When I was in high school, I did anything to avoid writing essays—I loathed them, to say the least. It was only until I started my journey in university and accidently enrolled in an all essay-based program that I began to tolerate writing essays. Like many university students, I struggled in my first year and even more in my second. It was only in third year that I mastered the notoriously hated essay writing and started receiving the highest marks I have ever gotten in my university career. How you ask? I literally, no joke, leave writing essays to the last minute. I’m talking either the day before or sometimes even the day of!
You’re probably incredibly skeptical right now and thinking “is this girl crazy?” You might be thinking that there is no way you could ditch the prepping and stressing over an essay worth 40% of your grade. I only ask that you hear me out.
The reason why this works is because of pressure, focus, and time.
Think of all the reasons why writing essays suck: you get easily distracted, you are not excited about the topic, and maybe for most of you, you spend most of the time second guessing and changing your essay rather than finishing the thing. When I write last minute, I feel the urgency of getting it done and the only thing on my mind is to hammer it out. I find I am less distracted, I am always staying on task due to the limited time, and the pressure to finish has me motivated throughout. I write without stopping, keeping ideas flowing and putting all my ideas on paper. It is only until after that I read over the final work that I make my edits and changes.
Since I have begun this new “lifestyle,” I have noticed my grades improve, my ability to work under pressure strengthen, and most importantly, I have realized that my stress levels go down. I have encouraged others to try this method of writing, even the biggest planners of them all, and they have reported back to me saying they too had success! One of my closest friends admitted to getting the first 90 she has ever received on an essay.
Although I understand this may not be for everyone, I still urge you to try it out—maybe take baby steps and do this experiment on a 5% paper rather than a 40% paper. If you are a die-hard planner or it’s a paper that involves a lot of research, plan it out like they taught you in high school: good old hamburger-model style. Plan it out, get a sense of what you’re writing, but try to write it in ONE shot.