how to learn an essay in an hour

How to memorise essays and long responses

Lauren Condon

Marketing Specialist at Atomi

When it comes to memorising essays or long responses for your exams, there are three big things to consider.

• Should you even try to memorise an essay?
• Do you know how to adapt your memorised response to the exam question?
• How on earth are you meant to memorise a 1,200 word essay??

It’s a lot to weigh up but we can help you out here. If you want an answer to the first question, here’s one we prepared earlier. But wait, there’s more! If you’re super keen to read more about question #2, then go ahead and click here .

And for that third point on how to actually memorise a long essay? Well, all you have to do is keep reading...

1. Break it down

Your essay/long response/creative writing piece could be anywhere between 800 and 1,200 words long. Yeah… that’s a lot. So when it comes to memorising the whole thing, it’s a lot easier to break the answer down into logical chunks and work on memorising it bit by bit.

So if you want to memorise your Discovery Essay, you might have something like this:

• Introduction
• Theme 1 with the assigned text
• Theme 1 with the related text
• Theme 2 with the assigned text
• Theme 2 with the related text

You’re going to want to memorise the paragraphs and pay attention to the structure then you can piece it all together in the exam. Having a killer structure makes it a lot easier to remember the overall bones of this situation and if you’re finding this effective, you can even break those body paragraphs down further like topic sentence > example > explanation > connection to thesis.

2. Use memory tricks

Now, there are lots of different strategies and approaches when it comes to memorising a long piece of writing. Moving in sections, you can try reading it out loud over again (slowly looking at the paper less and less) or the classic look-cover-write-check approach. If you’re really struggling, make some of your own flashcards that have the first sentence on one side and the next sentence on the back so you can test your progress.

You could also enlist the help of some creative mnemonics (memory tricks) to remind you which sentence or section needs to come next. Pick one keyword from each sentence in the paragraph and turn them into a silly sentence to help you remember the structure of the paragraph and to make sure you don’t forget one of your awesome points.

3. Play to your strengths

Not all of us are super geniuses that can just read an essay and then memorise the entire thing but we’re all going to have our own strengths. There’s going to be something whether it’s art, music, writing, performance or sport that just ‘clicks’ in your brain and this is what you want to capitalise on. So for me, I was really into debating and public speaking (hold back the jokes please) and was used to giving speeches and remembering them. So whenever I wanted to memorise a long response, I would write out the essay onto palm cards and then practice it out loud like a speech. Did it annoy my family? Yes. Was I too embarrassed to tell people my strategy? Yes. Did it work? Absolutely. 💯

Whatever your strengths are, find a way to connect them to your essay and come up with a creative way of learning your long response that will be much easier and more effective for you!

4. Start early

So you know how there’s that whole long-term/short-term memory divide? Yeah well that’s going to be pretty relevant when it comes to memorising. You’re going to have a much better chance of remembering your long response if you start early and practice it often, instead of trying to cram it in the night before… sorry.

The good news is, you still have a couple of months before the HSC so try to get your prepared response written, get good feedback from your teachers and then make it perfect so it’s ready to go for the HSC. Then, the next step is to start memorising the essay now and test yourself on it fairly regularly all the way up to your exams. This way, you have plenty of time to really lock it deep into your memory.

5. Test yourself

The final and maybe even most important step is to test yourself. And not with flashcards or the look-cover-check-repeat anymore. Once you’ve got the essay memorised pretty well, you want to spend the weeks coming up to HSC doing past questions so you can practice

• Having the essay memorised
• Being able to recall it under pressure
• Adapting it to any question so that all your hard work will actually pay off

For this to work, you really need to commit 100% to exam conditions (no cheating!) and it’s definitely worth sending those responses to your teacher to get them marked. That way, you will actually know if you’re doing a good job of remembering the core of your argument but also tailoring it perfectly to the question.

Any subject with essays or long responses can be super daunting so if you want to have a pre-written, adaptable response ready to go then it’s worth making sure you can actually memorise it for your exam. Remember to break down the essay into sections, play to your memory strengths and make sure you consistently test yourself all the way up to HSC. That should do the trick. 👌

Published on

July 28, 2017

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How to Memorise an Entire Essay or Speech

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How to memorise a complete essay or speech

Christmas and New year is over and for some there looms the prospect of mid  term exams. A lot of these exams will be closed book exams. A closed  book exam tests your knowledge and memory of a subject. One of the ways  in which some students prepare is to actively learn the subject areas and also  look at past questions and anticipate a question which might come up. At  the moment my wife is studying for exams in which she is actively learning  her subjects and also she has written 3 x 500 word essays on the three areas  of study.

Together we have come up with a system which means that she can memorise a  500 word essay in 1 day and 3 x 500 word essays in 3 days. Together with  actively learning the subject she is confident that she has prepared well.

In this article I will show you the system we came up with to memorise 1500 words verbatim. Sound hard? It is actually quite easy and is a system I used when at university studying for my psychology degree for 2 x 1000 word essays.

This method can also be used for memorising any kind of written work or speech.

Before you begin

Before you begin this it is important to actually believe that you can memorise  a complete essay or speech whether it be 500 words or 2000 words. When  I first suggested using this method to my wife she said that she would never  be able to memorise an essay word for word.

Once she got over this and started telling herself that she could do it we started.

Active learning

First off, this method of memorising an essay should not be substituted for  actively learning a subject. Active learning is when you read, not skim,  the subject area and take note of the key points. Cross reading is also  very good for active learning. This is when you read books on the subjects  by different authors. Some authors are not good at getting information across  so cross reading is an excellent way learning.

The method for memorising an essay or speech.

You will need to write out the essay or speech first. Treat this part  of the process as if you were writing an essay to hand in for marking by your  lecturer. In other words make sure it is worthy of memorising.

When you have written the essay make sure it is grammatically correct as you will be memorising every comma and full stop.

When you are sure you have a good essay or speech print it off and mark down  the left margin the number of paragraphs e.g. if you have 6 paragraphs write  at the side of each paragraph the numbers 1 "“ 6. In the right hand  margin write the number of sentences in each paragraph. This is the first  part of the memorisation process.

A quiet place to study

Now, make sure you have quiet space to be able to read, walk and vocalise  your essay. When you are sure you will not be interrupted you can start.

With your printed essay start walking and reading out loud the essay or speech. When  you have read it out loud a few times go back to the first sentence and read  it out loud. Then read it again and again until you have memorised it. When  you are confident you have memorised it word for word go on to the next sentence. When  you have memorised the second sentence, whilst walking vocalise the first two  sentences without looking at your printed essay. If you are okay  with this go on to do the same with your 3rd sentence and so on until you have  memorised your first full paragraph. This can take anywhere between 15 "“ 45  depending on motivation, alertness, quietness etc.

The reason I ask you to walk is to keep your blood flowing whilst memorising. If  you are sitting down you might nod off, by walking it will prevent you from  nodding off. I find walking up and down an excellent way to concentrate  on reading.

Keep reading, and vocalising your essay or speech until you have memorised  it completely. When you are confident of having memorised it. Vocalise  it without looking at your printed sheet. If you get it right, do it  again, and if you get it right a second time reward yourself with a cup of  tea or coffee or whatever is your want and leave it for a few hours.

When a few hours have passed go back to the essay, read it out loud whilst  walking and looking at the printed sheet and then try to memorise it again.

Once you are confident that you have memorised it completely, at the bottom  of the page write down the first few words of each sentence of your essay,  separated by a comma, and number each line for each paragraph. When you  have done that put in the number of sentences at the end of the list and bracket  it.

