Creativity

I thought I'd post a simple update as well as pose a question. Seeing as the few who actually read our lethargic blog are immensely creative as well as some of the smartest people I know, I thought I'd pose this question:

When you have to generate it, how do you approach important writing? Do you have a process? Or is it seemingly closer to Andy Ludwig's, offensive coordinator for the Utes, process which apparently utilizes a blindfold, some darts, and a play list covered board?

I know how to write....well...mostly. I've never excelled in English classes, I guess that's why I didn't choose it as my major. Though I enjoy reading, and comprehend it, I'm slow at it. Grammar work, as well as a class sized discussion of 'what really lies inside the Heart of Darkness' was as good as NyQuil for me. Normally, when I sit and write, there is little process to it unless it's for work or for school. I have a template for engineering memos, I have a format for corporate license agreements and MTA's, but is there a proper way or process to write important, yet creatively driven and completely open-ended pieces?

The reason I posted this is I'm down to the final bullet I have to check off before a wave of my law school applications can be sent in - The Personal Statement (now is when you gasp and the dun dun dun occurs somewhere off set). It's a 2 page opportunity for an applicant to say whatever it is the admissions personnel can't glean from the rest of your application...which isn't much, by the way. The application consists of your LSAT score, your degree and cumulative undergraduate GPA, any other schooling you've completed, an extensive work history (all the way back to high school), and a one page resume that encompasses these jobs as well as any other achievements you can squeeze onto an 8x11 sheet of tree pulp while still making it readable. I've got some vague ideas I've generated for my personal statement, experiences I want to include, but is there a 'preferred' method of laying them out, tying them together and making the whole boat float, or shine? ..if you get my drift/horrible metaphor. As of now, I think I'm just goint to utilize my standard - an outline of sorts, but filling in the gaps is proving difficult.

As far as updates go, which I've thus far neglected, I'm proud to say we are alive and well...er...at least alive. I've spent this week fighting off a rather unique and bothersome virus. Rach has spent it rejoicing in the fact that 5.5 more weeks and she's out of the hardest semester she's come up against to date. I'm about 3/4 of the way done with the basic components of my applications, which will move the process to proofreading and submitting each one, and then completing a set of applications one at a time by completing all their supplemental forms. I have a list of 15 or so schools I'll be applying to. Rachel is getting her applications ready for 5 or so of my schools' PhD in Statistics/Biostatistics/Bioinformatics programs. She's incredibly busy. Otherwise, I'm neck deep in lab research, still trying to get my thesis writing moving faster, working at the technology commercialization office at the U, and I just picked up an LSAT tutor student who is getting ready for the December test. Elvis and Hanna are defiant teenagers (17 months old) who now sport their training collars all day long because they're pretty...not because I need to shock them through the window all day long because they are misbehaving ;).

I plan on posting more old updates for your entertainment as some time frees up, but I have a feeling that it's a date not prior to the date all my applications are complete.