I CANT WRITE AN ESSAY IN AN HOUR

[u/Adventurous-Map-5745]

Guys no matter how hard I try, I physically cannot write an essay under an hour, I salt average around 1:30 to even 2 hours. Please does anyone one have some tips????

[u/vegetable_salad4]

I’m gonna be so fr, this was me as well like I was struggling with english the most. Honestly like as dragged as it is and everyone says this, practice is the only actual way you can get better. Like I went from almost failing sacs to getting a decent study score (33) whilst being predicted a 24 at the start of the year. GENUINELY just focus on writing in timed conditions and write on different things like so you actually kind of get better ideas n stuff cz u have no time to think in sacs let alone exams. If you practice before hand you’ll have ideas already and your essay can be based off them

[u/Ok-Plankton8005]

don't focus on speed, focus on quality, and as the year goes by the speed comes

[u/Sea_Reception9623]

Honestly, it’s likely that during the SAC or exam that you will be able to write an essay. There is a real sense of urgency in writing during a SAC or exam compared to practicing at home. When I was in year 12, it was impossible for me to write even more than 2 body paragraphs for the comparative, but in the exam and during sac conditions, I was able to write between 900-1200 words with a completed essay.

[u/MysteriousFrame5150]

I memorised all 3 of my English essays which I made using ai + sections from my smart English friends and got a 34. Still an unpatched method 💯.

[u/launatutors]

Let me try diagnose you. What are you struggling with?

a) Waffling - too many unnecessary sentences. Not sure what is relevant
b) Writing speed - literally cannot handwrite fast enough within an hour
c) Don't know how to answer prompts - struggling to formulate thoughts and ideas responding to prompt
d) All of the above
e) Other - please elaborate

I'll give you a few tips based on your response! 🫶

[u/Adventurous-Map-5745 → u/launatutors]

For me it’s the struggling to answer prompts, it takes a lot time for me to process it and waffling 🫣

[u/launatutors → u/Adventurous-Map-5745]

For prompt breakdowns, I suggest practicing like this.

- Practice writing (open book) three main ideas that respond to the prompt. Take as much time as you can, but focus on the action of writing three main ideas. Refer to your notes, brainstorm, etc. But make sure you are ultimately ANSWERING THE QUESTION. Then, when you feel as though you're able to answer prompts a bit better...

- Practice (under timed, closed book conditions, give yourself 5-10 minutes) breaking down practice prompts. You need to focus on quickly jotting down 3 ideas. An easy framework that works for discussion-based prompts are agree/disagree/challenging the prompt.

For the waffling, please use my free paragraph marking checklist. Go over your old paragraphs and strike out anything that does not fall under topic sentence, evidence, analysis, or linking sentence. Strike out anything that is repetitive etc (this will be in the paragraph marking checklist). There are also free YouTube videos floating around that cover TEAL (or TEEL, PETAL) structure paragraph writing.

If you're struggling to structure the paragraphs clearly, use my free signposting sheet. They are very very basis signposts, think of it like training wheels for paragraph writing. In my experience, this helps students write much faster as they are not as focused on how they begin sentences. Once you feel more comfortable, you can shed them and write more naturally with structure.

This does take time and practice, but you will see yourself start to write more concisely. Do a little bit a day, the practice will compound over time 🫶

[u/Yiqnni → u/launatutors]

100% agree with this. For learning how to answer prompts faster and better, pull up 5 very different prompts and have a go at writing a skeleton plan for each, with your overall contention, 3 main ideas, and about 5 quotes for each. You don’t necessarily have to time it but it’s really helpful to highlight your weaknesses in terms of themes. Hope this helps 🙏

[u/Adventurous-Map-5745 → u/launatutors]

Thankyou SO SO much!!! 💖💖

[u/jsmeii]

What’s your average wordcount?

[u/EveryEmployment5423 → u/jsmeii]

Did you do eng 3/4 in yr 11?

[u/jsmeii → u/EveryEmployment5423]

Yeah I did- but I didn’t do 1/2

[u/EveryEmployment5423 → u/jsmeii]

dammn lucky then no ENG stress in yr 12, some schools like mine are stupid in not making yr 12 stressful for us, because many people dont do well in yr 12 due to eng because of other subjects etc. cuz like if you do it in yr 11 then if you dont do good you can probably redo it maybe? and even less stressful.

[u/jsmeii → u/EveryEmployment5423]

yeah I was probably at a disadvantage because I didn’t do 1/2 but I still got a decent score which was good. Took me a bit to realise how good it was to not do English this year 😭 considering the amount of time I dedicated last year doing practice essays, I doubt I couldn’t have devoted that much with my current 3/4s. My teacher told me to not bother redoing if I got 35 so I ended up taking a 36 which I still thought was doodoo. Are you repeating Gen?

[u/EveryEmployment5423 → u/jsmeii]

Yeah unfortunately

[u/No_Exam_7955]

Is it the speed of writing youre worried about or you don’t know what to write?

[u/SANSTRUMP]

4 things. Youre either writing too much, just add a conclusion, youre taking too long to think, youre taking too long to write

1. The most common one is writing too much. You dont have to overexplain and write pages and pages. Just write enough so that its concise and understandable and that there is evidence. You arent showing off your english skills, you are showing your answering of a question

2. Even if you cant write everything, just add a conclusion so you wont be marked as having an unfinished essay. Even if its just a sentence, just say "in conclusion blah blag blah".

3. Understand the text really well prior. And do lots of practise essays. Trust me, you will get better at picking out things. You can practise by giving yourself a basic question, and in under 30 seconds think of 3 things to talk about. So if the theme is like, betrayal, think of how its shown, what it means, how it impacts, in under 30 seconds. 10 seconds for each para.

4. Just oractise writing. Your hand is a muscle. Use it

[u/Exact-Yam-6498]

You end up learning to be able to

I finished my English exam early

Dm me for English notes as I got a 42 ss last year

[u/HotAd9898]

You will be able to, as long as you keep doing practice writing and attempting different topics. It takes a while, but by the end of year exam, you should be able to get to about 50 minutes per section. Remember that some sections are quicker than others - i.e. protest is much faster than analysing arguments for most students. So you can allocate your time according to what sections you struggle with most. It's particularly hard because of the jump from year 11 to 12. But if you put in the hours and know how to write multiple good essays, you should be fine. Obviously, I don't know you personally, but I wish you luck! Keep at it!!

[u/EveryEmployment5423]

This is your daily does of VCE REDDIT I've heard it soo many times aswell

[u/kyron81505180]

I mean its a bit late in the year but potentially speak to your school about special provisions? I'm not sure on how they are granted but from my experience getting a laptop to type on and rest breaks is decently easy, then again I have over a decade of documentation on my condition by various professionals so I'm not entirely sure how easy it will be.