Trouble writing university application personal statement

[Socrates' Shoes]

I'm preparing to apply to Universities and am thinking about the personal statement which I'm struggling with.

I'm 43 and have a really sketchy academic history. Although a bright kid top of all sets, somewhere around 13 I lost all interest in school.

After leaving school with one pass in English I decided to pursue a career as a professional writer!! Although I did manage to write and produce one stage play and one short film (as well as gain a third class writing degree and a masters in writing for stage and screen), almost twenty years have passed before I realised a career as a writer wasn't going to happen in the near future.

It is quite a long story as to what brought me to the sciences suffice to say I am retaking my Gcses this year and plan to take four A levels after I finish these.

Any advice or pointers would be appreciated.

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[Terry Toma]

If you're having trouble getting started, just accept the fact that your first draft isn't going to be very good and start writing. When you want to write the perfect personal statement, it's easy to not get started because you haven't thought of the perfect way to convey what you're trying to say. But this is self-defeating because you only come up with the perfect way to say what you're trying to say after you've really gotten pretty deep into the work of writing the thing.

The magic happens during the rewrite after you've put your ideas down on paper and had some time to mentally process and clarify. Write your story out even if it seems like a rambling mess, then walk away for a while. When you pick it back up a day or two later, you'll have a much clearer idea of what the actual desired final product should look like.

 

[Socrates' Shoes]

If you're having trouble getting started, just accept the fact that your first draft isn't going to be very good and start writing. When you want to write the perfect personal statement, it's easy to not get started because you haven't thought of the perfect way to convey what you're trying to say. But this is self-defeating because you only come up with the perfect way to say what you're trying to say after you've really gotten pretty deep into the work of writing the thing.

The magic happens during the rewrite after you've put your ideas down on paper and had some time to mentally process and clarify. Write your story out even if it seems like a rambling mess, then walk away for a while. When you pick it back up a day or two later, you'll have a much clearer idea of what the actual desired final product should look like.

Hi Terry. Thanks for the response. Ill give that a go.

 

[Socrates' Shoes]

For others with similar problems this video is an excellent guide: