Academic tutorial on how to write essays faster than before
In an ideal world, we would always be in a position where we could take as much time as we needed to write an essay. However, we are not, unfortunately, in an ideal world. Whatever the reasons, we sometimes need to produce essays in tight time-frames. But don’t panic! Far from being a bad thing, with a few simple tips this can actually result in good quality work. But how?
- Select a Wise Topic
- Find Sources
- Plan Each Paragraph
- Write Each Paragraph as Final
- Edit over One Day
When you have a time restriction for your paper, it is very important that you spend a little times thinking about what topic will be easiest to approach. For example, choosing a topic that is old, let’s say Shakespeare, will result in having to scour centuries of research. Choose a recent or current topic that will have limited scholarship.
Once you have done that, you have immediately reduced your workload. Now, find the most respected papers/articles/books/and thinkers in that discipline and select several (perhaps 5), citations from various perspectives.
Now build your essay around the solid framework of these sources. By planning how and when you will use them, your essay structure should come naturally, and the argument should offer itself to you!
Now, do not go charging off and writing lots of words that you will need to delete/rewrite or edit out. When you have limited time, produce high quality writing in the first draft, to reduce the need for wasted edits.
Now, the final step is to read the work as if you were a marker or examiner. Try to be objective, and if there are any problems, then change them, address them as soon as you notice them. Continue to go over your essay, many times, over the course of the day, until you are satisfied that it does what it is intended to do.
By following these tips you can reduce the time it takes to produce scholarly work, simply by reducing repetition, unnecessary editing, and unnecessary reading. Again, the most important step is step one, choosing a topic, as hitting on the right approach will lead to the best end result.