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How to Finish an Essay Fast(er)? 10 Fast MUST-KNOW Tips & Tricks

If you're strapped for time, here are some hints that can help you get that paper finished in less than half an hour.
December 15, 2020
8 mins read

There are several reasons why one might want to finish their essay faster. Maybe a student just wants to be done with the task as quickly as possible. After all, academic life is pretty overwhelming and packed with assignments and events.

To be honest, the fastest way to get a narrative essay done is to ask an essay writer service for help. It takes a couple of minutes to place an order on an essay writer service, and then you are free to do anything else. But if you want to know how to finish an essay fast on your own, the following tips will help you.

A woman on her staircase trying to find out how to finish an essay fast
Photo by Callum T on Unsplash

Conduct Preliminary Research

It is possible to do everything in 20 minutes only if you know the topic you are writing about perfectly. For example, if the subject of an informative essay is something like “the impact of technology on social communications” or “the most impactful event of the 20th century,” you probably know how to write a 1000-word essay quickly without extensive research for that topic.

Yet, if you need to check something or refer to a source, do it before writing. Use course materials or sources your professor gave, as well as search engines such as Google Scholar. Put in notes and references directly into the document. Use the Google Scholar feature that allows you to copy and paste already formatted references.

Turn Off All Distractions

It might seem like a no-brainer, but many students still forget about this point. If you need to study fast or revise something, it is necessary to turn all distractions off.

The same goes for writing a paper in a hurry. Turn off your phone and social media notifications. Make sure there’s no TV noise, music, or anything that steals your attention. Concentrate on one thing at a time.

Get Resources Ready

Have everything you need right beside you. That includes any resources you are going to reference, books you might need to check with, or lecture notes.

There is no time for searching for something at the stage of actual writing. Also, have all the drafts and documents open. Do not forget about APA, MLA, or other style guidelines for an essay.

Plan Your Time

To finish a narrative essay in 20 minutes, you need to divide your time into at least three chunks. The first one is outlining and planning, then writing and editing.

You can also set the timer to make sure that you do everything according to the plan. You need to know exactly what you are going to do at each step. You can divide time like: five minutes to plan and outline, 10 minutes for writing, and five minutes for proofreading.

Don’t Neglect the Outline

Plenty of essays follow the standard outline. The expectation of an informative essay is that it will educate readers on the topic. Creating an outline will help you to know exactly what to write in each part.

Use a standard outline from the best colleges: It includes an introduction, the main body of three paragraphs, and a conclusion. Plan out how many words will be in each part according to the volume of the assignment. You can also put the references and any draft ideas right in the outline.

Devise a Thesis Statement

Read through the question you were asked once again and make sure you understand what the lecturer wants you to cover. It is what your thesis statement needs to address.

The thesis statement goes in the introduction and tells what the paper is about and what are the key points you are going to dwell on. Look at more tips here. It should be an intriguing, interesting and solid sentence. After all, it shapes the paper in general, including the arguments or the main points of the essay.

As a hook, one can use interesting life examples, personal stories or claims, depending on the topic and the subject.

A student learning how to finish an essay fast
Photo by Wes Hicks on Unsplash

Start With the Main Body

One of the secrets that many undergraduate and graduate students miss is starting from the middle. The introduction and the conclusion are usually much harder to formulate.

They should address what you’ve covered in the main body. It is much easier to write those parts when your main body is already finished. This way one will know exactly what has been addressed and what are the main focal points of the paper.

Start working on the paper with the main body as it is easier and more convenient.

Use Voice Typing

Another great hack to write something quickly is to use the Google voice typing feature. It is generally much faster to say something than to write or type the same line. And you can proofread it as you go.

Even a Master’s student might be a slow typer, and when the time is strictly limited, every minute counts. Consider this feature as a helping tool when you need to do something fast.

Use Proofreading Tools

When you are in a hurry, it is easy to miss something — for example, a typo or a small mistake. And these tiny errors can influence your grade. Of course, you should read the narrative essay yourself once it’s done and figure out whether it is logical and concise.

Make sure that each paragraph of the main body starts with the claiming sentence. Also, eliminate errors as you go. Consider using the Grammarly proofreading tool to make sure that everything is perfect. It is free to use and helps you spot grammatical, spelling, and style errors.

Check the Formatting

Now it is time to create a title page and make sure that the whole paper is formatted correctly.

Doublecheck the word count, check the references one more time, as well as the citations. Also, make sure that the document is formatted according to the assignment’s requirements. Looks like you are good to go!

In Summary

Writing a narrative essay quickly is quite possible. You need to prepare all the materials and resources and have a distinctive plan. In order to finish an essay fast, start with the middle, use technology to type faster and proofread, and do not get distracted.

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