For example if I was writing out the first few words of this article for the  first 3 paragraphs it would look like this;

• Christmas and New year, A lot of, A closed book, One of the, At the moment (5)
• Together we have, Together with actively (2)
• In this article, sound hard? (2)

Now what you should do is only look at the list at the bottom of the paper  and read out from that whilst walking. This way you are only looking  at the first few words and finishing the sentence without looking at it. If  you get stuck just go back to the main essay and look at it, until you have  got it completely.

Now memorise the bottom of the sheet of paper with the first few words of  the essay and how many sentences are in each paragraph. This should only  take 10-15 minutes at the most.

This sounds a very convoluted way of memorising an essay but it is a lot easier  than it reads here.

Time taken to memorise

You should be able to memorise a full 500 word essay in about  3 hours, for your first time, using the above method. When you are practiced  you should be able to memorise a 500 word essay in about 60 "“ 90 minutes.

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You may also like, 50 jobs that ai will replace in the next 5 years, what is the tinkerbell effect, discover your emotional intelligence, the love language quiz will reveal your true self, the esm method of goal setting, 7 things you don't want to learn too late in life, about the author, steven aitchison.

Steven Aitchison is the author of The Belief Principle and an online trainer teaching personal development and online business.  He is also the creator of this blog which has been running since August 2006.

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How to Write an Essay in an Hour: Time Management Secrets for Busy Students

Learn the secrets of writing an essay in just an hour with our comprehensive guide. Uncover time management techniques tailored for busy students, helping you to maximize productivity and conquer tight deadlines. Discover the strategies that will empower you to succeed under pressure.

• By: Emily Smith

Introduction:

The need for time management in essay writing

You may often need more time to complete essays and other writing assignments as a student. Time management is an essential skill, especially in essay writing. When you manage your time effectively, you can focus on the task and produce higher-quality work. In today's fast-paced world, learning to write an essay in just an hour can be a valuable skill that helps you stay on top of your academic responsibilities and reduces stress (APA, 2013).

Benefits of completing an essay in an hour:

Completing an essay in an hour offers several benefits for busy students:

• It allows you to maximize your limited time and balance your academic workload with other responsibilities, such as part-time jobs, extracurricular activities, or family obligations.
• Writing efficiently can help you develop better writing habits and overall writing skills.
• Completing an essay quickly can boost your confidence and self-esteem, making you feel more capable and in control of your academic success. 

Understanding the Assignment:

What is the prompt asking you to do?

To write an essay in an hour, it is crucial to understand the prompt and what it asks you to do. Please take a few minutes to read the instructions carefully and break them down into smaller tasks. Identify the main goal of the essay, such as explaining a concept, arguing a point, or comparing two ideas. Knowing the purpose will help you stay focused and organized, which is essential for completing the essay quickly.

Key factors to consider before starting

Before starting your essay, consider key factors that can help you write more efficiently:

• Determine the essay's structure, which may be dictated by the prompt or your preference. A clear structure will make organizing your thoughts and writing easier.
• Consider any citation requirements or specific formatting, as these can affect the time it takes to complete the essay.
• Consider your essay's target audience and the appropriate tone, language, and style.
• These factors will help you write an effective essay in just an hour.

Efficient Brainstorming Techniques:

How can you brainstorm ideas quickly?

To brainstorm ideas quickly, try the following strategies: First, set a timer for 5-10 minutes to encourage fast thinking (Gardner, 2014). Then, jot down any ideas that come to mind without worrying about their quality or relevance. This process, called "free-writing," helps you access your creativity and bypass the tendency to overthink (Graham & Perin, 2007). Additionally, asking yourself open-ended questions about the essay topic can stimulate new ideas and perspectives.

Mind mapping: A visual approach to brainstorming

Mind mapping is a visual brainstorming technique that can help you generate and organize ideas quickly. To create a mind map:

• Write your essay topic in the center of a page.
• Draw lines radiating outward from the central topic, and write down related ideas, keywords, or questions along these lines.
• Connect these ideas using additional lines and subtopics.
• This process allows you to see the relationships between ideas and develop a clear structure for your essay.

Crafting a Strong Thesis Statement:

What is a thesis statement, and why is it important?

A thesis statement is a single sentence presenting your essay's main argument or point (University of North Carolina Writing Center, n.d.). It serves as a roadmap, guiding the reader through your argument and informing them of what to expect. A strong thesis statement is clear, concise, and specific, enabling you to effectively convey your ideas and keep your essay focused and well-organized (Purdue University Online Writing Lab, n.d.).

Creating a strong thesis statement in minutes

To create a strong thesis statement in minutes, start by identifying the main idea of your essay and the supporting points or arguments you will make. Then, combine these elements into a single, clear sentence. For example, suppose your essay is about the benefits of exercise. In that case, your thesis statement might be: "Regular exercise promotes mental and physical health by reducing stress, improving mood, and lowering the risk of chronic diseases." Remember to keep your thesis statement specific and focused, as this will help you maintain clarity and direction throughout your essay (Purdue University Online Writing Lab, n.d.).

Creating a Time-Saving Outline:

How can you create an outline in a short time?

Creating an outline quickly is possible if you follow a few simple steps:

• Write down your thesis statement.
• List the main points you want to discuss in your essay. For each point, jot down a few supporting details or examples. This will help you see the structure of your essay more clearly.
• Arrange your points in a logical order, such as from least to most important or chronologically.

Review your outline to ensure it makes sense and flows smoothly.

Following these steps, you can quickly create an effective outline to help you write your essay more efficiently.

Structuring your essay for success:

To structure your essay for success:

• Follow a standard format that includes an introduction, body, and conclusion.
• In the introduction, grab the reader's attention with a hook, introduce your topic, and present your thesis statement.
• In the body, organize your main points into separate paragraphs, each discussing one point and providing supporting details or examples.
• Make sure your paragraphs are logically connected and transition smoothly from one to the next.
• In conclusion, restate your thesis, summarize your main points, and leave the reader with a lasting impression or a call to action.
• This basic structure can create a well-organized essay that effectively communicates your ideas.

Writing the Introduction:

How can you grab the reader's attention?

To grab the reader's attention, start your introduction with a hook. A hook can be a surprising fact, a thought-provoking question, a relevant quote, or a brief anecdote related to your topic. It should be engaging and make the reader want to continue reading your essay. For example, suppose you are writing about the importance of recycling. In that case, you might start with a statistic about the yearly waste produced. Remember to keep your hook brief and relevant to your topic.

Incorporating your thesis statement

After capturing the reader's attention with a hook, incorporate your thesis statement into your introduction. The thesis statement should be clear, concise, and specific, outlining your essay's main argument or point. It should be placed at the end of your introduction paragraph. For example, suppose your essay is about the benefits of exercise. In that case, your thesis statement might be, "Regular exercise leads to improved physical health, mental well-being, and increased productivity." By including your thesis statement in the introduction, you provide the reader with a clear understanding of the purpose of your essay and what to expect from your argument.

Developing the Body Paragraphs:

How can you write effective body paragraphs efficiently?

To write effective body paragraphs efficiently:

• Focus on one main point per paragraph.
• Start with a clear topic sentence introducing the main point, then provide supporting details and evidence.
• Keep each paragraph focused and organized, and avoid including unrelated information.

Using the PEEL (Point, Evidence, Explanation, Link) method for speedy writing:

The PEEL method can help you write body paragraphs quickly (de Kleijn et al., 2018). Start with a Point (your main argument), followed by evidence (facts, statistics, examples), an Explanation (connecting the evidence to the point), and a Link (connecting the paragraph to the thesis statement). By following this structured approach, you can maintain focus and coherence in your writing (de Kleijn et al., 2018).

