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College Essays

Figuring out your college essay can be one of the most difficult parts of applying to college. Even once you've read the prompt and picked a topic, you might wonder: if you write too much or too little, will you blow your chance of admission? How long should a college essay be?

Whether you're a terse writer or a loquacious one, we can advise you on college essay length. In this guide, we'll cover what the standard college essay length is, how much word limits matter, and what to do if you aren't sure how long a specific essay should be.

How Long Is a College Essay? First, Check the Word Limit

You might be used to turning in your writing assignments on a page-limit basis (for example, a 10-page paper). While some colleges provide page limits for their college essays, most use a word limit instead. This makes sure there's a standard length for all the essays that a college receives, regardless of formatting or font.

In the simplest terms, your college essay should be pretty close to, but not exceeding, the word limit in length. Think within 50 words as the lower bound, with the word limit as the upper bound. So for a 500-word limit essay, try to get somewhere between 450-500 words. If they give you a range, stay within that range.

College essay prompts usually provide the word limit right in the prompt or in the instructions.

For example, the University of Illinois says :

"You'll answer two to three prompts as part of your application. The questions you'll answer will depend on whether you're applying to a major or to our undeclared program , and if you've selected a second choice . Each response should be approximately 150 words."

As exemplified by the University of Illinois, the shortest word limits for college essays are usually around 150 words (less than half a single-spaced page). Rarely will you see a word limit higher than around 650 words (over one single-spaced page). College essays are usually pretty short: between 150 and 650 words. Admissions officers have to read a lot of them, after all!

Weigh your words carefully, because they are limited!

How Flexible Is the Word Limit?

But how flexible is the word limit? What if your poignant anecdote is just 10 words too long—or 100 too short?

Can I Go Over the Word Limit?

If you are attaching a document and you need one or two extra words, you can probably get away with exceeding the word limit by such a small amount. Some colleges will actually tell you that exceeding the word limit by 1-2 words is fine. However, I advise against exceeding the word limit unless it's explicitly allowed for a few reasons:

First, you might not be able to. If you have to copy-paste it into a text box, your essay might get cut off and you'll have to trim it down anyway.

If you exceed the word limit in a noticeable way, the admissions counselor may just stop reading your essay past that point. This is not good for you.

Following directions is actually a very important part of the college application process. You need to follow directions to get your letters of recommendation, upload your essays, send supplemental materials, get your test scores sent, and so on and so forth. So it's just a good general rule to follow whatever instructions you've been given by the institution. Better safe than sorry!

Can I Go Under the Word Limit?

If you can truly get your point across well beneath the word limit, it's probably fine. Brevity is not necessarily a bad thing in writing just so long as you are clear, cogent, and communicate what you want to.

However, most college essays have pretty tight word limits anyways. So if you're writing 300 words for an essay with a 500-word limit, ask yourself: is there anything more you could say to elaborate on or support your points? Consult with a parent, friend, or teacher on where you could elaborate with more detail or expand your points.

Also, if the college gives you a word range, you absolutely need to at least hit the bottom end of the range. So if you get a range from the institution, like 400-500 words, you need to write at least 400 words. If you write less, it will come across like you have nothing to say, which is not an impression you want to give.

What If There Is No Word Limit?

Some colleges don't give you a word limit for one or more of your essay prompts. This can be a little stressful, but the prompts generally fall into a few categories:

Writing Sample

Some colleges don't provide a hard-and-fast word limit because they want a writing sample from one of your classes. In this case, a word limit would be very limiting to you in terms of which assignments you could select from.

For an example of this kind of prompt, check out essay Option B at Amherst :

"Submit a graded paper from your junior or senior year that best represents your writing skills and analytical abilities. We are particularly interested in your ability to construct a tightly reasoned, persuasive argument that calls upon literary, sociological or historical evidence. You should NOT submit a laboratory report, journal entry, creative writing sample or in-class essay."

While there is usually no word limit per se, colleges sometimes provide a general page guideline for writing samples. In the FAQ for Option B , Amherst clarifies, "There is no hard-and-fast rule for official page limit. Typically, we anticipate a paper of 4-5 pages will provide adequate length to demonstrate your analytical abilities. Somewhat longer papers can also be submitted, but in most cases should not exceed 8-10 pages."

So even though there's no word limit, they'd like somewhere in the 4-10 pages range. High school students are not usually writing papers that are longer than 10 pages anyways, so that isn't very limiting.

Implicit Length Guideline

Sometimes, while there's no word (or even page) limit, there's still an implicit length guideline. What do I mean by this?

See, for example, this Western Washington University prompt :

“Describe one or more activities you have been involved in that have been particularly meaningful. What does your involvement say about the communities, identities or causes that are important to you?”

While there’s no page or word limit listed here, further down on page the ‘essay tips’ section explains that “ most essay responses are about 500 words, ” though “this is only a recommendation, not a firm limit.” This gives you an idea of what’s reasonable. A little longer or shorter than 500 words would be appropriate here. That’s what I mean by an “implicit” word limit—there is a reasonable length you could go to within the boundaries of the prompt.

But what's the proper coffee-to-paragraph ratio?

Treasure Hunt

There is also the classic "treasure hunt" prompt. No, it's not a prompt about a treasure hunt. It's a prompt where there are no length guidelines given, but if you hunt around on the rest of the website you can find length guidelines.

For example, the University of Chicago provides seven "Extended Essay" prompts . You must write an essay in response to one prompt of your choosing, but nowhere on the page is there any guidance about word count or page limit.

However, many colleges provide additional details about their expectations for application materials, including essays, on FAQ pages, which is true of the University of Chicago. On the school’s admissions Frequently Asked Questions page , they provide the following length guidelines for the supplemental essays: 

“We suggest that you note any word limits for Coalition or Common Application essays; however, there are no strict word limits on the UChicago Supplement essays. For the extended essay (where you choose one of several prompts), we suggest that you aim for around 650 words. While we won't, as a rule, stop reading after 650 words, we're only human and cannot promise that an overly wordy essay will hold our attention indefinitely. For the “Why UChicago?” essay, we suggest about 250-500 words. The ideas in your writing matter more than the exact number of words you use!”

So there you go! You want to be (loosely) in the realm of 650 for the extended essay, and 250-500 words for the “Why UChicago?” essay.

Help! There Really Is No Guidance on Length

If you really can't find any length guidelines anywhere on the admissions website and you're at a loss, I advise calling the admissions office. They may not be able to give you an exact number (in fact, they probably won't), but they will probably at least be able to tell you how long most of the essays they see are. (And keep you from writing a panicked, 20-page dissertation about your relationship with your dog).

