Education

Essays – it’s all in the planning!

You have to write a 10,000 word essay and it’s going to be the key to the grade that you earn. Rather than rushing into it and spilling everything on to your paper take your time. Plan how your are going to structure your essay, what research you need to do, what key arguments you are going to use and how much time per day you are going to put into this. Planning could be the most important part of this essay.

Firstly plan your schedule

How are you going to do this? Are you going to rush out to the library, gather all the literature you need and then cram it all into one night or are you going to schedule this wisely.

Essays

When is it due in? What lectures do you have in the meantime? What other things do you have planned? Make sure you think about how much time this will take you overall and then break it down into chunks of 1-2 hours per day. If you have a week to do it and it is going to take you 10-12 hours make sure you plan in an hours planning, an hours research and then bite size chunks of writing time. For example you may want to plan two hours to write the introduction and then 4 hours to with the body text with a further two hours for the conclusion/summary. You may break down the 4 hour body text into 2-3 sessions. By tackling this bit by bit you will be able to eat this proverbial element in small pieces. You will be fresher and have new inspiration each time you come back to it if you do it in smaller chunks and it won’t seem like such a monumental task.

What research do you need to do?

Is it a case of going to the library for an hour and then spending an hour on the internet looking for relevant sources or will you need longer or maybe less time? Plan it in to the schedule so that you have time to research, time to plan and time to write. Research will expose you to much more content than you would have got from your tutor and you will pick up many points of reference and knowledge than if you don’t research.

Essays

Structuring your essay

Essay writing service oxbridgeessays.com offer lots of tips on structuring and writing essays. As part of your plan it’s really important to plan out the various sections and write notes about what you are going to include in each section and start scribbling down these notes. You can make a mind map of how you see the essay maybe writing a few structural circles on the page and then making notes on each of these and then sub notes on each of the notes.

Structuring your essay

Writing time

This needs to be quiet time, uninterrupted and without distraction. Switch your mobile off, tell everyone you are going off to study for a couple of hours and then go somewhere quiet where you can focus. Schedule these times in and plan where they will take place. When the time comes you will be able to shut yourself away with just you and your books and write a great essay.