If you are a student crammed up with a lot of work to complete before the term ends, you would understand the delicacy of a situation where you have only hours left before the deadline for an assignment ends, and you haven’t yet started working on it. This article is a simple guide to deal with such crunch situations.
Guide to the Best Content Strategies to Write a Killer Essay Fast
If you are stuck in a situation where you have to churn out a top-quality essay within an hour, chances are you will freak out. Mainly, because you will be under a great deal of stress, it will be hard for you to develop a good quality essay. Being able to write an essay in 2 hours may seem only a professional writer’s job. However, that’s not true. All you need to do is read up a little about managing such a crunch situation, following a step-by-step guide, and voila! You will end up with a perfect paper to submit before the deadline ends.
So, it’s time to stop worrying about how to write an essay fast and adopt these few tips to create the best content for your killer essay.
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Have a Positive Mindset
Now that there are only hours left to submit your essay, there is no point in self -admonishment. Stressing yourself over how to write a good essay fast will not do you any good. It will only leave you with feelings of failure before you have even made an effort. So, let these demon thoughts aside, take a deep breath and drink a big glass of water. Tell yourself; there is nothing in the world you cannot do. Embrace the challenge. Keep a look at the outcome and stay motivated. Change all kinds of negative energy into a positive one and write the essay with an optimistic approach.
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Understand the Essay Question
The first step towards writing a high-quality essay and doesn’t require a lot of time is to correctly understand the question/topic. The greatest mistake students usually commit is not being able to linger on the question enough to understand it properly. Follow these steps to make sure you don’t leave any aspect of the question/ topic.
- You must focus on the key terms the professor uses in the question. These key terms will direct the course of your content in your essay. If the question asks you to analyze something, you are expected to go deeper than the surface level of the topic, look at the cause and effect aspect, how, and why of the question. Similarly, if you are asked to compare two views, concepts, or ideas, you are required to find similarities and differences between both. If the evaluation is the key term used, you must give your opinion on the question based on the pieces of evidence you have collected. Lastly, if you have to write an argumentative essay, you should give reasons for your stance for or against the question and provide evidence supporting your argument.
- Use your analytical skills to understand and associate key concepts from your course. Align what you have learned in the course through the term and see what fits in the topic. You may also use materials from outside the course to make your point regarding the topic.
- Make a spider web of the concepts the question/topic expects you to consider so that you don’t miss out on any aspect.
Make a Plan
Ask yourself the question, ‘how do you write a last-minute essay?’ and you will feel your heart sinking. Do not worry. Start by making a plan and an outline, and you will be all set to go. Create a plan that helps you in writing your essay quickly. Here’s a quick guideline for you to make a plan and stick to it.
- Read and understand the question carefully;
- Spend at least 15 minutes to brainstorm for ideas;
- If you need to include any sources in your essay, list them down;
- Make some points on the thoughts and ideas you want to put down in your essay;
- Elaborate on those points by adding supporting details;
- Make sure you restrict your paper to the given word count;
- Proofread your writing for errors and typing mistakes;
- Recheck the formatting.
It is best to set a timeline for each task and try to keep to it to help you stay focused.
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Stay Away from Distractions
How do I force myself to write an essay? Many of you may ask a very pertinent question, especially if you have issues focusing on any given task. Becoming distracted is very easy these days. You are busy writing, and the phone rings, or a message beeps. All your concentration on the work at hand evaporates in thin air. What should you do to stay away from any unwelcome distractions? Here’s the trick. Turn off all your social media notifications, or better still, switch your phone or tablet off till the time you have completed your essay.
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Be Yourself as a Writer
You must be original with your work. Internet provides you with a wide variety of sample essays for your inspiration. Read up on them to trigger your imagination and critical thinking. It is essential that your writing must seem yours only. Don’t write too many quotations. It will give the impression that you haven’t read well. Copy pasting from another resource is a definite negative. Refrain from it. Be original. Be creative.
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Edit and Proofread
Leave some time for proofreading before you submit your assignment. Once you have finished writing your essay, go back to it and look keenly for any grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, punctuation errors, and typos. Read again and see if you need to add or subtract anything from the content of the essay. Don’t be afraid to make changes. It is good for the quality of your writing.
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Set Yourself a Reward
You will need some motivation to write an essay this fast. Set yourself a reward that you will look forward to once you have finished writing your essay. It could be anything, a movie you have wanted to watch for a long time, an escapade to the nearest ice-cream parlour with friends, or simply a good stretch of sleep, anything that serves as a good incentive for you to work on your essay.
8. Choose a Topic You are Familiar With
If you are in a hurry to finish your paper, it would be best to go with something you already know or like. This way, you do not have to ask, “How do I force myself to write an essay?” It is because you will not feel forced to talk about a topic that interests you.
Even if you like many things, it can become complicated when you cannot choose the right one. In times like this, you need to list down everything you want to discuss on a piece of paper. Then, search for topic lists online to get more specific prompts. As you go through these materials, you may find a topic that will make you feel excited to write.
9. Develop a Thesis Statement
Your prior research should help you formulate a clear thesis statement with three main points. Because this part is crucial in any essay, you have to think about it carefully. Everything that you will talk about in the body paragraph should prove your claim. It should have at least three points because that is already sufficient to explain your position on the topic.
In developing your thesis statement, you should also consider your resources. It is challenging to defend an idea without supporting details. Lastly, it must be arguable, which means that others might agree or disagree with it. Therefore, it should not be a known fact or information.
10. Outline
If you want to know how to write a good essay fast, you need to strategize to make sure you do not waste your precious time. While the tips given above are already helpful, outlining is an efficient way to organize your ideas and save time.
Although there are different methods of outlining, the standard outline is the one that can be used across most essay types. It divides the paper into paragraphs, usually one for introduction, one for the conclusion, and at least three for body paragraphs. Under the introduction are the “hook” or attention-getter, background information, and thesis statement. Meanwhile, the body paragraphs should begin with a topic sentence, reflecting the main points and supporting details. Lastly, you can conclude by rephrasing your thesis statement and summarizing your points.
If you ever find yourself in a difficult situation like this, follow these few useful tips about how to manage writing an essay in the last few hours and yet be able to produce a good-quality one that fetches you the grade you have been hoping for.