In general, 500 words or so is pretty safe for a college essay. It's a fairly standard word limit length, in fact. (And if you're wondering, that's about a page and a half double-spaced.) 500 words is long enough to develop a basic idea while still getting a point across quickly—important when admissions counselors have thousands of essays to read!

"See? It says 500 words right there in tiny font!"

The Final Word: How Long Should a College Essay Be?

The best college essay length is usually pretty straightforward: you want to be right under or at the provided word limit. If you go substantially past the word limit, you risk having your essay cut off by an online application form or having the admissions officer just not finish it. And if you're too far under the word limit, you may not be elaborating enough.

What if there is no word limit? Then how long should a college essay be? In general, around 500 words is a pretty safe approximate word amount for a college essay—it's one of the most common word limits, after all!

Here's guidance for special cases and hunting down word limits:

If it's a writing sample of your graded academic work, the length either doesn't matter or there should be some loose page guidelines.

There also may be implicit length guidelines. For example, if a prompt says to write three paragraphs, you'll know that writing six sentences is definitely too short, and two single-spaced pages is definitely too long.

You might not be able to find length guidelines in the prompt, but you could still hunt them up elsewhere on the website. Try checking FAQs or googling your chosen school name with "admissions essay word limit."

If there really is no word limit, you can call the school to try to get some guidance.

With this advice, you can be sure you've got the right college essay length on lockdown!

Hey, writing about yourself can even be fun!

What's Next?

Need to ask a teacher or friend for help with your essay? See our do's and dont's to getting college essay advice .

If you're lacking in essay inspiration, see our guide to brainstorming college essay ideas . And here's our guide to starting out your essay perfectly!

Looking for college essay examples? See 11 places to find college essay examples and 145 essay examples with analysis !

Ellen has extensive education mentorship experience and is deeply committed to helping students succeed in all areas of life. She received a BA from Harvard in Folklore and Mythology and is currently pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University.

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How to Write a College Essay | A Complete Guide & Examples

The college essay can make or break your application. It’s your chance to provide personal context, communicate your values and qualities, and set yourself apart from other students.

A standout essay has a few key ingredients:

• A unique, personal topic
• A compelling, well-structured narrative
• A clear, creative writing style
• Evidence of self-reflection and insight

To achieve this, it’s crucial to give yourself enough time for brainstorming, writing, revision, and feedback.

In this comprehensive guide, we walk you through every step in the process of writing a college admissions essay.

Table of contents

Why do you need a standout essay, start organizing early, choose a unique topic, outline your essay, start with a memorable introduction, write like an artist, craft a strong conclusion, revise and receive feedback, frequently asked questions.

While most of your application lists your academic achievements, your college admissions essay is your opportunity to share who you are and why you’d be a good addition to the university.

Your college admissions essay accounts for about 25% of your application’s total weight一and may account for even more with some colleges making the SAT and ACT tests optional. The college admissions essay may be the deciding factor in your application, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurriculars.

What do colleges look for in an essay?

Admissions officers want to understand your background, personality, and values to get a fuller picture of you beyond your test scores and grades. Here’s what colleges look for in an essay :

• Demonstrated values and qualities
• Vulnerability and authenticity
• Self-reflection and insight
• Creative, clear, and concise writing skills

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

It’s a good idea to start organizing your college application timeline in the summer of your junior year to make your application process easier. This will give you ample time for essay brainstorming, writing, revision, and feedback.

While timelines will vary for each student, aim to spend at least 1–3 weeks brainstorming and writing your first draft and at least 2–4 weeks revising across multiple drafts. Remember to leave enough time for breaks in between each writing and editing stage.

Create an essay tracker sheet

If you’re applying to multiple schools, you will have to juggle writing several essays for each one. We recommend using an essay tracker spreadsheet to help you visualize and organize the following:

• Deadlines and number of essays needed
• Prompt overlap, allowing you to write one essay for similar prompts

You can build your own essay tracker using our free Google Sheets template.

College essay tracker template

Ideally, you should start brainstorming college essay topics the summer before your senior year. Keep in mind that it’s easier to write a standout essay with a unique topic.

If you want to write about a common essay topic, such as a sports injury or volunteer work overseas, think carefully about how you can make it unique and personal. You’ll need to demonstrate deep insight and write your story in an original way to differentiate it from similar essays.

What makes a good topic?

• Meaningful and personal to you
• Uncommon or has an unusual angle
• Reveals something different from the rest of your application

Brainstorming questions

You should do a comprehensive brainstorm before choosing your topic. Here are a few questions to get started:

• What are your top five values? What lived experiences demonstrate these values?
• What adjectives would your friends and family use to describe you?
• What challenges or failures have you faced and overcome? What lessons did you learn from them?
• What makes you different from your classmates?
• What are some objects that represent your identity, your community, your relationships, your passions, or your goals?
• Whom do you admire most? Why?
• What three people have significantly impacted your life? How did they influence you?

How to identify your topic

Here are two strategies for identifying a topic that demonstrates your values:

• Start with your qualities : First, identify positive qualities about yourself; then, brainstorm stories that demonstrate these qualities.
• Start with a story : Brainstorm a list of memorable life moments; then, identify a value shown in each story.

After choosing your topic, organize your ideas in an essay outline , which will help keep you focused while writing. Unlike a five-paragraph academic essay, there’s no set structure for a college admissions essay. You can take a more creative approach, using storytelling techniques to shape your essay.

Two common approaches are to structure your essay as a series of vignettes or as a single narrative.

Vignettes structure

The vignette, or montage, structure weaves together several stories united by a common theme. Each story should demonstrate one of your values or qualities and conclude with an insight or future outlook.

This structure gives the admissions officer glimpses into your personality, background, and identity, and shows how your qualities appear in different areas of your life.

Topic: Museum with a “five senses” exhibit of my experiences

• Introduction: Tour guide introduces my museum and my “Making Sense of My Heritage” exhibit
• Story: Racial discrimination with my eyes
• Lesson: Using my writing to document truth
• Story: Broadway musical interests
• Lesson: Finding my voice
• Story: Smells from family dinner table
• Lesson: Appreciating home and family
• Story: Washing dishes
• Lesson: Finding moments of peace in busy schedule
• Story: Biking with Ava
• Lesson: Finding pleasure in job well done
• Conclusion: Tour guide concludes tour, invites guest to come back for “fall College Collection,” featuring my search for identity and learning.

Single story structure

The single story, or narrative, structure uses a chronological narrative to show a student’s character development over time. Some narrative essays detail moments in a relatively brief event, while others narrate a longer journey spanning months or years.