Tips for maintaining focus and coherence in your writing

Keep your paragraphs organized and connected to the thesis statement to maintain focus and coherence. Use clear topic sentences and transitions between paragraphs to guide the reader through your argument. Additionally, refrain from introducing unrelated ideas or going off tangents, which can confuse the reader and weaken your essay.

Crafting a Compelling Conclusion:

How can you write a conclusion that leaves an impact?

To write a conclusion that leaves an impact:

• Restate your thesis statement and concisely summarize your main points.
• Provide a final thought or call to action that encourages the reader to consider the implications of your argument.
• Make your conclusion memorable by using strong language and clear, powerful statements.

Summarizing your main points effectively

To summarize your main points effectively, briefly revisit each of the key arguments made in your essay. Focus on the most important aspects of your argument and avoid introducing new information in the conclusion. Use clear and concise language to remind the reader of your main points and reinforce your thesis statement.

Editing and Proofreading Tips:

Why is editing and proofreading crucial even in a time crunch?

Even in a time crunch, editing and proofreading are crucial because they help you catch errors and improve the clarity of your writing (Harvard College Writing Center, n.d.). By allocating a few minutes to review your essay, you ensure that your ideas are communicated effectively and that your essay is free from mistakes that may distract your reader or undermine your argument (Harvard College Writing Center, n.d.).

Common errors to watch out for

When editing and proofreading, watch out for common spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2020). Additionally, check for consistency in your argument, clarity or awkward phrasing, and incorrect use of vocabulary. By addressing these issues, you can enhance the overall quality of your essay and make it more engaging for your reader (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2020).

Time Management Strategies for Busy Students:

How can you improve your overall time management skills?

To improve your time management skills:

• Start by setting specific goals and breaking them into smaller tasks (Dartmouth College, n.d.).
• Create a schedule to allocate time for each task and avoid procrastination by setting deadlines.
• Prioritize tasks based on their importance and deadlines, and learn to say no to distractions (Dartmouth College, n.d.).

Resources and tools to help manage your time more effectively

There are various resources and tools to help you manage your time effectively. Online calendars, like Google Calendar, can help you organize your schedule and set reminders for important tasks (Google, n.d.). Time management apps like Todoist and Trello can help you create to-do lists and track progress (Todoist, n.d.). Additionally, resources like Pomodoro Technique and time blocking can assist you in breaking your work into focused intervals (Cirillo, 2021).

Conclusion:

In this guide, you learned the importance of time management in writing and how to complete an essay in an hour. You can write your essay quickly by understanding the assignment, brainstorming efficiently, crafting a strong thesis statement, creating a time-saving outline, and writing a compelling introduction, body, and conclusion. Also, remember the importance of editing, proofreading, and effective time management strategies.

Remember, practice makes perfect. The more you apply these time management secrets in your essay writing, the better you will become at completing essays quickly. Stay confident, keep learning, and always strive to improve your skills. With time and effort, you will master writing an essay in an hour.

SUGGESTED READINGS:

Bolker, J. (1998). Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis . Holt Paperbacks.

This book offers practical advice on managing time and overcoming writing obstacles, specifically for students working on long-term projects like dissertations. Still, the principles can be applied to essay writing as well.

Tracy, B. (2017). Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time . Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

This book provides actionable strategies for overcoming procrastination and improving time management skills, which can be applied to essay writing and other academic tasks.

Hutchison, H. (2013). Essays and Dissertations Made Easy : Flash. Hodder Education.

This guide offers tips and techniques for writing essays and dissertations, including structuring, researching, and managing time effectively.

Leith, S. (2018). Write to the Point: How to be Clear, Correct, and Persuasive on the Page . Profile Books.

This book teaches how to write clearly and persuasively, focusing on structure and language, which can help students write an effective essay within a short time frame.

Pychyl, T. A. (2013). Solving the Procrastination Puzzle: A Concise Guide to Strategies for Change . TarcherPerigee.

This guide provides practical solutions to overcome procrastination and improve productivity, which can be particularly helpful for students aiming to write essays in a limited time.

WORK CITED:

APA. (2013). Stress in America: Are Teens Adopting Adults' Stress Habits? American Psychological Association. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2013/stress-report.pdf 

Cirillo, F. (2021). The Pomodoro Technique. Retrieved from https://francescocirillo.com/pages/pomodoro-technique 

Dartmouth College. (n.d.). Time Management. Retrieved from https://students.dartmouth.edu/academic-skills/learning-resources/time-management 

de Kleijn, R., Mainhard, T., Meijer, P. C., Pilot, A., & Brekelmans, M. (2018). The development of an instrument to analyze the use of the PEEL method for writing argumentative essays. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(7), 1072-1083. 

Gardner, J. (2014). The Importance of Writing. In J. Gardner (Ed.), Becoming a Successful Early Career Researcher (pp. 57–69). New York: Routledge. 

Google. (n.d.). Google Calendar. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/calendar 

Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). Writing Next: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and High Schools. Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED497746.pdf 

Harvard College Writing Center. (n.d.). Editing the Essay, Part One. Retrieved from https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/editing-essay-part-one 

Purdue University Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Tips and Examples for Writing Thesis Statements. Retrieved from https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/the_writing_process/thesis_statement_tips.html 

Todoist. (n.d.). Todoist: The to-do list to organize work & life. Retrieved from https://todoist.com/ 

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (2020). Editing and Proofreading. Retrieved from https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/ 

University of North Carolina Writing Center. (n.d.). Thesis Statements. Retrieved from https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/thesis-statements/

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9 Tips to Ace That Timed Essay

Exams are almost upon us, and a familiar sense of foreboding has settled over the campus. One exam element that can be particularly intimidating for some students is the timed essay: an exam question which demands a full essay on a topic that is typically revealed for the first time during the test. While these kinds of questions may seem scary, there are plenty of ways to make them easy for yourself. Read on for tips about how to prepare in advance of the exam and how to approach timed essays before, during, and after the writing process.

