How to Write an Essay Fast?

In an ideal student’s world, all essays should be written fast, really fast, not longer than half an hour per essay. Unfortunately, the real world is far from that ideal, and it’s not uncommon for students to struggle with writing a single essay for days!

Today, we have prepared 8 brilliant fast essay writing tips that can significantly reduce your time and effort spent on essay writing. These tips will enable you to achieve a balance between academic excellence and the demands of your hectic schedule.

In an ideal student’s world, all essays should be written fast, really fast, not longer than half an hour per essay. Unfortunately, the real world is far from that ideal, and it’s not uncommon for students to struggle with writing a single essay for days! If you find yourself facing time constraints or struggling with complex topics, you can explore the option to buy an essay from a reputable essay writing service. These services often have experienced writers who can craft well-researched and high-quality essays to meet tight deadlines, allowing you to achieve a balance between academic excellence and the demands of your hectic schedule.

Tip 1. Understand the Prompt

Such a basic thing as the correct understanding of the prompt of your essay assignment can save you loads of time. What can be more obvious than reading the prompt, right? Nevertheless, many do it too fast and carelessly. As a result, they end up rewriting half or even the whole essay piece just because they failed to read thoughtfully and understand what was required of them in the essay prompt.

The best way to understand what is required of you is by identifying the keywords, or the so-called action words. For example, take a look at this prompt:

Describe the latest foreign trip you took and how it has enriched your worldview and knowledge of other cultures.

The keywords are: describe, foreign trip, enriched, worldview, and knowledge of other cultures. The essay should revolve around a particular foreign trip of yours, and you are expected to reflect on how it has enriched your experience and knowledge.    

Tip 2. Research Efficiently

When you search for information on the topic of your essay, don’t try to grasp everything. After all, this is not a degree thesis you are doing, just an essay, a short narrative – the genre that heavily relies on personal opinions and reflections. So, find some interesting information, note the source accurately, and let your imagination and creativity do the rest of the work. For instance:

If your topic or prompt says “Explore the Role of Personal Computers in the Educational Process”, don’t try to dig into the precursors to the modern electric circuits in the form of relays and vacuum tubes, or show your knowledge of Moore’s Law. If you want, take a short detour (1-2 sentences max.) into the PC’s history, and go on with your thoughts on their role in the MODERN educational process.    

Tip 3. Create an Outline

Outlining in essay writing is like planning your shopping day – if you know where to buy and what to buy, you can save yourself tons of time. A good outline will help you prepare and structure your essay’s text and always have the right inventory of ideas at hand as you write.

Here is an example of an outline:

Tip 4. Develop a Simple Thesis Statement

If it’s a speedy essay writing you are up to, don’t formulate complex thesis statements consisting of more than one sentence and comprising multiple goals. Come up with a relatively short and simple thesis, giving you a single, but relevant and concrete research/narrative direction. For example:

In this work, I will explore the root causes of animals’ ritual behavior, in particular the dance of the common crane species.

Tip 5. How to Write an Essay in 2 Hours – Start with the Body

Provided you’ve just sketched an outline, you can now go directly to writing the main body, as it is easier to begin writing with the main things. Sometimes, the introduction and the conclusion are easier to write at the end, since you don’t know exactly how the main body will play out.  For the same reason, professional writers often revisit their introductions to adjust for the main body. 

If you master this technique, you should be able to write most of your short essays within 2 hours or even faster.

Tip 6. How to Write Essays Faster – Avoid Perfectionism

There is no need to make every word and sentence perfect from the first try. Perfectionists often struggle for too long over the very first sentences, losing momentum, drive, and confidence.

In order to achieve this goal, take advantage of anchor paper writing help, employ straightforward language, compose your work in manageable sections, and favor concise sentences. These strategies will facilitate your rapid mastery of essay writing. For instance:

Upon a closer examination of the nuances of various social and cultural aspects of the traditional way of living of Norwegian people, I was able to understand the importance of hard work and exceptional unity between individuals. No matter how difficult one’s life may be, resilience, love for nature, and sustainable way of living, as well as hard work, will all eventually be rewarded, just as the Norwegian people managed to overcome the hurdles of the early 20th century and came out as a prosperous nation half a century later.

The above thought construction is too bulky, the author tried to fit multiple thoughts into a single paragraph. A far superior construction will look as follows:

By looking at how Norwegians live traditionally, I found out that working hard and sticking together is important. Even when life is tough, being spiritually strong, loving nature, living sustainably, and working hard will ultimately lead to success.

Tip 7. Stay Focused

Keep your writing focused on the main thesis, and avoid going beyond the original scope of the paper. To this end, consider using the following techniques:

• Minimize distraction. Get rid of all ambient noises that don’t contribute to your productivity. 
• Find a quiet and comfortable place for writing, ideally the same place, no matter how many breaks you take.
• Manage time efficiently. Add a brief schedule to the initial outline, e.g., allocate 15 minutes for the introduction, 30 minutes for the main body, and 20 for the conclusion and final editing.
• Use headings and subheadings. These will help to organize your thoughts and maintain your focus on the main goal.  

Tip 8. Know When to Stop

Once you have addressed the main topic, and fulfilled your outline thesis and plan for the main body – it’s time to stop. Revisit your text, paragraph by paragraph, and make sure everything sticks together perfectly, i.e., your introduction flows seamlessly into the main body, while the conclusion effectively summarizes everything available in the essay, but nothing else. 

To this end, avoid introducing any new ideas in the conclusion. Instead, use the time available to check your work for grammar and language errors, possibly typos, and accidental plagiarism.  

Final Thoughts on Quick Essay Writing

The more you practice the above-mentioned techniques, the more efficient you’ll become at writing. Start gradually, for example, take a single tip you find the easiest to implement and practice it to perfection. Then add another technique and another. Perhaps, you’ll end up practicing only half of the techniques from our list, but that will be more than enough to reduce your essay writing time by half – an excellent result unattainable by most. 

Fast Essay FAQ

Why am I so slow at writing essays?

A: There can be multiple causes for that. Try following some of the tips from this article, e.g., manage time effectively, get rid of all distractions, develop an outline for all of your essay assignments, make up simple thesis statements, and avoid perfectionism.  

How can I finish an essay fast?

A: Knowing when to stop is an effective skill. Don’t try to encompass everything on the topic in a single paper. Instead, stop writing and proceed to draw conclusions as soon as you’ve fulfilled your thesis statement’s goal and addressed possible counterarguments. 

I’m having a hard time writing an essay. Any suggestions on how to make the process easier?

A: You can speed up the writing and avoid potential hiccups by jumping right into the main body. Start with the easiest point and move on until you catch your rhythm. Many students struggle to start with an introduction. If you are one of them, the suggestion with the main body to come first is right for you.

Why is writing an essay so hard for me?

A: If it is only one particular essay that you struggle with, then perhaps you should try following any or all of the tips from the current article. However, if it is essay writing, in general, that becomes hard for you – consider taking some writing classes or take this issue to your immediate instructor to find out the best possible solution for you.