Single story essays are effective if you have overcome a significant challenge or want to demonstrate personal development.

Topic: Sports injury helps me learn to be a better student and person

• Situation: Football injury
• Challenge: Friends distant, teachers don’t know how to help, football is gone for me
• Turning point: Starting to like learning in Ms. Brady’s history class; meeting Christina and her friends
• My reactions: Reading poetry; finding shared interest in poetry with Christina; spending more time studying and with people different from me
• Insight: They taught me compassion and opened my eyes to a different lifestyle; even though I still can’t play football, I’m starting a new game

Brainstorm creative insights or story arcs

Regardless of your essay’s structure, try to craft a surprising story arc or original insights, especially if you’re writing about a common topic.

Never exaggerate or fabricate facts about yourself to seem interesting. However, try finding connections in your life that deviate from cliché storylines and lessons.

Admissions officers read thousands of essays each year, and they typically spend only a few minutes reading each one. To get your message across, your introduction , or hook, needs to grab the reader’s attention and compel them to read more..

Avoid starting your introduction with a famous quote, cliché, or reference to the essay itself (“While I sat down to write this essay…”).

While you can sometimes use dialogue or a meaningful quotation from a close family member or friend, make sure it encapsulates your essay’s overall theme.

Find an original, creative way of starting your essay using the following two methods.

Option 1: Start with an intriguing hook

Begin your essay with an unexpected statement to pique the reader’s curiosity and compel them to carefully read your essay. A mysterious introduction disarms the reader’s expectations and introduces questions that can only be answered by reading more.

Option 2: Start with vivid imagery

Illustrate a clear, detailed image to immediately transport your reader into your memory. You can start in the middle of an important scene or describe an object that conveys your essay’s theme.

A college application essay allows you to be creative in your style and tone. As you draft your essay, try to use interesting language to enliven your story and stand out .

Show, don’t tell

“Tell” in writing means to simply state a fact: “I am a basketball player.” “ Show ” in writing means to use details, examples, and vivid imagery to help the reader easily visualize your memory: “My heart races as I set up to shoot一two seconds, one second一and score a three-pointer!”

First, reflect on every detail of a specific image or scene to recall the most memorable aspects.

• What are the most prominent images?
• Are there any particular sounds, smells, or tastes associated with this memory?
• What emotion or physical feeling did you have at that time?

Be vulnerable to create an emotional response

You don’t have to share a huge secret or traumatic story, but you should dig deep to express your honest feelings, thoughts, and experiences to evoke an emotional response. Showing vulnerability demonstrates humility and maturity. However, don’t exaggerate to gain sympathy.

Use appropriate style and tone

Make sure your essay has the right style and tone by following these guidelines:

• Use a conversational yet respectful tone: less formal than academic writing, but more formal than texting your friends.
• Prioritize using “I” statements to highlight your perspective.
• Write within your vocabulary range to maintain an authentic voice.
• Write concisely, and use the active voice to keep a fast pace.
• Follow grammar rules (unless you have valid stylistic reasons for breaking them).

You should end your college essay with a deep insight or creative ending to leave the reader with a strong final impression. Your college admissions essay should avoid the following:

• Summarizing what you already wrote
• Stating your hope of being accepted to the school
• Mentioning character traits that should have been illustrated in the essay, such as “I’m a hard worker”

Here are two strategies to craft a strong conclusion.

Option 1: Full circle, sandwich structure

The full circle, or sandwich, structure concludes the essay with an image, idea, or story mentioned in the introduction. This strategy gives the reader a strong sense of closure.

In the example below, the essay concludes by returning to the “museum” metaphor that the writer opened with.

Option 2: Revealing your insight

You can use the conclusion to show the insight you gained as a result of the experiences you’ve described. Revealing your main message at the end creates suspense and keeps the takeaway at the forefront of your reader’s mind.

Revise your essay before submitting it to check its content, style, and grammar. Get feedback from no more than two or three people.

It’s normal to go through several rounds of revision, but take breaks between each editing stage.

Also check out our college essay examples to see what does and doesn’t work in an essay and the kinds of changes you can make to improve yours.

Respect the word count

Most schools specify a word count for each essay , and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit.

Remain under the specified word count limit to show you can write concisely and follow directions. However, don’t write too little, which may imply that you are unwilling or unable to write a thoughtful and developed essay.

Check your content, style, and grammar

• First, check big-picture issues of message, flow, and clarity.
• Then, check for style and tone issues.
• Finally, focus on eliminating grammar and punctuation errors.

Get feedback

Get feedback from 2–3 people who know you well, have good writing skills, and are familiar with college essays.

• Teachers and guidance counselors can help you check your content, language, and tone.
• Friends and family can check for authenticity.
• An essay coach or editor has specialized knowledge of college admissions essays and can give objective expert feedback.

The checklist below helps you make sure your essay ticks all the boxes.

College admissions essay checklist

I’ve organized my essay prompts and created an essay writing schedule.

I’ve done a comprehensive brainstorm for essay topics.

I’ve selected a topic that’s meaningful to me and reveals something different from the rest of my application.

I’ve created an outline to guide my structure.

I’ve crafted an introduction containing vivid imagery or an intriguing hook that grabs the reader’s attention.

I’ve written my essay in a way that shows instead of telling.

I’ve shown positive traits and values in my essay.

I’ve demonstrated self-reflection and insight in my essay.

I’ve used appropriate style and tone .

I’ve concluded with an insight or a creative ending.

I’ve revised my essay , checking my overall message, flow, clarity, and grammar.

I’ve respected the word count , remaining within 10% of the upper word limit.

Congratulations!

It looks like your essay ticks all the boxes. A second pair of eyes can help you take it to the next level – Scribbr's essay coaches can help.

Colleges want to be able to differentiate students who seem similar on paper. In the college application essay , they’re looking for a way to understand each applicant’s unique personality and experiences.

Your college essay accounts for about 25% of your application’s weight. It may be the deciding factor in whether you’re accepted, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurricular track records.

A standout college essay has several key ingredients:

• A unique, personally meaningful topic
• A memorable introduction with vivid imagery or an intriguing hook
• Specific stories and language that show instead of telling
• Vulnerability that’s authentic but not aimed at soliciting sympathy
• Clear writing in an appropriate style and tone
• A conclusion that offers deep insight or a creative ending

While timelines will differ depending on the student, plan on spending at least 1–3 weeks brainstorming and writing the first draft of your college admissions essay , and at least 2–4 weeks revising across multiple drafts. Don’t forget to save enough time for breaks between each writing and editing stage.

You should already begin thinking about your essay the summer before your senior year so that you have plenty of time to try out different topics and get feedback on what works.

