This study explored college writing through the eyes of first-year technical college students between the ages of 18 and 24. Previous research indicated that negative predispositions can be mental constraints for first-year students. Lindemann and Anderson (2001) surmised that mental constraints were psychological barriers derived from years of red ink marks put on graded writing assignments by writing teachers. Educational psychologist Jennie Ormond (2009) suggested that psychological barriers were embedded in the human memory and that these lingered over many years to resurface during complex writing assignments. In the pursuit of investigating the meaning of such negative predispositions and identifying them based on students’ perceptions, the study sought adult learning strategies and classroom management practices useful for lessening the effects of students’ negative predispositions toward writing. For that purpose, two qualitative approaches were fused to shape elements for a systematic qualitative protocol. The theoretical foundation builds on constructivist perspectives, andragogy, and educational psychology. Qualtrics Online software was used to collect and analyze data. Data were sorted, sythesized, and transcribed to determine related formulated meanings to answer the central research question: What is the meaning of negative predispositions? The findings brought forth five related, and formulated themes; the meaning of negative predispositions toward writing; and information professional writing teachers can use to aid them in how to build effective writing communities in college. Lastly, the study outlines recommendations for future research.