Start Writing Timed Practice Essays
No one enjoys sitting down and working on timed essays, except maybe this person. For most people, it's hard to commit to setting everything else aside, going into a quiet room, setting an alarm and completing a practice essay exam. While setting a timer for yourself might seem to make the task more unpleasant, it's actually a way to guarantee that you'll be replicating an actual essay exam situation and that you'll get through with an essay without letting it drag on for days.
Because many exams require that you write persuasive essays, it may be a good idea to start your practice with one. Give yourself an hour and a quiet room. You can hand-write or type your essay. Because many standardized exams offer only the option of completing your test on a computer, it's not a bad idea to practice on one.
For a timed exam, you'll be presented with an essay topic. For your practice session, you can do a quick online search for persuasive essay topics to come up with one that you're comfortable writing about, but with which you're not overly familiar. Remember that you want to capture the experience of taking an actual essay exam.
For some exams, you may be provided with some short excerpts of sources weighing in on each side of an issue you'll have to write about. So that you'll have some source material to work with for your practice session, take a few minutes to do a bit of quick, informal research through online searches to get an idea of a couple of points on each side of the issue. Make a note of those points. As you write your practice essay, you can use them as you discuss points in favor of and opposed to your position.
Set a timer for 30 minutes, which is often around how much time you'll have for any one essay in an essay exam. But, be sure to check the rules provided for whatever test or class you're preparing for.
Here's a set of Four Steps that you can follow as you use your time:
- Come up with a working thesis statement. This will be your main point or position in your essay. Take about a minute to do this.
- Sketch out an outline of your major points. You can do this on a sheet of scratch paper or use a separate document on your computer. The outline shouldn't be formal; just work on planning out your major points for your argument. Remember to make use of the quick research that you did as you plan your points. Take around three minutes to do this.
- Write at least three body paragraphs, making one major argumentative point in each one. You can use your points from your quick research to support your argument, and you should also address and argue against at least one opposing point that you found. Take about 18 minutes to write these paragraphs.
- Write your introductory and concluding paragraphs. In your introduction, give a quick preview of the major points in your essay, and include your thesis statement at the end. In your conclusion, drive home your strongest point and sum up your major arguments. Take the final 8 minutes or so to do this.
You'll want to do as many of these essay practice sessions as you can, but before you start on your next session, you'll need to evaluate your essay.
Learn How to Evaluate Your Writing
You could write your own practice essays all day long every day, but you'll only make true headway once you work on becoming skilled at evaluating your own writing. Luckily, you can develop an easy-to-use evaluation checklist to guide you through the process of reviewing your own work. As you go back through your essay to figure out if it's any good, ask yourself these questions:
- Do I have a clear thesis that conveys my main point?
- Does each body paragraph contain a clear, logical argument?
- Have I supported my points with specific facts and examples?
- Are my body paragraphs organized in a logical way?
- Have I made smooth transitions between paragraphs?
- Are my introductory and concluding paragraphs clear and effective?
- Have I made grammatical errors?
Consider these questions one at a time as you review your practice essay. If you find that you haven't done something as effectively as you'd like, consider how you might strengthen that aspect of your paper and focus on improving that area of your writing during your next practice session.
Lesson Summary
Two of the hardest parts of practicing essay writing are finding time to sit down and write and being able to know if what you've written is any good. But, by having a game plan, you'll be in a good position to start improving your writing.
First, know your weaknesses and work on turning them into strengths. Second, focus on essay structure in order to understand the fundamental building blocks of good essays. Third, start writing timed practice essays to get the rhythm of how to put those building blocks together effectively. Fourth, learn how to evaluate your own writing so that you can make each practice essay that you write better than the last.
With a plan and some practice, you can make real, measurable improvements in your skills and just maybe make all of those essay-writing dreams come true.
Learning Outcomes
From this lesson, you should be able to:
- Describe four steps that will help you practice writing essays under timed conditions
- Explain how to evaluate your own essays in order to improve your essay writing