Most college application portals specify a word count range for your essay, and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit to write a developed and thoughtful essay.

You should aim to stay under the specified word count limit to show you can follow directions and write concisely. However, don’t write too little, as it may seem like you are unwilling or unable to write a detailed and insightful narrative about yourself.

If no word count is specified, we advise keeping your essay between 400 and 600 words.

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How Long Should Your College Essays Be?

Cait Williams is a Content Writer at Scholarships360. Cait recently graduated from Ohio University with a degree in Journalism and Strategic Communications. During her time at OU, was active in the outdoor recreation community.

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Bill Jack has over a decade of experience in college admissions and financial aid. Since 2008, he has worked at Colby College, Wesleyan University, University of Maine at Farmington, and Bates College.

Maria Geiger is Director of Content at Scholarships360. She is a former online educational technology instructor and adjunct writing instructor. In addition to education reform, Maria’s interests include viewpoint diversity, blended/flipped learning, digital communication, and integrating media/web tools into the curriculum to better facilitate student engagement. Maria earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from Monmouth University, an M. Ed. in Education from Monmouth University, and a Virtual Online Teaching Certificate (VOLT) from the University of Pennsylvania.

For the most part, colleges tell you exactly how long your college essays should be, but what happens when they don’t? In this article, we will go over the reason behind word limits and what to do if a college you’re applying to does not provide a word limit.  

Why is there a word limit? 

Because most colleges receive such a large volume of essays, they don’t have time to read through multi page essays from every student.  If you’re having trouble staying within a given word limit, you might begin to feel frustrated. Maybe you are asking yourself, “why is there a word limit?” Rest assured that colleges don’t just come up with these word counts randomly. They know how long it should take for the average student to answer the given questions.    

Additionally, having a word count can be beneficial to you, even if you don’t initially realize it. Without a word limit, you might find yourself feeling anxious that you didn’t say enough or that you said too much. A word count can help you gauge how much detail you should go into and help reassure you that you said what you wanted to say within the guidelines. 

How to draft your essay with a word count 

Word count is a limitation to factor into your college applications, but it shouldn’t be what dictates how you answer essay questions. Write the first draft of your essay without a word limitation. Simply write down what it is you would like to convey and how. This will give you a good starting point from which you can tailor your essay to be either longer or shorter.  

You can use some of the questions below if you find that your essay is getting too long or too short.  

Is your essay too short? 

• Did you mention all necessary details and clearly convey your message?  
• Is there an added point that you would like to make that could strengthen the core of your essay? 
• Is there another essay question that you could answer in addition to the one you just answered? 

Having an answer that you struggle to make long enough isn’t always a bad thing. If you can get your point across in fewer words, while not compromising the core of your essay, that’s okay. However, you should certainly check back through your answer a few times. The last thing you want to do is submit an answer that is too short and doesn’t fully answer the question asked.  

Don’t miss: How to end a scholarship essay

Avoid “fluffy filler”

You might feel tempted to use a lot of filler words in order to hit a certain word count, but this isn’t the best strategy. College admissions officers want to read engaging responses to get to know you. With such limited space to show off who you are, it’s important to take advantage of the space you have. If you’ve entirely answered the essay and are short on words, try incorporating an added point that ties well to your essay. 

Is your essay too long?  

• Are there any details that could be omitted without changing the core of your essay?  
• Is there anything you said that could be inferred and doesn’t need to be explicitly said? 
• Did you use any filler words or is there wording that you could change to be more concise?  

Having an answer that is too long means you probably very thoroughly explained your answer, which is a good thing. But it also might mean that you went off track a bit and mentioned some things that weren’t necessary.  

Scan back through your article and try to be as concise as possible with your writing. If you can’t find anywhere to make cuts, have a family member or friend read through it for you and offer an outside perspective.  

Okay, but what happens if your essay really is too long, and you absolutely cannot cut it down… 

What happens if you exceed the word limit?  

If you exceed or come in just below the word limit by a few words and you’re sending your essay through a PDF or attached file, it’s not the worst thing. College admissions officers probably won’t notice that they had to read ten, or potentially even twenty extra words. The same goes for if you are below the word count.  

However, if you have to answer the essay question within a textbox, or a provided space, you may be unable to submit your answer unless it falls somewhere within the word count. So, keep that in mind as you move forward. You may not have any other choice but to revise your answer to make it fit the word count.  

Related: Tips for a successful college application

Additional resources

We have plenty of resources to help you with essay writing, so before you start writing. Learn some tips on writing 250 word essays as well as 500 word essays. Maybe you need help starting your essay? Learn how to  start a scholarship essay (with examples!)  One of the hardest things to do is write about one’s self. We can help you there too! Learn how to write an essay about yourself and wow whoever reads your essay! 

Key Takeaways

• Word counts aren’t meant to be an added challenge to the college application process 
• Before writing your essay, verify if you will be sending it via PDF, Word document, or if you will need to type it directly into a designated space 
• Write the first draft of your essay without a word count in mind and then critique your essay from there 
• If possible, give yourself a few different times to sit down and write various versions of your essay  

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Frequently asked questions about essay word counts

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A Guide to College Application Essay Timelines

This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Robert Crystal and Christopher Kilner in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info.

What’s Covered

Make a plan.

• September and October

November and December

Anyone can write an excellent essay if they have enough time, and it’s important to prioritize writing a strong essay because it plays such an outsized role in the application process. With sufficient time and preparation, you can also decrease your word count and produce a piece of writing that is brief and high quality. “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter,” is a phrase often attributed to many famous scholars and statespeople. The best thing that you can do to set yourself up for success is to plan ahead, giving yourself plenty of time to engage in the writing process and produce multiple drafts of your essay.

It is most helpful to use the summer before your senior year of high school—or the year during which you are applying—to prepare your college application essays, with the goal of completing at least your personal statement by early September. The following timeline roughly outlines the steps of the writing process that you should take each month to achieve this goal.

For more guidance on writing your personal statement, read our article on how to write the Common Application essays for 2022-2023 .

Review the Common Application essay prompts for the most recent application season. These prompts often remain the same as the previous year. Pick a few essay prompts that resonate with you, and start to contemplate them as you go through your day. Maybe you can use your daily bus ride or afternoon stroll to brainstorm possible topics for the prompts that interest you. It is always helpful to have a journal, a note-taking app on your phone, or scratch paper on hand where you can record your ideas. 

