I'm stuck/burnt out Forum

[WhiteGuy5]

I've been working on my PS for more than a month now, and I have a good intro, good conclusion, but I can't fill the stuff in between. It lacks direction and structure. Anybody experience this? Any advice on how to get some creative juices flowing?

[rinkrat19]

Here's my standard "I don't know what to write my PS about!" advice:

Don't worry so much about starting with an intro and writing straight through to a conclusion. Start writing with the interesting bits--something funny or startling or exciting or sad. Think of a specific instance, subject, situation or event that you can speak engagingly about, even if you can't immediately think of how it would relate to law. If your closest friends were asked about you, what would they say first? What makes you even slightly different than the next applicant in the pile? Pound out some paragraphs--don't worry about where it would go in an essay or how they fit together. Just get words on the page. From there, you may be able to take 'this', discard 'that', and add a little bit more about 'the other thing' to develop an overall theme or topic.

As an example, I started with a quote from a hockey coach I had, and wrote about pushing yourself to failure, and how I'd never really pushed myself that hard. I ended up using almost none of that. Then I started writing about sports more generally; why I like hockey and snowboarding. A few sentences of that actually made it into my final. Then I tried to write 'why I want to go to law school,' but it was mostly whining about how I hate my job. Obviously that wouldn't work, so I toned some of it down (from "I hate my job" to "my job is rewarding, but not something I'm passionate about"). I related that to things I actually am passionate about (snowboarding and hockey, from before), and how so few people are lucky enough to have jobs they love as much as their hobbies.

Just to show how several false starts came together in the end.

[theadvancededit]

It's easy to get burnt-out when writing a statement, especially if you've been working on it nonstop for a month. Given that, it would be best for you to distance yourself from your draft for a little while and concentrate on other aspects of your application and (if applicable) your LSAT studying. Taking a break from your statement for a couple of days would be a good idea and will, believe it or not, help you in the long run. After revisiting your statement after a little break, you will have "fresher" eyes and refreshed perspective, and may notice things in your statement you may overlooked before.

In terms of filling in the gaps, I often recommend re-outlining as a way of "advanced brainstorming". Sometimes, reorganizing your points will help you see what themes and connections can be made and how to carry these through from intro to conclusion.

For more info: http://theadvancededit.com/admissions/s ... our-essay/
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