Writing an Essay Overnight When Deadline is Tomorrow

Essay is due tomorrow morning, you haven’t yet written a single line and have no idea what and how you are going to write. Everybody whom you asked for help or advice shrugs it off and says there is nothing to give advice about. Do you recognize yourself? If yes, then read these five tips – they are simple, but they will help the next time you are in a pinch. 1.  Write up a Plan Reread the essay prompt and make sure you clearly understand the question and what you are supposed to write about. Write down the plan of your future essay. Then take a little bit of time and add detail to each point: what you should mention and where, what arguments to use and so on. And only after that set about writing, elaborating on each point even further. All this may look like a terrible waste of time when you haven’t a minute to spare, but trust us: it will save you time and effort in the long run. 2.  Just Write Something The most difficult part of writing an essay is writing the first sentence. After you’ve done it, the rest follows much more smoothly. But what to do if you have a writer’s block, if you are so paralyzed with panic and fear of not finishing the essay on time that you cannot think about anything to start with? The answer is simple: after you’ve made up your plan, just write anything at all and try to continue writing without deleting it immediately after. Once the page is no longer blank, you will be able to rally your thoughts. 3.  Get to the Point Even if you are severely pressed for time, don’t try to reach the wordcount by writing all kinds of random stuff, piling up adjectives, adding unnecessary details and so on. Get down to business immediately, make yourself as clear as possible, avoid prettyisms that do nothing but add a few extra words and sidetrack the reader. 4.  Eliminate Distractions No music, no TV, no phone calls, period. You probably will need the Internet to write and get information, so you can’t remove it, the most horrible of all distractions. So just make sure you don’t go surfing the net. If you don’t trust yourself, use software that blocks the most common online distractions (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). 5.  Revision Is a Must Even if you have been writing well into the small hours, don’t omit revising the essay. You do it out of subconscious fear that it is going to turn out awful and you will have to start over. Avoid this temptation and reread it slowly and carefully, imagining your reaction if you were a reader. Would you be persuaded? Do you understand all points perfectly? Are there any grammar mistakes? And whatever you do – don’t panic. Calm down – any task takes exactly as much time as is assigned to it, so you are probably better off than those who spent days writing this essay. Don’t be afraid of being late, and you will finish your essay on time.