In addition to journaling about potential material for your essays, it’s helpful to practice thinking about and articulating your responses to various questions about who you are and how you think and view the world. Here are a few examples:

• What are your core values? How did you develop this system of values? 
• What motivates you? How do you motivate yourself? 
• What are you passionate about? If you could study anything, what would you want to learn more about? 
• What issues in your local community or at the city, state, national, or global level are most concerning to you?
• What are your short-term goals and long-term dreams and aspirations? Where would you like to see yourself in five or 10 years? What are lifetime goals that you have?

For more brainstorming questions, read “ 7 Questions to Help You Start Writing Your College Essays .”

Your goal for May is to outline and write a complete rough draft of your personal statement. The hardest part of writing your essay is committing something to paper, and the best draft is often a bad first draft. Everything becomes easier once you have words to edit. Your first draft does not need to be amazing or even passable; it can be completely awful, and it will still be better than a blank page.

Use June to edit the rough draft that you produced in May. This is where you will dive into the process of constructing your narrative. Then, you should aim to produce at least three or more additional drafts. These will likely be the most time-intensive drafts that you produce.

At this point in the process, you should work on developing your ideas mostly on your own. You do not need to share your essay with anyone else unless you feel confident that your draft is ready for others to review or that you cannot progress without outside input. 

You should continue producing new drafts of your personal statement. This means you should read aloud your essay from beginning to end and make changes to word choice, grammar, sentence structure, paragraph structure, and content. You should do this every three or so days. 

Now is a great time to share your drafts with a close family member, friend, teacher, or high school counselor. In addition to showing your essays to members of your inner circle, you should prioritize finding a neutral third party to review your essays and provide critical feedback. This third party should be someone familiar with the college admissions process, such as a current college student, a recent college graduate, or a college consultant, like a CollegeVine Advisor . 

Ask each person who reads your essay to provide written feedback, or have a conversation with them about their impressions, suggestions, and questions. Of course, too many cooks can spoil the broth, as the saying goes. Show your essay to enough people to get a broad range of opinions but not so many that you feel overwhelmed or confused.

This month should be devoted to incorporating feedback from people who have read your essay and doing the final polishing work that will take your essay to the next level. By the end of August, you should have a final draft of your personal statement that you would feel confident submitting.

September and October 

Work on and complete your supplemental essays in preparation for meeting the early action and early decision deadlines.

Work on and complete your supplemental essays in preparation for meeting the regular decision deadline.

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How long does it take to write a good essay?

by team@blp

In miscellaneous.

There may have been times when you had to produce an essay in a short period for an exam that was scheduled, such as on a high school entrance test. At other times, you might find yourself in an embarrassing situation that requires you to finish an essay quickly because you’ve put it off several times or because you’ve been caught off guard. Although an essay written at the last minute is never as good as an essay, you spent more time producing an appreciable essay quickly. With a bit of planning and a lot of hard work, you can write a perfect (or if you prefer good enough!) essay in a short period.

1) Develop a plan. Consider the time frame you have to finish your essay and develop a writing plan based on that. This will help you determine how much time you will spend on each part of the essay and follow the various instructions.

Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses as you develop your plan. For example, if you are excellent at researching but not so good at writing, spend less time when it comes to researching so that you can spend more time editing. Also, be sure to schedule breaks for yourself to refresh your brain and recharge.

An example of a plan for a one-day essay project might look like this:

• 8:00 – 9:30 am – come up with a problem and an argument for the topic
• 9:30 – 9:45 am – take a short break
• 10:00 – 12:00 – do the research
• 12:00 – 1:00 – develop the essay outline
• 1:00 – 2:00 pm – take a lunch break
• 2:00 – 7:00 pm – write your essay
• 7:00 – 8:00 pm – take a lunch break
• 8:00 – 10:30 pm – proofread and edit your essay
• 10:30 – 11:00 pm – print and prepare to submit your work

2) Consider the issue. You may know the topic when your professor asks you to write an essay, but even if you don’t, think about the question and the different ways you can argue about it first. This initial thinking will not only direct you to the appropriate research but will also help you move more quickly through the writing process.

3) Develop your argument or thesis. Your argument or thesis is the point of view you make in your essay through examples and analysis. Develop your argument to focus your research and speed up the writing process.

If you don’t have too much experience with your topic, it might be challenging to develop an argument. In this case, you can seek help from  Online Essay Writing Service , thus solving the problem of missing expertise. You can still analyze your discussion and then use your research to support or refute the ideas you will want to make.

An excellent exercise to help you quickly come up with the problem and argument of your essay is to write this: “I am studying (choose a topic) because I want to understand better (what you want to know) to show (this is the time to develop the arguments)”.

Here is an example. “I am studying the witch trials in medieval times because I want to understand how lawyers used evidence in their trials to demonstrate that the judicial process influenced legal and modern medical practices.” Consider the counterarguments to strengthen your essay.

4) Research your essay topic. You will need to strategically research your topic to find ideas that will help you build your argument and form the body of the assignment. You can use several sources for research, including online newspapers and newspaper archives and primary sources at the library. Since you don’t have much time to write, focus on an option or two to research. For example, the Internet and libraries offer enough helpful information.

Make sure you use reliable sources, such as scientific journals, university or government websites, and professionally written newspapers and magazines. Do not use personal blogs, which are biased or unprofessional sources. You can draw on the information you have to speed up the research process. Just find a reference (but a reliable one) to back up your essay and add it to your assignment.

Doing the preliminary research online can lead you to sources in a library like journal articles or books. It can also direct you to online sources like archives of journal articles or other research on your topic.

If you are reading books, “dump” the book to quickly go through it and move on to the other sources. To do this, try skimming the introduction and conclusion to find the main arguments, then pull some details from the body of the book to use as evidence.

Make notes on the sources of your research. These will show that you have legitimately researched the topic while crediting the author of the ideas. This is especially important if you plan to use direct quotes and will also help you add cross-references and bibliographic information to your essay without requiring the reader to consult the sources.

5) Write the outline of your essay. Develop an outline for your essay to guide you through the writing process. Structuring it in the same form as your essay and adding examples will simplify and speed up the writing process. You will also be able to identify any parts that need further development.

Structure your outline, just as you would with your essay, using an introduction, body, and conclusion. The more detailed your outline, the easier and faster you can write your essay. For example, instead of writing a simple paragraph for the essay’s body, flesh it out with big points or sentences that present arguments and evidence.

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Hacks How to Write a 10 and 20 page Paper in One Night

Updated: July 15, 2022

Published: April 19, 2020

It’s the night before a big paper is due. For whatever reason, you find yourself needing to write an entire research paper in a very short amount of time. While procrastination isn’t ideal, extenuating circumstances may have caused your timeline to get pushed back. So, here you are, looking for how to write a 10-page paper or how to write a 20-page paper in one night.