While Preparing for the Exam: Become familiar with the course content. If the professor hasn’t told you in advance what a timed essay prompt will be, it can be intimidating to think that you will have to write about a subject you’ve never seen before. However, this thinking process does not reflect the reality of the situation. In fact, even if your teacher hasn’t given you any hints about the essay question, you do know what it will be about: the concepts and ideas you’ve discussed in the course. Therefore, if you take the time to review your notes and ensure you understand everything that was discussed, it should be difficult for the essay question to catch you off guard. As soon as you read the question, relevant course concepts will start popping into your head, and you’ll just have to organize them into a coherent essay. Start planning if you can. Although the situation described above sometimes occurs, it’s also very common for professors to give their students a fairly detailed idea of what an essay question will involve in advance of the test day. (After all, professors want to mark high-quality essays written by well-prepared students!) This heads-up gives you a great chance to prepare for the exam. If you have the time, consider mapping out a possible essay in point form before the day of the exam arrives. Consider practicing writing under time pressure. You’ve probably written dozens of essays before--the only thing that sets a timed essay apart is that it’s timed. Students often struggle to complete the full essay within the time constraints, particularly if they have to write longhand when they’re accustomed to working on the computer. For this reason, it can be helpful to simulate the conditions of a timed exam before the actual day: pick a practice question, find some lined paper, set a stopwatch, and see how you do! Before You Start Writing: Read the question carefully. The most critical part of the essay-writing process actually happens before you write your first word. When you flip to the essay question, make sure you read it as carefully as you can, noting the difference between words such as ‘contrast’ and ‘analyze’ and highlighting any details which the professor specifically instructs you to include. It’s not uncommon for excellent essays to receive low marks because the student answered a question other than the one that was asked. Make a clear and specific plan. Some students react to the time pressure of essay exams by scribbling down their introduction as soon as they’ve read the question and figuring out their points as they go. While it might seem counter-intuitive, taking five or ten minutes before you start writing in order to draw up a plan will be an enormous time saver. Decide on your thesis, the topic of each paragraph, and the arguments which you intend to cover, then jot down some quick point-form notes. This process won’t take long, and, once you complete it, all that’s left will be to expand those notes into a well-organized essay. Without a clear plan, you run the risk of realizing partway through that you’ve drifted off topic or written yourself into a corner, and fixing these mistakes will consume a ton of extra time. Schedule a set time for each paragraph. On the topic of planning, it’s important to sketch out an idea of how long you want to spend on each section of your essay. (If you know the number of paragraphs you’ll need to write ahead of time, you can do this before the exam even starts!) Take note of the amount of time allotted for the exam and split it into reasonably-sized segments, leaving some time at the end for revision if possible. Without a schedule to follow, it’s easy to become too focused on a single paragraph and run out of time to finish the essay. While You’re Writing: Write clearly and double-space. This tip may seem basic, but it’s easy to forget and it can make a big difference. Both these measures won’t just make it easier for the marker to read your paper; they'll also help you write it. If you have time left at the end of the exam for review, having the ability to skim quickly through your work and write revisions in blank spaces will be incredibly helpful.

Keep yourself on schedule.  Remember the paragraph-based schedule we discussed above? It’ll be useless if you don’t do regular check-ins during the exam. Keep an eye on the clock to ensure you’re always on track. If you realize that you’re falling dangerously behind schedule, it might be necessary to cut some arguments or examples you planned to include. Although making these omissions can be painful, it’s better to leave out a few points from one section than to leave out an entire paragraph because you ran out of time. Don’t worry too much about editing and revision before you finish. When composing essays, many students stop and read over each paragraph once they finish it, making sure that it’s well-written and free of errors before advancing to the next one. This approach is entirely logical when there’s no time pressure involved, but it can actually work against you during an exam. Perfecting paragraphs is a time-consuming process, and, if you spend too much time editing before the essay is finished, you might have to rush through the last few sections or leave them out entirely. For this reason, it’s best to focus on producing a complete first draft before you worry about edits and revisions.

After You’ve Finished Writing: Re-read the question and ensure you’ve addressed all parts. The most important part of writing an essay exam is ensuring that you’re answering the question was posed. Even if you made sure you were interpreting everything correctly before you began, you may have forgotten to address a subquestion or integrate an example as you were writing. Before you submit, read the prompt again and make sure your completed essay matches up! Edit if you have time. If you have enough time left over, read your essay again and make corrections. When you’re working under time pressure, it’s easy to make grammar mistakes or produce hard-to-follow sentences; the final few minutes are your chance to clean up those errors. Unless if you finished way ahead of schedule, don’t worry about major revisions like reorganizing the structure of the essay--it’s better to hand in an essay with an imperfect structure than a paper that’s impossible to follow because you had to stop halfway through the revision process.

Remember to have the right perspective. Once you hand your exam to the professor, relax! It’s easy to work yourself up after an essay exam when you didn’t get the chance to read your work over or you feel like your arguments were weak. However, it’s important to keep in mind that your professor understands the circumstances under which the essay was written. They’re fully aware of the time pressure you were dealing with, and they will judge your work far differently than they would judge a typical essay with a deadline set weeks after the assignment date. If you did your best to write a complete, clear, and insightful essay within the time allotted, you should have nothing to worry about. Best of luck during the upcoming exam season!

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• How to Write a College Essay Fast | Tips & Examples

How to Write a College Essay Fast | Tips & Examples

Published on November 5, 2021 by Kirsten Courault . Revised on December 8, 2023.

Table of contents

Organize: set yourself deadlines with breaks, brainstorm: your values and related stories, outline: choose a montage or narrative essay structure, write: be specific, personal, and unique, revise: content, clarity, and grammar, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

Whether you have hours, days, or weeks, set deadlines for yourself with built-in breaks. In general, you should divide your time accordingly:

• 10% brainstorming
• 10% outlining
• 40% writing
• 30% revising
• 10% taking breaks between stages

If you have a few hours …

If you have a few days …

If you have a week …

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To brainstorm your topic fast, start by doing the following exercises.

Choose the stories that have the most compelling value or narrative. Make sure these stories are:

• Meaningful to you
• Specific (not a broad summary of your life)
• Unique to you (another student couldn’t replicate it)

If you have a single story that showcases how you overcame a challenge or chronicles your personal growth over time, you should use a narrative structure . This type of essay tells a story, usually in chronological order. If you have very limited time, this structure is easier.

If there’s a common theme among several of your stories, you could use a montage structure , which strings together several stories (for example, to showcase different aspects of your identity). If you have more than a few hours to work on your essay, you may want to try out this structure.

To make your essay stand out , write your story in a way that no other student can replicate. As you write, keep these tips in mind:

• Zoom in on specific moments rather than summarizing a long period of time.
• Be vulnerable and share your honest feelings and thoughts.
• Use your authentic voice and an appropriate tone .
• Keep the focus on you, not another person.
• Describe sensory details to create vivid scenes.

Make sure to build in enough time to revise your essay . Ideally, you should aim for three rounds of revision to check for content, clarity, and grammar.

If you don’t have time to fix everything, focus on making sure your writing is clear and grammatically correct. You can do this with the help of a grammar checker and paraphrasing tool . If you want to check your entire document at once, you can use an essay checker .

In your first reading, focus on content:

• Does it answer the prompt?
• Does it focus on me, not someone else?
• Does it have a clear and well-structured narrative?
• Do my stories “show, not tell”?

In your second reading, focus on clarity and flow:

• Is my essay easy to read?
• Are my word choice and tone conversational but respectful?
• Do I have a good mixture of complex and simple sentence structures?

In your third reading, focus on grammar and punctuation:

• Is my writing grammatically correct?
• If I bend language rules, is it clear that it’s intentional and not a mistake?

If you have time, get help from an essay coach or editor; they’ll have specialized knowledge of college admissions essays and be able to give objective expert feedback. Scribbr essay editors can help you revise your essay in 12 hours or less.

Meeting the word count

If your college essay goes over the word count limit , cut any sentences with tangents or irrelevant details. Delete unnecessary words that clutter your essay. Scribbr’s essay editors can also help reduce your word count by up to 25%.

If you’re struggling to reach the word count for your college essay, add vivid personal stories or share your feelings and insight to give your essay more depth and authenticity.

If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Academic writing

• Writing process
• Transition words
• Passive voice
• Paraphrasing

 Communication

• How to end an email
• Ms, mrs, miss
• How to start an email
• I hope this email finds you well
• Hope you are doing well

 Parts of speech

• Personal pronouns
• Conjunctions

If you’ve got to write your college essay fast , don’t panic. First, set yourself deadlines: you should spend about 10% of your remaining time on brainstorming, 10% on outlining, 40% writing, 30% revising, and 10% taking breaks in between stages.

Second, brainstorm stories and values based on your essay prompt.

Third, outline your essay based on the montage or narrative essay structure .

Fourth, write specific, personal, and unique stories that would be hard for other students to replicate.

Fifth, revise your essay and make sure it’s clearly written.

