Blast Away the Block with Backcountry (Part I):

Strategies for Conquering Writer’s Block and Crafting Extraordinary Essays

By Margaret M. Kelly — Expedition Leader

Look, we’ve all been there: the taunting cursor (there/gone/there/gone/there/gone)…the page like the face of that famous white whale—blank, fathomless…and absolutely zilch by way of useful thought on the horizon.

The good news is, as Robert Cormier pointed out, “The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time; unlike, say, a brain surgeon.” Still, it takes real grit to get the words out when the muse is missing in action. This is true across genres, but certainly when it comes to crafting superior admissions essays.

Writing is hard. Writing about ourselves, especially with a self-promotional bent, no matter how subtle, is even harder. Which makes sense. From a young age, most of us were taught that bragging is uncouth and uncalled for. Even if you grew up in a home that celebrated your every accomplishment, from playing Tree #4 in the first-grade musical, to placing 17th in the middle-school science fair, the symphony of celebration was likely not conducted by you. More likely, you got to just sit back post-accomplishment and soak in the applause. When you’re sitting down to write your admissions essay, though, there are no cheer-leaders and there’s no applause—it’s just you, and your thoughts, and all that blank-space.

1 - Try Reorienting Yourself: You’re Not Grandstanding, You’re Enlightening Your Reader.

It’s worth noting it can help to consider what you’re writing not as much self-promotional, as self-expressive and self-illuminating. The goal is not to sing your own praises, but rather, to reveal yourself to your admissions reader—they have full access to your resume, already, so consider just trying to help them get to know you, your stories, what makes you tick. Ideally, you’ll leave them wanting to get to know you even better, and opting to let you into their kingdoms. Sometimes, shifting your angle on your project can move mountains.

Other times, it won’t budge you an inch. So, practically, what in the world do you do when you’re trying to generate a radiant, Ivy-caliber narrative and your mind goes blank as the page?

2 - Try a Backcountry 360 Blast-Off.

We cherish this writing exercise at Backcountry—we like to think of these blast-offs blasting the white space of the page into an avalanche of words and ideas. The process is simple. Find a quiet space to sit with a pencil (or a pen, or a piece of charcoal if you’re in that kind of mood), pull out a journal (or a legal pad, or a ledger, or a pack of plain old printer paper), find a fresh page, and blast-off! …And by that we mean, without stopping for the established interval (we recommend 360 seconds, but really any relatively brief interval will do).

Your first blast-off can have absolutely no prompt other than to just plaster the page with what’s on your mind. It need not be neat. It need not be beautiful. It need not even make a ton of sense. All it needs to be is a free-write that you write by hand without stopping. This is an excellent way to clear away your mental clutter so you have space, at last, to think great thoughts.

After your first blast-off, give yourself a breather, stretch, have a snack, hug your dog, top off your beverage of choice, and then get back to it for Blast-Off #2. Blast-Off #2 can involve a bit more direction. Pick a topic relevant to your dream essay—consider your passions outside of school; your proudest moment; your darkest hour; stories showcasing your resilience; your reasons for wanting to attend your dream school etc. etc. etc.

Feel free to associate far and wide from the topic you choose. Sometimes our best ideas pop up when we think we’re writing about something else. In our collective experience at Backcountry, something about the dynamism of physically putting ink to page without breaks can blast away writer’s block with abandon. Much the way a well-placed blast can kick off an avalanche.

You’ll surprise yourself with what flows forth when your primary goal is to just keep your hand in motion. Keeping your hand moving coaxes your brain into motion, too, lowering your cognitive inhibitions and liberating your thoughts. You can repeat this process as many times as you want, rereading what spills out and mining it for essay material. Trust us, there will be treasure in there, and you’ll know it when you see it. Even if it’s just a sentence you can use as a diving board, you’ll be shocked at what an adventure 360 seconds can be.

TL; DR? Recap:

Anyone who has ever put pen to page has experienced the indignity that is writer’s block. Writing is hard. Writing admissions essays is harder. Especially when you’re asked to write promo material for yourself. But there are ways to knock-out the block. 1) Try shifting your angle—the goal here isn’t to self-congratulate, it’s to self-reveal. 2) Try writing for six minutes without lifting pen from page. Whether you try these tactics together or just take one and run with it, writer’s block is soon to be down for the count.

Stay tuned for Knock-Out the Block, Part II…