Daedalus: To answer your question about whether or not there are recommendation forms, free hand essay...
The way I did it to ensure that 1)the letter covered all the things I wanted highlighted from my life, and 2)it was tailored and not some generic piece of work, this is what I did. I decided who I wanted my letters from. Once that was decided, I created a unique outline for each of the people to use. For my professor, I outlined all my educational achievements (high school and college) and all the volunteer work I've done. For my coworkers, I outlined all professional experience, knowlegde/skills, and all the high work ethics I have. For my military LOR from an O5 Marine, I simply let him write at his discretion.
The good thing about outlining your own letters is that it takes a lot of the guess work out of the process for those writing them. More than likely, those you're contacting to get LOR's from are fairly busy and might not give the proper attention to your LOR. Let's face it, these are extremely important to our package, so they need to be as well written as possible. This way you know what is being written to a certain extent, you're providing useful facts about yourself, and you're highlighting what you want put foward. Those writing have the needed information at their finger tips and can really tailor your letter how they see fit.
My letters were pretty good...but we'll see if they're good enough!!! Keep your fingers crossed, and GOOD LUCK TO YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE!