I have until the 4th for one of my papers, thankfully, and I'm meeting with my counsellor tomorrow to see what I've done so far and to see if I should go for an extension on Friday's paper. Basically, I didn't even touch the paper today, which isn't good. And I'm starting to feel depressed and unmotivated and all that good stuff.

Yesterday (was it?), I sat down and wrote a very general outline without paragraph topics. However, I wrote what to do for each paragraph of the essay, to help organize my thoughts. I also wrote down an outline of the textbook chapter the essay is based on (which I've never read), to help me get an idea of how to attack the topic and how to link in sources.

But like shattered sanity, I have that problem of knowing what I want to say, being able to describe it out loud, but being unable to write it all down (at least for some of my papers). Maybe I should try saying my essay out loud and see how much I actually know about the topic.

The worst part for me, the one that keeps screwing me over, is when my mind completely blanks out. Like, completely. I have no idea what I want to say or to write or how to write, and my fingers seem incapable of hitting the keys on the keyboard. I wonder if scribbling things on paper, without the benefit of a delete button, will help.

Oh, and I did ask about what to write for that essay the day of the original deadline. I'm surprised how well he took it and just explained it to me (he doesn't always seem like the most approachable person). So it's much clearer to me, but still troublesome.

Thanks, folks. I appreciate the replies.