Tips on Writing a Good Essay in an Exam

Exams can be stressful, and essay questions often seem like some of the most intimidating components. However, there are a few simple steps that you can take to make sure that your essays come out well-written and organized. With some preparation and effort, you can ace any essay question thrown at you during an exam. Here are some tips on how to write a good essay during an exam.

How to Write a  Good Essay in an Exam

Start Your Essay Early

The best way to ensure that your exam essay comes out well-written is to start writing it early. This means jotting down ideas as soon as possible after reading the question, organizing your thoughts into paragraphs, and crafting sentences from those paragraphs. This way, when the time comes for you to actually write the essay in full during the exam, you will already have the basic structure worked out, so all you need to do is fill in the blanks.

Many times, the first few options that appear in our mind after seeing the topic are the best information we have about that topic.

Create an Outline

Creating an outline before beginning your essay will help keep it organized by helping you prioritize what information should go where based on its relevance to the topic at hand. Start by brainstorming ideas and key points related to each aspect of the question; this will make it easier to determine which points should come first and which ones should be saved for later in your paper. 

An outline will also help you keep track of time while writing; if you give yourself a certain number of minutes per bullet point or section of your paper, it will be easier to stay focused and finish within the allotted time frame for taking the exam.

Proofread Your Work

Once your essay is finished, take a few minutes at the end of your testing period to proofread it one last time before submitting it. Since most exams don’t allow students enough time to revise their work thoroughly, this is especially important because even small errors, such as spelling or incorrect grammar, could significantly hurt your grade if they aren’t caught quickly enough. 

Proofreading takes just a few minutes but can save hours' worth of points off your final grade!

Final Words

Writing an effective essay during an exam requires planning and taking advantage of every minute available for writing. With the tips mentioned above, we hope that future exams won't seem quite so intimidating after all! Good luck!