Procrastination

Procrastinators: The Time is Now!

John Carpenter is back this month to commiserate with those students who are at heart procrastinators. In other words, those students who have not completed their applications yet. Read on to share the insights of a fellow travel in procrastination land and get inspired. Regardless of your disposition, the time is now!

It’s the holidays.  You’re on break.  Time to sleep in every single day if you want.  And if you’re like many high school students, you still have some work to do on finishing college applications.  I get it—I procrastinate, too, and it’s not as bad as everyone says it is.  But there are some real advantages to getting things done early, and of course, those of you who are FINISHED and have submitted applications know this already.  But this post is not for you. 

For you, those who get everything done ahead of time, congratulations.  We procrastinators wish we were more like you, but we’re not.  We try.  And sometimes we even get better, but the truth is that many of us will always put things off to the very end.

So, if you’re one of those finally getting around to getting your apps finished, good for you. 

Essay Lab: Getting the Words to Flow

Mix one part approaching holidays with one part looming application deadlines and you may have a recipe for procrastination or full-on writer's block when it comes to writing your essays. But no worries, both are temporary conditions.

If you're in the throes of a case of writer's block, one of the ways to get “unstuck” and develop some good stuff you might be able to use for your essays is to actually take a detour and write about something else. This may seem counterintuitive, but responding to a different -- and slightly provocative -- question than the one you seek to answer in your application essay can help move things along. And doing so can also help you find the heart of things, so that what you say and how you say it can have more impact.

Essay Lab: Day Three Prompts

Still stuck? Or still procrastinating? Here are some more prompts for inspiration. We especially like Michel's last one -- the perfect photo of you that doesn't exist?!?

Deborah Michel, author of the forthcoming novel Prosper In Love and parent to two applicants for the Class of  2016

One of my daughter's essay prompts was "You're looking out a window.  What do you see?" I remember a writer friend using that one, and I like it myself. 

I access art a lot when I'm writing.  So…

                Describe a painting or photograph you love in detail.  What is it about that image? 

                Describe your favorite photograph of yourself.

                Or, better yet:   Describe your favorite photograph of yourself that doesn't actually exist.

The web can also be a good source for prompts. College Admission did some web-surfing (one of our favorite methods of procrastination) and found some links for you:

Prompt generator 

Essay Lab: Day Two Prompts

Yesterday, we kicked off our series on essay writing with prompts from best-selling writers Firoozeh Dumas and Ellen Sussman. If you're just joining us, we'll be posting a couple of prompts each day for students who may be in the throes of writer's block or have fallen prey to procrastination.

To recap, one of the ways to get “unstuck” and develop some good material you might be able to use for your essays is to actually take a detour and write about something else. This may seem counterintuitive, but responding to a different -- and slightly provocative -- question than the one you seek to answer in your application essay can help move things along. And doing so can also help you find the heart of things, so that what you say and how you say it can have more impact.

Can writing exercises like this help you? They very well might. Some of them even have the potential to work for the open-ended "Topic of your choice" essay.  Give them a try.

Today's prompts -- and some excellent advice:

Irena Smith, writing teacher and independent college consultant