Outlining
Whether in the form of lists, clusters of balloons, or idea maps, outlines are a key strategy when answering timed and revisable essay prompts. The best way to determine your individual prewriting strategy is to practice outlining. Outlines can help you stay on track if you feel lost during an essay, so the stronger the outline, the more you’ll stay focused. Prior to a test, try to predict three to five possible essay topics and outline a possible essay response for each. If you can successfully identify and outline essay topics before the exam, you will have an advantage when answering the timed essay.
Study Skills
The more you can prepare for the exam itself, the easier you will find timed writing. Study for a timed essay like you would any other exam format: read the assigned texts, attend the lectures, take detailed notes, form study groups, and create a study guide or flashcards. As you study, look for general themes in the subject matter and consider how your professor has approached the material. Do you anticipate essay questions that ask you to synthesize material from several aspects of the course or to go into detail about some specific areas the course has focused on?
Time Management: Short Answer Questions and Essay Prompts
Many essay exams include both short-answer and long-answer questions. How you budget your time during the test depends on whether you are a single-draft or multi-draft writer.
Single Draft Writers
These writers usually think about a prompt for several minutes before writing. They work well under pressure and prefer to “churn out” an essay at the last minute. Once they have finished an essay, they do not usually make any substantial changes.
After reading over all the essay questions, single draft writers should respond to shorter answer questions first before moving onto the final essay. This strategy will allow single draft writers to feel positive pressure during the essay exam and motivate them to complete a longer essay faster.
Multi-Draft Writers
These writers immediately start jotting ideas as they read the essay prompt. Multi-draft writers usually draft and revise outlines before drafting an essay response. As they write, multi-draft writers will usually stop after each paragraph to edit and revise. Unlike single-draft writers, multi-draft writers prefer to compose in an environment without time limits
After reading over all the essay questions, multi-draft writers should briefly outline responses to short answer questions before tackling the long essay first. Because they usually do not work well under pressure, multi-draft writers should return to short answer questions once they have completed a satisfactory long essay, because the long essay is generally worth a greater amount of points.
