Too slow in writing essays

[Aye Bay Bay]

Oh you poor thing, I had this problem years ago, it's so frustrating isn't it!

My solution was to just spend 10 mins on a plan and 50 mins on the essay, and keep strictly to it, stopping after an hour even if I didn't finish ... even if I had nothing in my head I would just make some crap up which hopefully had some relevance to the topic.

Initially those essays were absolute garbage and were only about 400 words long. But I just kept doing it and gradually I could see word length and quality increasing (word count increasing far more rapidly than quality unfortunately). Slowly you'll train your brain to think quickly on the spot.

Having a plan actually really helped me to write the essay faster because all the thinking was already done in the plan and all I had to do was just write it out in longhand.


(this post would have gone up faster but marbs' display pic hypnotised me. seriously I was sitting here staring at the THATS RACIST kid for like 5 mins )

Can you bring cheat sheets for the English exams?

Hell to the no

[xox.happy1.xox]

Lol, I guess you can write notes in your dictionary, but that would be dishonest, and you would probably get caught by one of the assessors

[vce01]

do they check dictionaries before the start of the exam?

[hard]

i don't think so but it's not like you'd have time to actually check properly since ir'll be too obvious. plus you wouldn't' really know what's going to be on.

[rowshan]

they check dictionaries...i remember in the GAT they opened mine and made sure that i didnt put any notes between the pages...maybe because i was looking shifty.

[danieltennis]

If i were in your position, I start of by writing many practice exams before the exam and remembering them. This is probaly the most effective way. Also, regurly recite quotations, constructs and themematics of the text you doing. I hope this helps

[rowshan]

it still takes absolutely ages for me to write an essay argh! I have identified the problem, my ideas and structure come very slowly, its so friggin hard. Please has anyone overcome this problem? IF they have please tell me how!

[marbs]

Sorry to sound harsh, but it seems like you may need to know you're text more in which ideas can flow more frequently. You could also possibly read more to pick up ideas on writing.

Keep practising essays, by timing yourself. You may also be distracted by other problems, try turning of msn, the phone, music, and close the door, and see if you write faster

[ice_blockie]

Some ideas:
1. Practise planning essays in time conditions. Lock yourself in your room, remove your phone, turn off pc, take out batteries from MP3 or put headphones in a different room, and then bring out the trusty kitchen timer, or stopwatch.

GIVE YOURSELF 10 minutes to write all of an essay plan and then STOP at 10 minutes. Even if it is crap!

2. Now take some time looking over it and fill in stuff you didn't get, checking your notes and everything.

3. Repeat exercise again in about 1 or 2 days. Rip up old plan and see if you can redo the same plan WITHOUT MEMORISING THE FIRST ONE.

4. Then try it again after 1 week, then 2 weeks.

Repeat this for how many essay topics you have. Never memorise the essay plan you had before, since the purpose is for you to recall ideas not the words or sentences you wrote down. Of course you can memorise the quotes and evidence...

If you've mastered this, instead of writing essay plans, write essays in under 50 minutes. TO A TIMER. When the time stops no matter how crap or how far you've done, that's it.

Just a suggestion, try it!

[rowshan]

Well, i did it, wrote a Text response and Language analysis in two hours. Hrmmm looks like it is possible. My text response was a rehashing of previously done practice essays so i guess i just need to have a more in depth knowledge of the text.

[Amnesiac]

Don't worry. It all comes with time. Everybody needs to do practice essays if they are going to perform at their optimum level in the exam - it's just common sense.

I've done a few text essays and an issues analysis so far, but now i'm going to try and do 2 essays a week. I time them all and it's never a problem. I just had a problem of structuring my paragraphs in a weird way, but my teacher helped me fix it. As you complete more essays you'll find that your ability to write under pressure will be highly increase, and your ideas + writing style will also be improved dramatically.