how long does it take you to write an essay? (1 Viewer)

[unfold]

I used to spent forever......to write an essay. it was most likely that i didnt plan b4 writing it. now i do...(sort of) since it takes shorter time now than b4...but i still wanna speed it up.

so how do u guyz do it? plan and then start writing? and most importantly how long will it take u? im not talking under exam cond. but like preparing a practice essay at home. how long??

 

[joujou_84]

I used to spent forever......to write an essay. it was most likely that i didnt plan b4 writing it. now i do...(sort of) since it takes shorter time now than b4...but i still wanna speed it up.

so how do u guyz do it? plan and then start writing? and most importantly how long will it take u? im not talking under exam cond. but like preparing a practice essay at home. how long??

well preparing essays used to take me weeks........id do a little each day , get my teacher to check it n all until the essay was the best it can be........then i learnt it....then began applying it to past HSC questions and other skools trial questions.....at first i would take me abt 1 hr to write an essay but the more u do the faster u get and u start knowing wat to include and wat to exclude from ur original essay.......keep practicing until u get to abt 38 mins an essay.........then ull be right.......towards abt trial time, practice essays at home were taking abt 40 mins to write.......

btw in the HSc u dont really have time to "plan" an essay as such......u kinda have to know wat ur doing and think on ur feet.............good luck

 

[absolution*]

By the end of yr12 youll have to done to a fine art.

Its not so much how long it takes but how good the essay is. If the essay is great then it should take a long time to write, perhaps a full day of work.
Practise essays though should only take about 1 hour.

Tips for speeding up essay writing:

- Know the strucuture well (ie. Topic sentences/Concepts/Techniques)
- Know the structure of your paragraphs well (ie. SEXY/PEAL methods)
- Have your content already prepared beofre you put it all together
- Have a thesaurus handy to drop in some complex jargon to impress markers
- Practise writing essays for each module as it comes up, itll get you in the habit which also helps for other subjects

In terms of strucuring essays each to their own, but this is what worked for me. Ill do it in checklist form.

Intro - Introductions should be broken up two 2 sub-paragraphs generally

- Work in the question into what youll be discussing. What youll be discussing is dependant upon your topic sentences
(start new sub paragraph here)

- Work in technical jargon from the module which can be found in the syllabus
- Work in texts and authors (adjectives such as 'existentialist' or 'nostalgic' etc work well when introducing your texts)
- Set up your essay as you conclude your intro be representing to the marker exactly what your essay will involve

Body - SEXY method is what i used. Heres the link.
http://www.boredofstudies.org/community/showthread.php?t=15021

Conclusion - I always liked to quickley sum up qhat i talked about throughout the essay into one or two lines. Do not simple repeat yourself. Then end with something highly intelligent, philosophical or within current affairs thats related to the module.

Anti's guide to essay writing can be found here:
http://www.boredofstudies.org/community/showthread.php?t=44611

 

[kimmeh]

The above posts make very good suggestions *pats on the back*

What i found that worked for me is that i would prepare a backbone essay, longer than one i would intentionally write in an exam, but flexible and logical enough so that i could render it to the question. I would probably take ages just to perfect it (about 1 week writing under no pressure and like weeks of taking it to different teachers to mark/opnions/imprpovements) so that by the time the HSC came, then i would already know certain ideas what i would write about. Some things would be more suitable for certain questions than others, hence the generic/long essay. Once i saw the question, i would for 5 mintues only plan and map out what what i was going to write out in an exam. Things i thought about:
+Structure
+Text type and features
+Ordering of texts
+Joining words like: furthermore, in addition to, contrasting this concept etc...
+Quotes
By doing this, when you start writing, you have a guide as to what to write. You have 35 minutes to write an essay-which isnt a sufficient amount anyway. Using 5 minutes to plan what might save you 30, is an example of time management. I know heaps of people who dont plan and then after writing about 1 whole page, they realise that what they did is wrong and have to start again. Every minute in the exam counts. Also, it shows in your writing that you didnt plan-markers always can sniff it out for some reason.

 

[MissSavage29]

I used to like giving myself only 5 minutes to plan - i would write my essay question on the middle of the page and then jot down points in a mind map fashion

so if the question was on something like say How does the physical journey impact on the individual
i would jot down my main ideas for my paragraphs all over the page - under each idea i would write what text i woudl use to support my argument and finally i would just highlight each point a differnt colour so i could easily distinugish b/w my paragraphs

it was a very effecitive method of planning my essays because it was set out easy to read and i was only planning the basics. I've never understood why people did detailed plans for things which included stuff liek quotes etc always seemed like a waste of tiem to me - the shorter and easier your plan is for an essay the more liekly you are going to write the essay...

and this method really helped get me fine tune it for teh exams where you only have minimum time. the simpler the plan - the better it is for your essay

actual writing of the essay - i use to hand write a copy which i woudl do in 40 minutues (that was the time of my free's at school - i would only use one free per essay) and then go home and type it up - adding in a sentence here or there. With class essays you dont need to spend heaps of time refining them etc, just get in there and do it. Set yourself a time limit and u'll be supprised how much you can write when you know you only have so long...

if i were you, i woudl start say giving myself an hour and a half for an essay - that is completly planned and written... then as you start getting quicker at composign them take of 10 minutes until you are eventually down to 35. that way you will be writing your normal essays in the same time you will in the exam. Thus you are preparing your self for the thoery part of the exams plus combating hte problem most people find that they dont have enought time during hte exams.