It goes without saying the best way to write a paper is to give yourself enough time to outline, draft, and edit. Yet, it’s still possible to write in less time. Take heed of these best tips and tricks to organize your thoughts and get your thesis on paper as fast as possible.

Photo by  Adolfo Félix  on  Unsplash

How to prepare before you write, 1. create a schedule to maximize your time.

You’ve likely already spent time panicking. Once you calm yourself of the anxiety of having to finish a 10- or 20-page paper in one night, organize your plan of attack. First, you should designate an area free of distractions so that you can focus. Aside from a few breaks and snacks, it’s best to set up a comfortable place to write. Give yourself some time to outline and find/cite research . Once you know how you’re going to approach the subject, then you can start drafting.

2. Determine your Main Topic

If you’ve been given a prompt, then your topic is clear. However, sometimes you have the freedom to choose what your research will be about. In this case, it’s smartest to choose a topic that you are already knowledgeable about. That way, you will save yourself key time that would have otherwise been spent on research. If you don’t feel strongly about any particular topic, then at least try to pick one that has a lot of information available.

3. Perform Research

Start looking up sources to cite that support your thesis, or main argument. As you research, be sure to take notes. One of the best ways to do this is to use a word processor like Google Docs or Microsoft Word to copy and paste URLs. For each source, it would be best to copy/paste one main sentence that covers its point.

Then, you can write brief notes in your own words that summarize what you have read from that source. While you are performing research, you can start to put together an outline, or the flow of how you will present your ideas broken down by topic and argument.

4. Outline 3-5 subtopics

Once you’ve chosen your topic, then try to pull 3-5 subtopics from it. Each sub-topic should be juicy enough to be able to write a lot about it. The subtopics are your supporting paragraphs which fill the body of the research paper. They should basically be mini essays within themselves.

Writing in One Night

Writing a long research paper in one night isn’t ideal, but it is doable. Some of the best ways to get it done is to follow these 5 tips:

1. Plan and Outline

Take those few extra moments to plan and outline your paper. While it may feel like a waste of valuable time, it is going to help you stay on track. When you have an outline and you get to the middle of your paper, you won’t feel lost as to how to continue. An outline will be useful to you like a map is on a journey.

2. Use Specialized Search

Take advantage of search tools that are designed for scholars. For example, a few of these include: Google Scholar and Elsevier .

3. Leverage Tools

There are citation management tools that will help you find sources for your topic. Mendeley is just one of them. You can type parts of your paper into the tool and find quotes of value. Be sure to cite everything you use to avoid plagiarism .

4. Proofread and Edit

Once you complete writing 10 to 20 pages, you may feel like throwing in the towel and going to sleep for a few hours. However, it is crucial to power through and proofread your paper. If you have anyone available who can read your paper over, that would be best because it’s hard to catch mistakes when you’ve been looking at the same thing for so long. But, if no one is available, try to read your paper back to yourself out loud. This way, you may be able to catch typos better.

5. Check Formatting

Every research paper needs to adhere to a particular format guideline. Whether it’s APA, MLA, or another standard formatting practice, be sure to double check that your layout adheres to the guidelines.

Photo by  Christin Hume  on  Unsplash

When to start writing.

If you have yet to find yourself trying to write a paper at the last minute and all the notes above are scaring you out of procrastination, then that’s a good start! Perhaps you were recently assigned a research paper. In this case, the best way to tackle the project is to do the following:

Start Early

Get started right away. Even if it means just performing early research or writing an outline, starting early is going to save you from having to write a paper in one night down the line. When you start early, you benefit greatly because you can: leverage peers for ideas, take the necessary time to edit and rewrite, and you lower your risk of picking a topic with too little information and having to change topics at the last minute.

Writing in Stages

Starting early also affords you the opportunity to write in stages. You can think of writing as a cycle when you write in stages. First, you can create your outline. Then, you can write the introduction, edit it, and rewrite anything you may need to before moving on to the next piece (or the first body paragraph, in this case).

Use a Timeline

Create a timeline for your writing in stages. If you start four weeks in advance, for example, you have time to do all of the following:

• Fully understand the assignment and ask any questions
• Start to read and document sources
• Create notecards and cite books for sources
• Write a summary of what you’ve discovered so far that will be used in some of your paper
• Create 3-5 subtopics and outline points you want to explore
• Look for more sources on your subtopics
• Start writing summaries on each subtopic
• Write some analysis of your findings
• Start to piece together the research paper based on your notes and outline (almost like completing a puzzle)
• Edit and proofread / ask for feedback

The Writing Process

The actual writing process is a little different for everyone, but this is a general overview for how to write a 20-page paper, or one that is shorter.

• Start with a Thesis: Your thesis is one sentence that clearly and concisely explains what you are going to prove with research.
• Include a Menu Sentence: At the end of your introduction, you will briefly outline your subtopics in what is often referred to as a “menu sentence.” This allows the reader to understand what they can expect to learn about as they continue to read your paper.
• Create a Detailed Introduction: Your introduction should be detailed enough so that someone with little to no knowledge about your subject matter can understand what the paper is about.
• Keep References: Be sure to write your references as you go along so that you basically can create your bibliography in the process of writing. Again, this is where a tool like Mendeley may be useful.
• Write First: Write first and edit later. You want to get all your ideas down on the page before you start judging or editing the writing.
• Save Often: Create the draft on a cloud platform that is automatically saved (i.e. Google Docs in case your computer crashes) or email the work to yourself as you go.

The Breakdown of a 10-Page Paper

Sources to Consider Using

When writing your research paper and finding sources, it’s best to use a mix of sources. This may include:

• Internet: The Internet is filled with limitless possibilities. When you use the Internet, it’s best to find credible and trustworthy sources to avoid using fake news as a source. That’s why tools like Google Scholar can be so helpful.
• Textbooks: It’s more likely than not that you’ll be able to use your class textbook as a source for the research you are conducting.
• Books: Additionally, other books outside of those you read within your class will prove useful in any research paper.

Final Steps: Editing and Formatting

Once you’ve written all your ideas on the page, it’s time to edit. It cannot be stressed enough that editing is pivotal before submission. This is especially true if you’ve been writing under immense pressure.

Writing a 10- or 20-page research paper in one night is not easy, so there are bound to be mistakes and typos. The best way to catch these mistakes is to follow these tips:

• Take a break before you edit so you can come back to the page with somewhat fresh eyes and a clearer head
• Read it out loud to edit and catch mistakes because sometimes your brain will override typos or missing words to make sense of what it is reading
• If possible, ask someone else to look it over
• Consider using footnotes or block quotes
• Format according to how your university asks – MLA or APA, etc.

