procastination. Any ideas?</p>
<p>I have kids relax, kind of like yoga, relax all the muscles in the body and they breathe deeply, start with the toes, and work up to the neck, last with the hands, visualize pushing all of the stress out of the body. Have her imagine herself on a beach, or at a lake, etc., think about sounds, smells, feel, taste, use all of the senses. Then freewrite for 10 minutes - no rules, no one will see it, just whatever comes into her mind. She may get a topic.
That helped my son and my neighbor’s son - sounds goofy, but it works!</p>
<p>Free write for ten minutes?
On another note – is she just overreacting to the ones already written? Can she salvage a paragraph or two? That’s easier than starting from scratch.</p>
<p>I agree with dbwes’ idea of just sitting down to write for ten minutes.</p>
<p>Other approaches. Set a goal to write two sentences. Only two sentences. Doesn’t have to be the first two sentences. Do NOT set the goal for them to be two perfect sentences. Just write down two sentences.</p>
<p>Do that again sometime later in the day.</p>
<p>Then again the next day.</p>
<p>This will usually break through the block. If it doesn’t break the block, there will still be an essay written at the end of about 10-15 short sessions of the two-sentence-at-a-time approach.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>My daughter had the same experience a couple of months ago. She would write an essay draft, ask for feedback and get some, and then start a completely new essay instead of reworking an old one. She was beginning to have enough essays for a volume of short collected works. </p>
<p>Finally I made a couple of signs for her door - No New Essays and No Soul-Searching. The reason for the first is obvious; the reason for the second was that this was her particular sticking point. The feedback she was getting was all about going “deeper” and revealing more about herself, which she really didn’t like to do. So for her, it was helpful to let go of any attempts at deep reflection and revelation and just write in an interesting way about something that was interesting to her. You might want to try to figure out what your daughter dislikes most about the drafts she has written so far, or the topics she’s tried to write about, and see if you can help her go around the obstacles rather than confronting them head-on.</p>
<p>After my daughter stopped trying to be deep and reflective, she ended up writing some wonderful essays, which she happily spent time polishing - and I think they also convey a lot about her personality.</p>
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<li>This could be fallout from the liberal arts v. art school debate of last week, and it’s catching up with her. Don’t blame yourself or Dad, but that’s what I think has exhausted her for now. It’s retrievable, however:</li>
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<p>Tell her it’s time to shoo away all the distractions, including the recent upsetting one over parental differences. Tell her she doesn’t have to fix all of that disagreement in focus through her essays, but just describe herself well enough that a college or art college can imagine meeting her. </p>
<p>My guess is she’s torturing herself trying to reconcile the liberal arts v. art school dilemma right now, through her essays. </p>
<p>It’s a maturity thing: that she can apply to each of them, separately, and not try to come to a single answer yet about where she’ll ultimately attend.</p>
<p>Like going into a party to shake many hands; she doesn’t yet know whom she’ll marry. She just needs to say to each individual, “Hello, I’m…and here’s what I have to tell YOU…”</p>
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<li>To help her shoo away the distractions, I’ve heard the “write 2 sentence approach” works for some, but never for me. Instead, for her deeply creative soul and bright mind (she sounds like both), she might need a complete change of scene to get back into touch with her own inner voice, minus the discussion of lifelong direction, arts v. smarts and so on of last week. You all did WELL to open things up, BTW, so this is a compliment to all 3 of you.</li>
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<p>What if you changed scenery, told her to take a 24-hour moratorium, only do things that get her right and left brains back into communicaiton again.</p>
<p>I always benefit from a drop-it-day. Hot bath, movie, restaurant out with family but NO college talk. She’s young, so maybe snow angels (we live up north) or ocean walk in your territory. Drive her to a whole new town, and let her walk the beach. Don’t go with her, either; she might need to do this one alone! Then meet up later for a snack out of the house, that you don’t have to serve. Just smile and listen; don’t suggest stuff. Get back to herself the way you used to relate BEFORE college apps, just for an afternoon. Laugh a little together… </p>
<p>Limit it to 24 hours, and then see if her writing goes better after it. Tell her you’re just going to try this because it works for some. Again, no pressure.</p>
<p>My personal most efficient way: hot bath, 2-3 hours. My big epiphanies occur there, creative solutions to problems dogging me, breakthrough with an efficient solution, and so on. </p>
<p>Even a 24-hour rest from her computer. Just get away from the usual stimulations. So much pressure on her, but I think a day away she can afford.
If wrong, she’s only lost a day. THEN, try the 2-sentence-a=day ideas.</p>
<p>Shopping is my H’s answer, but I hate the confusion of choices. We differ that way :)</p>
<p>My D is creative, smart, does art, and can write. She says the 2-sentence-a-day DOES work for her to break apart writer’s block. I think she does it 10 minutes per day. But she’s not working on college essays anymore, either. Anyway, just saying it can also work for creative types, too.</p>
<p>I’ve found TV works wonders for my kids. I’m only half joking.</p>
<p>My advice is always to write just what they wish and worry about quality later; even academic essays are a conversation. My favorite ploy (even for myself) is to ask a question (only in my head) and answer it.</p>
<p>My son hated the essay writing so much he started fiddling with a program that combined sample essays he found on the web. It was pretty funny - full of a million trite phrases. He ended up starting with a snippet of that and then writing an essay, about how much he enjoyed programming and how he wished he could just program the computer to write a decent essay for him. In the end he made the block work for him.</p>
<p>I agree a break could work. Working on an piece of art works for me - it’s the way I relax. Sometimes answering a bunch of different questions really badly or tongue in cheek helps - just try to be silly for a while. Maybe looking at some of those weird U. of Chicago essay topics would get her creative juices flowing.</p>
<p>This may sound a little weird, but I get into writing sometimes by imagining that I’m explaining things to an alien (I mean a REAL alien, from Mars–who happens to understand English). We assume so much sometimes that it’s good to look at a topic from completely fresh eyes. Agree that getting away from a computer and sitting someplace cozy with a pad of paper and organizing thoughts–I like unlined so I can make a graphic novelette of my ideas.</p>