 

[goan_crazy]

thanks 4 giving people tips absolution* and miss savage

 

[absolution*]

thanks 4 giving people tips absolution* and miss savage

No worries. If you would like any further help, feel free to PM me.

 

[unfold]

thanku guys!

hey peeps,
thanks for taking the time to reply they're greatly appreciated. by the sound of it, i should really get my act together and gain speed on this essay matter. i take a LOOONG time. damn. and reading too...i take heaps long to read....any suggestions on speed reading????????

 

[absolution*]

Though others would tell you otherwise, there is no point reading an entire text only to write a paragraph or two on it in the exam. Instead, i suggest looking up notes on the text and using the time you would have normally spent reading the text to formulate paragraphs, find techniques and write practise essays.

*awaits flame*

 

[MissSavage29]

lol usually i would disagree and say that it is better to read the entire text at least once before you have to study it.... after being forced to study Wild Swans i retract that statment somewhat...

it is necessary to know the basic outline of your text - you should know what happens in the begining, middle and the end of your text. Skim reading is a good option - you can go over the stuff that isn't importnat and pick up on the important stuff.

you can also get most of the HSC texts on cd or cassett - so you can listen to them while you are doign other work. WHen you hear something that is important get your book - mark the page and go over the section.

i wouldn't advise not reading your text unless you are spending excess time concentrating on reading the text rather then acutally studying it. Whatever you do dont try to substitute the movie for the text - that always turns out badly cause movies change various key elements. If you aren't goign to read it have a look at a good chapter summary (sparknotes.com or the excel ones are good) and get a good idea about what happens, then from there work out what sections will be good for your topic

 

[absolution*]

In conclusion, reading critic's and intelligent people's comments about a text is a LOT more helpful then just reading the text itself. Read message forums, critical studies, critical essays, research context and contextual paradigms, all that stuff. Easy B6. You dont need to be smart to do well in english, just sound smart.

 

[kimmeh]

any suggestions on speed reading????????

Speed reading is best done when your finger is running under the words as you are reading. This is also a good way when you're reading and trying to find a certain phrase of word. Though you shouldnt really speed read, as you will not absorb all that is obviuos to you. Its more about allocating your time and plannign well, to have an effective time management, rather than reading all your texts quickly

 

[7minute]

Sometimes you can get away with having a general idea of the text and some REALLY good quotes with excellent analysis, arguments etc; etc; attached. On Giants' Shoulders comes to mind. But it really depends on the text... you probably couldn't get away with it in novels eg. Wuthering Heights or In the Skin of a Lion.

I always wrote class essays straight onto the computer, no drafts. But that made it harder in exam situations...

 

[Sweets]

In conclusion, reading critic's and intelligent people's comments about a text is a LOT more helpful then just reading the text itself. Read message forums, critical studies, critical essays, research context and contextual paradigms, all that stuff. Easy B6. You dont need to be smart to do well in english, just sound smart.

OMG i totally second that. I'm like absolutely illiterate and I'm coming first in adv and ext.

I can't stand ppl who write essay plans. Once I start writing it all flows. It takes me 1 hour tops to write an essay.

 

[Zavage]

In conclusion, reading critic's and intelligent people's comments about a text is a LOT more helpful then just reading the text itself. Read message forums, critical studies, critical essays, research context and contextual paradigms, all that stuff. Easy B6. You dont need to be smart to do well in english, just sound smart.

I think that is very true and is certainly a much more safer way to gain high marks than just trying to study texts by your self. I really don't understand how some people can genuinely really understand these texts and give really deep answers without the aid of study guides and such.
Here's the thing what could you do about those texts that aren't prescribed such as the texts of your own choosing. What if you had to do most of the analysing by yourself, even though that is the point of having those other related texts. what do you think?

 

[IcEy]

I found it most useful to get all your english notes done, like quotes and stuff from your modules and texts, and then just sit down, get an unseen essay question, and write for 40 mins. Then get teacher to mark it - a real HSC marker teacher.

Chances are the questions you get in trials aren't going to be ones you've seen before, so you might as well try simluate that as much as possible.

 

[samuelblayden]

several hours

 

[Hemi]

it used to take me a few days but now i can do it the night before its due. so it takes a few hours now to do a good one

 

[sourlemong]

I need to have inspiration, otherwise its quite challenging >< But usually I give myself 40 mins to write, 5 mins planning and 10 mins checking?? Really depends whether its an in class essay or take home one.

 

[followme]

How to prepare an essay that can be adapted into exam questions? What's the trick?