Practice English essay advice?

[msnkenqo]

Background: So my school just finished sitting the trial exam (my school gives us a VCAA exam from a random year and we have to complete it under exam conditions as if it were the real exam), and my biggest concern about the English exam is writing to time. I found that I was spending about 75 minutes writing the first two essays, leaving me with only 30 minutes to write my third piece.

With a month to the English exam, I've decided to start writing practice essays as a way to help me study and hopefully be able to write within the time restrictions. To do this, would you guys recommend that I:

• Give myself 60 minutes to write each essay, where I stop writing after 60 minutes regardless of whether I've actually finished the piece or not, and focus on writing more content the more practice pieces I do?
  For example: I am writing a Language Analysis and I'm halfway through my 3rd body paragraph. The timer goes off and I don't write anymore on it. I set myself a goal to try and write 4 body paragraphs within 60 minutes, the next time I write. Then 5 paragraphs, then the conclusion, etc.
  OR
• Write and complete the essay and time myself on how long it took me to complete it, and focus on bringing that time down as I write more practice pieces?
  For example: I write and complete a Language Analysis. It takes me 75 minutes to complete it. I set a goal for myself to try and complete it within 70 minutes next time. Then 65, then 60, etc.

Thanks

[heids]

The latter, imo.  Though you could have two timers, one which stops at 60min, and draw a line/huge asterisk to mark your spot at that moment - just to give you an idea of where you were up to after 60 mins.  No point spamming for the sake of it and not even finishing.  Do remember that there's limited point in just writing if you're not editing and trying to pinpoint and learn from mistakes afterwards.  Depending on your current situation, you may be able to spend 3 hours better on just one essay (revising, evaluating, etc.) than on bulk-spamming three.