How to Write an Essay Paper Overnight: Writing Technologies from Masters
Believe it or not, if you’ve waited to write that essay the night before it’s due—there’s still time. You just have to follow a very systematic essay writing method to ensure that you’ll be finished in time with a quality product. Here’s how to do it:
- Gather your materials.
That means your sources, your dictionary, your thesaurus—everything you need. Nothing slows down paper writing the way going to search for something you didn’t realize you need does. Get the source text you need and anything else required so that you can settle in and begin writing.
- Prepare your rations.
Just as a soldier on his post is prepared with all of the nourishment he needs to last throughout his mission, you should be ready as well. If you’re going to be writing through a meal time, make sure you have that much food on hand. Have easy to eat snacks and beverages that require no preparation nearby, so that you don’t have an excuse to leave your post! That could mean sandwiches, fruit, chips, soda, coffee—whatever keeps you going, prepare it so that it’s ready at a moment’s notice.
- Create an outline.
At some point in your high school career, you probably decided that writing an outline was a waste of time. And given the level at which high school essays were written, you were probably right. News flash: outline writing isn’t a useless skill. In fact, it’s actually a very, very useful skill, when it comes to writing essays more advanced than high school level. If you create a detailed outline as you research it can be the most effective strategy possible for writing an essay quickly and in a well organized manner.
- Cite references as you write.
Plenty of students think they’re saving time by slamming out a rough draft without attendant citations, with the intention of going back and adding the necessary references afterward. Not only does this take longer for even short essays, but as essays increase in length it can end up wasting hours. If you have to cite references with an essay, enter the reference in your works cited list immediately and add your in text citations as you write. That way, when you’re done writing, the only task you have left is putting the (already written) citations on the reference page into alphabetical order.
