College Essay Writer’s Block: What’s Really Happening and How to Fix It
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Why do you get writer’s block when working on a college essay? The answer is, you’re in editing mode before you’ve created anything to edit. We write, we evaluate, we write, we judge. In reality, we do that in what feels like a 50 50 ratio, but it’s really being 10% creative and 90% judgmental.
That leads to Blinking Cursor Syndrome or Backspace, Backspace, Backspace syndrome. The key to preventing writer’s block is allow yourself to create a hundred percent with no judgment. Then when you’re done creating, judge the heck out of it.
Short answer: You’re in editing mode before you’ve created anything to edit.
Longer answer: We write. We evaluate. We write. We judge. In reality, we do that in what feels like a 50-50 ratio. In reality, we’re being 10% creative and 90% judgmental.
That leads to Blinking Cursor Syndrome and Backspace Backspace Backspace Syndrome.
The key to preventing writer’s block is to allow yourself to create 100% with zero judgment. Then, when you’re done, judge the heck out of it. Rinse and repeat until perfect.
Fun fact: This really works — if you’re disciplined enough to quiet the judgmental side for the first half.
Reference: the Common App essay prompts.
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