Here’s what worked for my 2 older kids;
Day one: print up the Common App prompts, one per page. Set the timer for 4 minutes per topic
Brainstorm any incident, any idea that’s remotely connected to the prompt, no matter how far a reach. Absolutely anything goes. Then go on to the next prompt.
Day two: Take a look at your work and write a phrase or two describing what you would write. Cross out the obviously unworkable.
Day three: add in some bullet points, describing how you would develop the essay. Cross out the obviously unworkable.
Rinse and repeat… each day, add more detail to the topics you have, and cross out the ones that have stopped being reasonable.
Your essay should be one that your mom, or your best friend, could pick out of a pile and identify as yours simply because it couldn’t belong to anyone else. It should not be a rehashing of your resume. Those “10 dollar” words you learned in 6th grade probably don’t have a place, since they tend not to be the way we speak.