Last, if possible, get feedback from an essay coach . Scribbr essay editors can help you revise your essay in 12 hours or less.

If your college essay goes over the word count limit , cut any sentences with tangents or irrelevant details. Delete unnecessary words that clutter your essay.

When revising your college essay , first check for big-picture issues regarding your message and content. Then, check for flow, tone, style , and clarity. Finally, focus on eliminating grammar and punctuation errors .

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Courault, K. (2023, December 08). How to Write a College Essay Fast | Tips & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved September 3, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/college-essay/write-essay-fast/

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• How to Study if You Only Have an Hour, a Day, a Week or a Month

If you’ve just learned that you have a spot test tomorrow, you’d be ill-advised to start writing a revision timetable (though if you do, that’s an impressive level of procrastination). If you’ve got exams in a couple of months, you won’t find it very sustainable to grab your notes and start consuming facts at random. You have to plan for the time you have available to you. Different lengths of run-up appeal to different people’s strengths, and you can’t always count on your preferred revision techniques complementing the time available to you.

Yes, ideally you’d always know when a test was coming and be able to plan for it, but real life doesn’t work like that. It might be that your teacher announces something last-minute, or unexpected circumstances mean that an exam has to be brought forwards. Or – admit it – you might just end up forgetting about the exam until it’s too close for comfort. Alternatively, you might be someone who tends to opt for last-minute study over the slow-and-steady approach, and you’d like to learn how to make the most of the time you have rather than slacking off and then pulling an all-nighter. In this article, we’re going to take a look at how to make the most of the study time you have available to you, whether it’s a lot, a little, or scarcely any time at all.

Well. An hour isn’t a whole lot of time to study. If you’re in this position, you might be tempted to spend a good chunk of time getting annoyed with whoever put you in it, whether that’s yourself (by procrastinating) or your teacher (by not giving you enough time to study). And that’s reasonable. But given the limited time you have, it’s probably best to save that annoyance until after the test is over, and take the time now to concentrate on some hardcore cramming.

Start with the essentials. If you’re revising for a science subject, are there any formulae you need to know? Equations? Do you need to remind yourself of what the graph of a quadratic function looks like? (It’s a parabola, in case you found this article by googling that). Do you need to remind yourself of what a parabola is? (Like a smoothed-out V shape, ditto). If it’s English Literature, time to remind yourself of the names of authors and their characters; you will be deeply embarrassed if you end up writing about the great nineteenth-century novel  Charlotte Bronte , by Jane Eyre. If it’s History, checking dates and monarchs for the relevant time period is a good place to begin. This should take you maybe 10 minutes. If looking over the essentials takes you longer than that, then forget the rest of this and commit the hour just to relearning the basics, as you clearly don’t have the knowledge easily to hand and at least then you’ll have some bare bones to bluff with. Assuming you can refresh the bare necessities reasonably quickly, it’s time to think ahead to what you might be asked. You don’t need to write anything down here, unless it helps as a memory aid; just think through what kind of questions you’re expecting will come up. Chances are there’ll be some that you’re comfortable with, some that you’re lost on, and some that you think, “hmm, I wouldn’t be delighted if that came up, but I’d give it a shot.” It’s tempting to cram wildly for the things you’re lost on, but resist: it’s too late for that an hour before the exam. Instead, focus on the things that you could do, but aren’t comfortable with. If you have any freedom to choose between questions, this is likely to reward you because it increases the pool of questions you’re comfortable with. Focusing on the things you really struggle with will a) only increase the number of questions you’re only borderline happy with and b) leave you feeling panicked that you don’t know anything, shortly before you go into the exam.

Read over the material you’re a little unsure of, making mental notes of anything that strikes you (as this will be fresh in your mind in the exam, and therefore likely to make an appearance in your answers). With ten minutes left, go over those essentials once again. Then drink some water, make sure you have enough working pens, take a deep breath, and go for it.

A day might feel like far too little time for proper revision, but there’s actually quite a lot you can do with it. This is enough time that it’s worth planning what you do with it. First of all, remind yourself that a standard working day is eight hours long. Unless you’ve been slacking off all year until this point, it’s best to stick to eight hours of work and take the rest of the time to eat, sleep and relax, or fatigue and hunger will undo all your good work by the time you get into the exam hall. Give yourself regular breaks, and a solid chunk of time for lunch. And switch your mobile phone off.

As with just an hour to go, start by going over the essential facts. But this time, take the time to write them down, neatly, so you can glance over them again in the morning. Then write out the list of topics you might be expected to tackle, and grade them: green are the things you’d be comfortable with, yellow is so-so, red is scary. With a whole day to spend, you can take the time to familiarise yourself with the exam, not just the topics. Your next step should be to find a past paper (or in the case of subjects where this works, write yourself an essay title) that consists as much as possible of yellow topics; as with an hour of study, these are the ones where you have room to make gains. Do the past paper under proper exam conditions, mark it, and adjust your green/yellow/red scoring accordingly. The next steps will vary according the style of study that suits you. You might want to do this a couple of times over to work through more of your yellow topics (this works best for exams that are an hour or less), or you might want to go over all of your yellow-topic notes. Even if you have a full day, however, there’s not much point in tackling red topics unless you’re certain you can’t afford them on the exam. If that’s the case, aim low; you’re not going to get full marks in a red topic on a day’s study, but you might be able to get yourself to passing level. There’s no point in piling the pressure on at this stage.

You’ll probably be tired and fed up of studying after lunch, so for the hour straight after you’ve eaten, pick something more dynamic to do than just reading and taking notes. This could be another past paper, or it could be getting someone else to quiz you – just so long as it’s hard to doze off while you’re doing it. And if you’re feeling particularly nervous, round off the day by going over the essentials again, and then doing half an hour of work on a green topic (especially if it’s one that’s very likely to be on the exam). A day of intense study can be disheartening, but finishing it by reminding yourself how good your work can be will put you in the right, confident frame of mind ahead of the next day.

This is starting to feel like a useful amount of time for studying. You might have a week’s revision time between two exams during your GCSEs or A-levels, or perhaps a particularly unkind teacher has scheduled an internal exam for straight after you get back from half term. Either way, you can make some real progress in a week.

You know the drill by now: start by making a note of the essential things that you cannot go into the exam without knowing. Given you have more time, instead of just writing down whatever comes into your head, try to fill one A4 page with this information, at a reasonable size font or handwriting (i.e. don’t try to cram everything in there). Reread this at the start and end of every day, then cover it and try to rewrite it. By the morning of the fourth day, you should have it memorised. Then list out your topics, and colour-code. If you have a relatively short number of topics, you’ll be tempted to make it straightforward and spend a day or half a day focusing exclusively on each topic before moving on to the next, but this is a recipe for becoming exceptionally bored. Instead, use your colour-coding, and try to achieve an even balance of focus on green, yellow and red topics each day. Use past papers and similar forms of revision that are directly relevant to the exam for green and yellow topics, and structure your day so that times when your concentration is good are dedicated to red topics, and times when you might struggle to concentrate (at the end of the day, or just after lunch) are when you look at green and yellow topics. And you should be spending about twice as much time on red topics as green ones.

As with a day of revision, make sure you stick to a reasonable working day (eight hours is good), with proper breaks, regular meals and lots of sleep. A week of just revision is very hard work, so try to relax in the time when you’re not studying.

It’s rare ever to get a month of solid study, at least in the British education system until you reach university level. Over the course of a month (even if you only have a couple of hours every evening, rather than a whole 30 days) you can make a serious dent in most subjects. In fact, it’s long enough that one of the main problems you might face with this study period is that by the time you get to the end of it, you’ll have forgotten what you learned at the start.