The Bottom Line

Life throws curveballs your way without warning. Whether you are holding yourself accountable for procrastinating or something out of your control came up, you may find yourself needing to write a big research paper in one night. It’s not the best-case scenario, but with the right tools and tricks up your sleeve, you can surely get it done!

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How Long it Takes to Write an Essay: From 500 to 5k words

• by Joseph Kenas
• January 12, 2024

When you receive an assignment as a writer, you would want to calculate the duration that you will take to complete the assignment.

Unluckily, there exists no exact formula that can assist you in knowing the correct time. However, you can gauge your efficiency over several variables that we will be highlighting in this write-up. Read on. 

How Long Does it Take to Write a 5 Paragraph Essay?

Writing a five-paragraph essay can be effortless when you understand the topic well. The most important aspect is to know the entire word count. In the same vein, beginning with a complete introduction and put the key ideas within the body.

The time it takes to write a 5-paragraph essay is 3 hours if you are a good writer and the topic is easy, or over 5 hours if the topic is technical. The reason for the variation is because of the writing ability of the writer and the technicality of the content. Therefore, it takes between 3 hours and 5 hours to write a 2-page essay.

If you did the proper research and mastered the topic, it should take you between forty and one hours by doing the following: 

You should operate in a quiet environment by sitting off everything that will cause distraction. You can proceed by shutting the windows and doors so that the exterior noise will not disturb you.  

Again, you should put off the music because it is likely to divert your attention. Once you set the environment well, you can begin to work on your five-page essay effectively. 

2. Acquire Information 

The chances of letting your essay suffer can be high if you do it within one hour. Some will prefer to do it within four to five hours to get the right information to include in the essay.

Well, it could be sensible to get poor scores than no scores. You can perform quick research from at least three reliable sources. 

3. Understand Instructions 

Many instructors will have different requirements to allow you to finish the assignments. For this case, the demand is to complete a five paged essay within a short period. Ensure that you stick to those demands when doing research and writing. 

When you master the instructions, it is great that you manage your time. Don’t assume that the instructor gave you more or little time to finish the essay.

The best approach is to start early and complete in time. Doing so gives you more time to proofread and kick out any inconsistencies effectively. 

4. Conduct Brief Research 

You can go to the internet and research on the topic. Read through the articles that you found which can be resourceful to you.

If you have a pencil, you can jot down any point that you find it fit for you.

If you are working via soft copies only, then ensure that you highlight the area with a specific color. 

When you discover that one point occurs in several articles, it is crucial to note it.

If you will be talking about the same point in your essay, then ensure that you express your personal opinion over it. 

5. Create an Outline 

It is challenging to write a five-paragraph essay minus the outline. One needs the outline to write faster. Use the underlined pieces to get a good outline and organize it in a structured manner. Avoid taking the same structure to resemble your sources. 

The most common one is to have the introduction where you will put general topic information. Let the body carry three paragraphs where you will put your key arguments. Lastly, the final paragraph should include a summary of your topic. 

6. Begin Writing 

Follow the guidelines to write the first draft. Ensure you mention all the points that you wanted to talk about.

The cool thing is you can finish the first draft quickly before thinking of revising the details. 

Support every claim with tangible evidence.

Suppose you are borrowing information from a different source, it is vital to cite properly.

Paraphrase it well to overcome cases of plagiarism. 

7. Polish the Details 

When you finish writing, begin to polish the details in your first draft. You should reread it to see any mistakes that can compromise the total quality. Add or remove unwanted phrases as you eliminate any inconsistencies. Reading it aloud works wonders for you. 

It can be an optional step but it is key to your accomplishment. It can be hard if you are only taking a single hour to finish the essay hence lacking enough time to perfect it as you wish. You can correct any typos and other mistakes to improve your quality. 

Read more about how it takes to write a 5-page paper and learn how to optimize the lengths more. Also, we have written a comprehensive guide to write good essays for you to learn step-by-step.

Factors Determining time taken to Write an Essay

Several elements will dictate your pace when delivering an essay. Remember, you want to deliver the essay within the shortest time possible.   

It can be hard to ignore the following aspects for effective delivery within an agreeable time. 

If the instructions allow you to select the topic, then ensure you settle for the right topic.

You should not choose a hard topic that will become unmanageable. Such is true because it will lower your chances of success. 

When given the topic, ensure you exhaust it well to know what you should go about it. Before you write a new topic, it will call for thorough research for you to grasp all the facts before writing about it in an engaging manner. 

2. Experience 

One sharpens the writing skills over time because you will be developing new techniques and tools to complement your effort. If you have been writing for a long period, it is an indicator that you have been honing your skills over time. 

When working on an essay paper, there will be a clear demarcation between one with ten years of experience than the one-two month of experience. The one with more experience will likely deliver the essay faster than the rest. 

3. Barriers

Many writers encounter challenges and barriers while crafting their content. These barriers will dictate the pace at which you will perform. One of the hardest things to cope with is the psychological barriers. 

When you get overwhelmed by negative emotions and feelings, you are likely to begin dragging or procrastinating. If you experience such barriers, the chances of delivering a five-page essay within an hour become a tall order. 

4. Pressure

If you are working under pressure to perform, it will affect your productivity. Remember, you need the peace of mind to recollect and research your topic well before you begin to write anything about it. 

The challenge could be that you may be handling many tasks at the same time. You may be having many assignments where you have strict deadlines hence causing you to work under pressure. When done hurriedly, you can meet the deadlines but sacrifice quality.  

5. Typing Skills

Your typing speed is a critical factor that will dictate how fast you can complete an essay when within a given period. If you have efficient typing skills, then it will only take you a few minutes before you complete your projects. 

If your speed is slow especially to a beginner, then you are likely to drag before you complete the essay. If you are slow, then you will increase the chances of delay and extend beyond one hour. 

Read more on how to write a 2-page essay and get some insights into the skills you need to perfect it.

Note that these tips and data relate to writing a normal essay for assignments. This could be different if you are writing other types of essays.

For example, if you are writing a college application, the time taken to write an admission essay is a bit different from a normal assignment essay. But the principles may be the same.

Joseph is a freelance journalist and a part-time writer with a particular interest in the gig economy. He writes about schooling, college life, and changing trends in education. When not writing, Joseph is hiking or playing chess.

Calculate for all schools

Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, how much time does it usually take to write a good college essay.

I'm feeling a bit stressed about starting my college essay and I'm not sure how much time I should allocate for it. How long did it take you guys to write your essays, and do you have any tips for managing the process?