Here’s how to avoid that. Don’t think about your month of study as thirty equal-sized days. Think of it as three weeks + one week. For three weeks, you work like a scholar, trying to get a true understanding of your subject. For one week, you work like someone who has an exam in a week’s time. Start with (surprise, surprise) writing out a list of the topics you’ll have to cover. No colour-coding just yet (that comes later) but instead, spend time compiling a factsheet on each of them. This should consist of a couple of lines of essentials, and then one or two A4 pages of notes in as much detail as that space allows. Let yourself take time over this, and explore beyond what you might find in your textbook. What ends up on the eventual factsheet should be a reflection of what you find interesting and relevant, not just what you think will be key to top marks. Once you’ve done a factsheet for a particular topic, do past paper questions focusing on that topic and amend your factsheet depending on the marks you got.

This work – creating useful factsheet summaries and working on past papers – can take you most of the three-week period. But only do this exclusively if you’re not finding it dull. With a month to play with, you can expand your study into the things you enjoy. For instance, if you’re studying a book by a particular author, you might also want to spend some time reading other books by them, to expand your horizons and stop yourself from getting bored by going over the same material repeatedly. Then in the last week of the month, look at those topics again, rate them green, yellow and red (ideally, after three weeks’ work, there will be very little or no red) and focus hard on the yellow and red topics, by doing more past paper practice and reread the relevant factsheets at regular intervals. Once a day, quiz yourself (or get someone to quiz you) on content taken from all of your factsheets, so you don’t forget that work. And on the last day of the month, reread your green and yellow factsheets, rewrite the essentials from each factsheet, and feel satisfied with all your hard work. Image credits: clock ; desk ; owl ; glass of water ; traffic lights ; avocado ; notebook ; sleeping puppies ; astronomical clock ; exam hall ;

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• Writing Tips

7 Top Tips on Writing the Time

7-minute read

• 25th July 2019

As anyone who has turned up for a midday meeting at midnight will tell you, clarity is vital when writing the time of day. But there are many ways to write the time, and the best approach isn’t always obvious. We have a few tips to help, though.

1. Words or Numerals?

You can write the time of day using either words or numerals. If you are using numerals, you would usually include both hours and minutes, although you can omit the minutes in less formal writing .

For instance, all the following would be acceptable:

She gets up at six in the morning every day.

She gets up at 6:00 in the morning every day.

She gets up at 6 o’clock in the morning every day.

As a rule, though, you would only write out the time as words when:

• It is part of a full sentence, particularly in descriptive or literary writing.
• Using a 12-hour clock (never with a 24-hour clock ).
• You’re referring to an approximate or round time (e.g., saying “ten thirty” is fine, but you would not usually write “twenty-four minutes after eight”).

In most other cases, numerals are the clearer option for writing the time, especially in scientific and technical writing, where precision is vital.

2. AM and PM

The abbreviations AM and PM can be used when writing the time as numerals. Each applies to a different time of day:

• AM is short for ante meridiem , meaning “before noon.”
• PM is short for post meridiem , meaning “after noon.”

As such, we use AM and PM to indicate the time of day when we are using a 12-hour clock. We can see how this works more clearly if we write out various times of day in both 12-hour and 24-hour formats:

You can see here that we need AM and PM with the twelve-hour clock for clarity. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between, e.g., midday and midnight. Likewise, though, you do not need to include AM or PM with a 24-hour time because it is already clear.

There are also several ways to write AM and PM, including:

• ALL CAPS, small caps , or lower case (e.g., 12 AM, 12 AM , or 12 am)
• With or without periods between the letters (e.g., 8 PM or 8 P.M.)
• With or without a space after the number (e.g., 1 AM or 1AM)

Consistency is key here, so make sure to apply one style throughout your document. You may also want to check your style guide if you have one, as some organizations will have their own rules for how to write AM and PM.

3. When to Use O’clock

You’ll have noticed we use “o’clock ” in one of the examples above. This term means “of the clock,” so we can use it to show that a number refers to a time.

However, you should only use “o’clock” with exact hours:

It is precisely 5 o’clock . ✔

I’m leaving at seven o’clock . ✔

It arrived at 7:34 o’clock . ✘

The gig starts at half past seven o’clock . ✘

We’ll save a discussion of when wine o’clock is for another blog post.

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4. Past, After, Till, and To

When writing the time as words, use “after,” “past,” and “to” for intervals between hours. You can combine these terms with either numbers or the words “half” and “quarter” depending on the time in question:

• Use after or past for intervals up to half an hour past the hour.
• Use to for any interval after the half hour up to the hour.
• Use half past to indicate 30 minutes past the hour.
• Use quarter past   or  quarter after for 15 minutes after the hour.
• Use quarter to for 15 minutes up to the hour.

For example, we would use the above accordingly in the following times:

7:05 → Five after seven

7:15 → Quarter past seven

7:30 → Half past seven

7:45 → Quarter to eight

7:55 → Five to eight

Keep in mind that using “after” for times is only standard in American English. In other English dialects, “past” is far more common.

5. Punctuating the Time

When writing the time as numerals, you can use either a colon or a period between the hour and the minutes. In some cases, such as in the military , you can even write out a 24-hour time without any punctuation.

For instance, the following are all acceptable ways of punctuating a time:

We need to leave by 6:45 pm at the latest. ✔

We need to leave by 6.45 pm at the latest. ✔

We need to leave by 1845 at the latest. ✔

The colon is the most common option here, but it is a matter of preference. Unless you’re in the military, in which case we suggest sticking to protocol.

6. Time Zones

For the contiguous states in the USA, we have four standard time zones:

• Pacific Time (PT) [UTC-08:00]
• Mountain Time (MT) [UTC-07:00]
• Central Time (CT) [UTC-06:00]
• Eastern Time (ET) [UTC-5:00]

We also have regional time zones for Alaska, Hawaii, and 5 US dependencies, plus daylight saving time in some places during the warmer months of the year. And people in other countries use different time zones entirely!

Basically, we’re saying geography can make time complicated.

This is why we sometimes include a time zone when writing the time. The initials UTC above, for instance, stand for Coordinated Universal Time . We can use this to compare times in different places. So, “UTC-8:00” means Pacific Time is 8 hours behind UTC. And since we know Pacific Time is 8 hours behind UTC and Eastern Time is 5 hours behind UTC, we can work out that ET is 3 hours ahead of PT.

In other words, by including a time zone when we write a time, we can help people in other places “translate” it into their own time zone.

This is important if you are writing for an international audience, since not everyone will be in the same time zone. You thus need to include a set of time zone initials so your reader can calculate the equivalent time where they are. For example, if we were writing a time for an international audience, we might say:

The live broadcast will begin at 9:00 pm UTC .

Someone in Bolivia could then look up the difference between UTC and BOT (Bolivia Time) and know the broadcast begins at 5:00 pm where they are.

7. Avoiding Redundancy when Writing the Time

In writing, redundancy means using a word unnecessarily. We mentioned above, for example, that you do not need to use AM or PM with 24-hour times because we already know whether a time is the morning or afternoon/evening when using a 24-hour clock.

Other cases of temporal redundancy you may want to avoid include:

• Using “in the morning,” “in the afternoon,” etc., alongside AM/PM.
• Combining “in the morning,” “in the afternoon,” etc., with a 24-hour time.
• Using “midday,” “noon,” or “midnight” alongside a time in numbers.

We’ll end this post with a few examples of redundancies so you know what to watch out for. Check out the table below, good luck writing the time, and let us know if you need any help proofreading your work.

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How to Write a Good Essay in a Short Amount of Time

Last Updated: August 17, 2024 Approved

This article was co-authored by Megan Morgan, PhD . Megan Morgan is a Graduate Program Academic Advisor in the School of Public & International Affairs at the University of Georgia. She earned her PhD in English from the University of Georgia in 2015. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article received 16 testimonials and 80% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 901,901 times.

Sometimes, you need to be able to write a good essay in a short amount of time for a timed exam, such as the Advanced Placement exams in high school. At other times, you might find yourself in the uncomfortable situation of having to write an essay fast because you procrastinated or let it sneak up on you. Although an essay written at the last minute will almost never be as good as an essay you spent more time on, putting together a decent essay quickly is still feasible. With a little planning and a lot of hard work, you can write an essay that’s good (or good enough!) in just a short time.

Doing the Prep Work for Your Essay

• Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses when devising your plan. [1] X Research source For example, if you are a good researcher but not great at editing, spend less time on the research section in favor of spending more time on the revising section.
• Make sure to schedule breaks for yourself to refresh your brain and recharge yourself.
• An example of a plan for a one-day essay writing project might look like this:
• 8:00 – 9:30 – Consider an essay question and argument for the topic.
• 9:30 – 9:45 – Take a short break.
• 10:00 – 12:00 – Conduct research.
• 12:00 – 13:00 – Outline the essay.
• 13:00 – 14:00 – Take a lunch break.
• 14:00 – 19:00 – Write your essay.
• 19:00 – 20:00 – Take a dinner break.
• 20:00 – 22:30 – Revise and copy edit your essay.
• 22:30 – 23:00 – Print and prepare your essay submission. [2] X Research source

• Make sure you understand what the question is asking for! If you provide a summary when the essay prompt asked you to “analyze,” you’re unlikely to do very well.
• If you don’t have an essay topic, choose a subject that interests you and consider the essay question afterward. You are more likely to write a good essay on a topic that you’re interested in.

• If you don’t have much experience with your topic, it might be difficult to develop an argument. You can still consider your argument and then use your research to support or refute the claims you want to make.
• A good exercise to help you quickly figure out your essay question and argument is to write “I am studying (choose a topic) because I want to know (what do you want to know) in order to show (this is where your argument goes).”
• For example, “I am studying the medieval witch trials because I want to know how lawyers employed evidence in their cases in order to show that the trial process influenced modern medical techniques and legal practices.”
• Consider counter-arguments in order to strengthen your essay.

• Since you don’t have a lot of time to write, focus on one or two places where you can do research. For example, the library and internet offer many different options for sources. [4] X Research source
• Just make sure that you use reliable sources, such as peer-reviewed journals, government and university websites, and newspapers and magazines written by professionals. Don’t use personal blogs, obviously biased sources, or sources that don’t have professional credentials.
• You can draw upon information you know to speed up the research process. Simply find a (reliable!) source to support it and include it in your sources. [5] X Research source
• Doing preliminary research online can point you to sources in a library such as books and journal articles. It can also point you in the direction of web sources including newspaper article archives or other research on your topic.
• If you're reading books, "gut" the book to get through it quickly and move on to other sources. To "gut" a book, skim the introduction and conclusion to find the main arguments, and then pick a few details from the body of the book to use as evidence. [6] X Research source
• Take notes on your research sources. These will show that you’ve legitimately researched the topic while giving credit to the person who forwarded the idea. [7] X Research source This is especially important if you plan to use direct quotes and will also help you add footnotes and bibliographic information to your essay without having to look them up in the sources.

• Structure your outline as you will your essay, with an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
• The more detail you put into your outline, the easier and more quickly you can write the essay. For example, instead of just writing a basic paragraph about the body, flesh it out into bullet points or sentences that presents argument and supporting evidence. [9] X Research source

Writing an Untimed Essay

• Nothing will keep you from finishing an essay on time like goofing off online or ending up watching eight straight hours of Cartoon Network. Turn the TV off, switch your phone to silent, and exit out of Facebook and other social media/chat sites.
• Make sure you have all your material nearby when you start to write. Getting up to fetch a book or a piece of paper or a snack will eat into your precious time.

• The most important part of your introduction is your argument or thesis statement. This tells the reader the point your trying to make in the essay.
• Write a “hook” that will grab the reader’s attention to start, then introduce the argument with a few relevant facts woven into the narrative. End by stating how you will demonstrate your points. [12] X Research source
• An example of a hook could be, “People say Napoleon had a complex because of his size, but he was actually an average height for the time in which he lived.”
• It's sometimes helpful to write the introduction after you have written the body so you know how to introduce the topic and your arguments best.
• A good rule of thumb is to not have the introduction be more the 10% of your essay. Thus, for a five page essay, you shouldn’t write more than one paragraph. [13] X Research source

• Pick two to three main points to help make your argument or thesis statement. Any fewer and you won’t have enough evidence for your argument and any more may make you not explore each point thoroughly enough.
• Keep your evidence to support the main points concise. Going off on explanatory tangents will cost you precious time.
• Support your main points with the evidence compiled during your research. Make sure to explain how the evidence supports your claims!
• If haven’t reached your word limit, pick a main point and conduct more research on it to expand on your point. [14] X Research source

• Avoid "fat" language when you write. Text that includes long prepositional phrases, passive verbs, and paragraphs that don't further your argument waste time that you could spend writing or revising your essay.

• Free-writing can also help you overcome writer’s block that results from not knowing how to say something. If you’re struggling with getting the wording of an idea just right, write it as well as you can and come back to it later.

• The essay conclusion should also be relatively short. Aim for the conclusion to be 5-10% of your essay’s total length.
• Aim to do more in your conclusion than just restate your thesis and the evidence you used. You could acknowledge the limitations of your argument, suggest a direction for future research, or expand the relevance of your topic to a wider field.
• Just as you drew in reader with good introduction, end your conclusion with a sentence that make a lasting impression on your reader. [18] X Research source

• Re-read the entire essay. Make sure that you are still arguing the same thing at the end of the essay that you are at the beginning. If not, go back and adjust your thesis.
• Make sure that your paragraphs build on one another and don’t feel haphazard. You can use transitions and strong topic sentences to help you draw connections between your paragraphs.
• Spelling and grammar are the easiest mistakes to revise, but they cost you a lot of reader goodwill if you don’t fix them. [19] X Research source

Writing a Timed Essay

• Read the prompt carefully! If the question asks you to take a position, take one. If it asks you to evaluate the events that led to the downfall of Rome, don’t just give a summary of Roman history. [20] X Research source
• Jot down an idea map. You probably won’t have time to make a formal outline. However, having an idea of the main points that you want to touch on and how they relate will help you structure the essay. If you can’t figure out how to connect your main points, that’s a sign you need to think a little bit more before you start writing.
• Figure out your argument. Once you’ve noted down some main points, figure out what you want to say about them. Even timed essays need a unified argument or thesis.

• For example, you wouldn’t want to spend the same amount of time and effort on a 3-paragraph essay question worth 20% as you would a 2-page essay question worth 60%.
• If you see a question that you feel will be more difficult for you, it could be a good idea to tackle it first. This will get the hard stuff out of the way while you’re still fresh.

• If you notice that your introductory paragraph starts with something broad or hugely general, such as “Throughout the history of time, humans have been fascinated by science,” cut it.
• Don’t put anything in a timed essay that doesn’t support your point. If you are talking about the importance of religious belief in modern society, don’t dilute your point by also referencing socialism, Hollywood, and banana farming.

• Claim. This is the main argument of the paragraph. It is probably located in your topic sentence.
• Evidence. This is the supporting detail that proves your claim.
• Explanation. This connects the evidence back to your claim and explains why the evidence proves what you say it does.
• If anything in your paragraph doesn’t fit one of these three elements, it’s a good sign you don’t need it in the paragraph.

• Does the essay actually demonstrate and support what your thesis says is the main argument? It’s not uncommon for ideas to evolve as you write. If this has happened, tweak your thesis accordingly.
• Do the paragraphs flow smoothly from one to the next? Timed essays don’t have the same standards that regular essays do, but your reader should still be able to follow your argument in a logical progression without feeling yanked around or lost.
• Do you offer a conclusion that sums up your argument? Don’t leave the essay hanging without a conclusion. Even if it’s very brief, a conclusion will help your essay feel complete.

Community Q&A

• Transition words such as "furthermore", "indeed", and "in fact" can make your flow better. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Don't fluff up your essay too much. A reader will want you to get to the point as quickly as possible. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• When starting a new paragraph, don't forget to indent. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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• ↑ https://www.savethestudent.org/extra-guides/how-to-write-a-3000-word-essay-in-a-day.html
• ↑ https://www.slate.com/articles/technology/the_browser/2011/08/slowpoke.2.html
• ↑ https://amst522.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/how-to-gut-a-book-or-the-best-advise-my-grad-school-advisor-ever-gave-me/
• ↑ https://classroom.synonym.com/write-effective-essay-fast-4252.html
• ↑ https://www.slate.com/articles/technology/the_browser/2011/08/slowpoke.html
• ↑ https://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/academic1/timed-essays-top-5-tips-for-writing-academic-essays-under-pressure/

About This Article

If you need to write a good essay in a short amount of time, try to plan your argument and avoid distractions while you're writing. Before you start your essay, decide your thesis statement or the main argument you want to make. This will help you narrow down your research and write the essay quicker. Find a quiet place to work, turn your phone off, and avoid any other distractions. Make sure you schedule short breaks to avoid burn out. If you get stuck, write whatever you can, even if you think it’s really bad or doesn’t make sense. It will be much easier to edit once you’ve gotten the words on the page. Make sure you leave a few hours to revise and spellcheck your essay. For more tips from our Teaching co-author, including how to write a timed essay, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Mortadella Sandwich

Mortadella sandwich is a super popular Italian panino (sandwich) which is traditionally served on a bread roll. Learn more about this meat product, and how Italians eat it in a sandwich.

A mortadella sandwich made with only two ingredients, as an Italian mortadella panino, is truly something to add to your culinary bucket list. Of course, there are more ways to enjoy mortadella, as you’ll see below, but in Italy, the simplest is often the best.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I received Di Stefano stracciatella, under no conditions. As always, all opinions are my own.

Mortadella has started to become more popular in the US in recent years, justifiably so. I’ve been eating mortadella since I was a young child, and I love it. The scent alone will kick my salivary glands into high gear! It really reminds me of Italy whenever I enjoy a panino con mortadella (that’s what you’d ask for in Italy.)

ALLERGEN NOTICE: MORTADELLA OFTEN CONTAINS PISTACHIOS

What is Mortadella?

Mortadella is a processed pork meat product which is shaped into a very large, long, round sausage. It often has pistachios in it, and it’s most often sliced paper thin when served. You’ll notice chunks of fat and the pistachios dotted throughout. It has a silky smooth texture, and the flavor is difficult to describe with its unique spices and flavorings, so you’ll just have to try it!

Mortadella is not made with horse meat, so don’t be afraid to try it (if you eat pork.)

Here are some Italian street foods that you don’t want to miss when you’re in Italy (region around Rome, Lazio.) Can you spot the panino con mortadella?

Although mortadella is a Northern Italian food, you will see it all over Italy. This mortadella meat is much loved! One thing you will notice is how thinly mortadella is sliced. It’s always sliced very thin (you don’t usually have to ask) in Italy, but I have found that it’s more difficult to get it sliced as thin in the US. You may think I’m crazy, but if mortadella is sliced too thick, I won’t eat it.

Mortadella vs Bologna

If you have tasted both top quality IGP mortadella and American bologna sliced deli meat, you already know the answer to this question: there is no comparison.

Italian mortadella is made with quality pork and pistachios and the flavor is intense and delicious. I remember tasting bologna when we moved to America, and it’s really so different that it’s like comparing a little hatchback car to get you from point A to B to a Lamborghini. Note: mortadella comes from the region of Bologna (Boh-loh-nyah.)

Mortadella isn’t only eaten in sandwiches, it can be cut into cubes, used as an ingredient in filled pasta, or made into a mousse. I recently had the latter at a Prosecco event here in Los Angeles, and it was divine!

Anthony Bourdain’s Mortadella Sandwich

As popular as Anthony Bourdain was, apparently many people are looking for his mortadella sandwich recipe which includes mortadella, cheese and condiments. As an Italian, I will say that this is simply not how mortadella sandwiches are eaten in Italy.

It would be like an Italian eating a hot dog and adding pasta sauce and fries to the bun. I would advise trying it the way it is meant to be eaten first, then try other combinations. I’m not saying not to add other ingredients, but know that Mr. Bourdain’s version isn’t authentic.

Lambrusco wine goes perfectly with mortadella, in case you were wondering what is in the glasses!

How to Make the Best Mortadella Sandwich (Italian-Style)

Recipe by Christina Conte (but not really, all Italians know this!)            serves 2

FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW

Ingredients

• Italian panini (crusty bread roll or baguette)
• Italian mortadella
• (optional: burrata or fresh mozzarella)
• (optional: chopped pistachios)

Slice the bread in half, horizontally, leaving the top slightly attached.

Start adding the slices of mortadella meat evenly along the bread, but make sure you don’t make them all flat on top of each other. Twist and move the slices so there’s spaces between the mortadella slices.

If you prefer to add cheese and pistachio, do so next, adding the stracciatella, mozzarella or burrata first. I used stracciatella cheese from Di Stefano, which is incredibly creamy and delicious.

Add your choice of cheese to the mortadella.

Sprinkle with chopped pistachios, if desired

You’ve created a masterpiece!

I hope this inspires you to be on the lookout for Italian mortadella so that you can try a panino the way you would have in Italy.

See if you can find Di Stefano stracciatella, burrata or fresh mozzarella ; if not you can order from their site.

Look at what I spotted in a fast food spot in Bari!

Mortadella (Sandwich – Panino)

• 4 oz thinly sliced mortadella as many slices as you desire
• 2 ciabatta bread rolls like Trader Joe's or homemade

Instructions

• Slice the bread rolls in half, horizontally, leaving the top slightly attached.
• Place the slices of mortadella evenly along the roll, but make sure you don't make them all flat on top of each other. Twist and move the slices so there's space between the mortadella.
• Repeat with the second (or subsequent) rolls.
• For an authentic variation of the mortadella panino, try it with stracciatella, burrata or fresh mozzarella cheese. Add chopped pistachios, if desired.
• Try to find good quality mortadella. Brands I have found in the US include Citterio, Veroni and Mastro.
• Beware that mortadella often contains pistachios (for nut allergy sufferers.)
• Try a mortadella panino without other ingredients for the first time. Then add other ingredients once you’ve tasted the original sandwich.

Did you Make this Recipe?

Please leave a review by clicking on the RATE button above in the purple header or share a photo and tag @christinascucina on Instagram! 😍

Italian cats love mortadella, too! 🤩

Christina’s Cucina is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associate Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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