Hey there! Writing a good college essay can vary depending on the person, but it's always good to give yourself plenty of time to brainstorm, draft, and revise. Some students might take a few days, while others could take weeks or even months. Personally, my child spent about a month working on their essay, dedicating a few hours each week to brainstorming, writing, and refining.

I'd recommend starting by brainstorming topics that showcase your unique personality, strengths, and growth. Once you have a solid idea, set aside dedicated time to draft your essay. Make sure to give yourself breaks and reflect on the content before revising. It's also great to get feedback from others, like teachers or family members, to help refine and polish your essay.

CollegeVine has a helpful blog post about effective ways to begin your college essay, which might be useful to you: https://blog.collegevine.com/how-to-get-the-perfect-hook-for-your-college-essay/. Best of luck!

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How Long It Takes to Type 1,000 Words

Last Updated: April 3, 2023 Fact Checked

Typing Time for 1,000 Words

What increases writing time, tips for writing faster, average writing times.

This article was reviewed by Gerald Posner and by wikiHow staff writer, Hunter Rising . Gerald Posner is an Author & Journalist based in Miami, Florida. With over 35 years of experience, he specializes in investigative journalism, nonfiction books, and editorials. He holds a law degree from UC College of the Law, San Francisco, and a BA in Political Science from the University of California-Berkeley. He’s the author of thirteen books, including several New York Times bestsellers, the winner of the Florida Book Award for General Nonfiction, and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History. He was also shortlisted for the Best Business Book of 2020 by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. There are 13 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 13,337 times.

Are you trying to hit a word count goal of 1,000 words and want to know how long it takes? Even though 1,000 words sounds like a lot to type out, it’s easy to finish within the day when you’re focused. There are a few factors that make your writing speed slow down, but we’ll help you find strategies to speed up the process. Keep reading so you know how long to take for your writing and how you can boost your writing pace.

Things You Should Know

• Writing 1,000 words at an average typing speed takes about 25 minutes or less.
• If you need to do light research for the writing topic, 1,000 words takes about 1–2 hours.
• Give yourself 3–4 hours to write 1,000 words if you need to do heavy research, citations, or editing.

• If you plan on handwriting 1,000 words, it may take an additional hour or so.

• Researching is an ongoing process, so you may need to continue doing it even after you start writing. It’s tough to say how much time researching takes since it depends on how well you know the topic and how detailed of information you need.

• Editing and proofreading will probably take at least 30–60 minutes, but it could take longer if you need to reword sections of your writing.

• Take a typing speed test to determine your average words per minute.

• If you already have all the points you want to hit on outlined, it saves you time since it’s a lot easier to fill in the information without wondering what’s coming next.

• Example: Make a goal to finish 250 words in 30 minutes before taking a short break.
• Reward yourself when you reach your writing goal by taking a walk, having a small treat, or playing a video game so you stay motivated.

• Step away from your writing every 30 minutes to stretch your legs, get some water, and catch up on notifications before you dive back in.

• If you’re stuck in a certain spot of your writing, jump to a different section and keep going. You’re always able to come back and fill in areas when you have a better idea of what you want to write. [14] X Research source

Expert Q&A

• Try your best not to procrastinate when you have a deadline for your writing. Starting early gives you more time to write and edit without all the stress of an approaching due date. [15] X Trustworthy Source University of North Carolina Writing Center UNC's on-campus and online instructional service that provides assistance to students, faculty, and others during the writing process Go to source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.ramoswriter.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-write-500-words/
• ↑ https://youtu.be/GpywysWTxtE?t=39
• ↑ https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/centers/writing/writing-resources/writing-longer-papers
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/
• ↑ https://www.herzing.edu/blog/5-tips-improving-your-typing-speed-accuracy
• ↑ https://www.uis.edu/learning-hub/writing-resources/handouts/learning-hub/writers-block
• ↑ https://writingprompts.com/improving-essay-writing-speed/
• ↑ https://goinswriter.com/writing-speed/
• ↑ https://writetodone.com/how-to-write-without-distractions/
• ↑ https://erinwrightwriting.com/four-tips-boost-writing-speed/
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/procrastination/

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How Long Does it Take to Write an Essay?

Published by Boni on October 18, 2022 October 18, 2022

While timelines differ depending on the student, writing an essay is difficult. You don’t open a book and start writing immediately; you need to brainstorm, research, draft an outline, edit and ensure you cite your work correctly. A good essay should be detailed and have the correct information.

Elevate Your Writing with Our Free Writing Tools!

Did you know that we provide a free essay and speech generator, plagiarism checker, summarizer, paraphraser, and other writing tools for free?

Nevertheless, managing your information overload is one secret of writing a good essay. You should recognize how long it will take to finish your thesis, as it will enable you to divide the work according to the days you have before the deadline.

Read on to find out how long it takes to write an essay.

There is no specific timeline for writing an essay, as many factors determine how long it takes.

The longer the essay, the more time it will take to complete. For instance, it will take you longer to complete a 3000-word report than it would take on 500 words. You need to answer many questions to know how long it will take you to complete an essay. For instance

• How much research do you need to do?
• Do you have the resources necessary to write the essay?
• Does the essay require citations?
• Do you write naturally, or do you struggle on some occasions
• What do you know about the topic?

After figuring out the above, the following table should help you understand the expected time to complete an essay, depending on the word count.

It is important to note that the above data relate to writing a standard assignment essay. The time may differ when writing other essay types.

Factors That Determine the Time you Take to Write an Essay

As stated earlier, several factors determine the time you take to complete an essay. They include:

Generally, technical topics are challenging to write and will take more time. You should choose the right topic if the instructions allow you do so. A tricky subject will become unimaginable as you progress and lower your score.

Before writing on a new topic, do thorough research to understand all the facts so you can write quickly.

Seasoned writers will always complete their essays faster the newbies. This is because your writing skills sharpen as you write more.

There will be a clear difference in writing between a person with five years of experience and one with three months of experience. The experienced one will deliver the essay faster than the others.

You need a piece of mind to research your topic and understand it before you begin writing about it. However, you will affect your productivity if you are working under pressure.

The pressure may come from handling many tasks or assignments that you have to meet strict deadlines. When you write your essays hurriedly, you will meet the deadlines but compromise on quality. Avoid this by using our AI powered essay generator .

Most writers are faced with barriers and challenges that dictate the pace at which they write. One of the significant challenges they face is dealing with psychological barriers.

You are more likely to start procrastinating or dragging when negative feelings or emotions overwhelm you. If you encounter such barriers, there is no chance you will finish a five-page essay within an hour.

• Typing Skills

Your typing speed is one crucial factor determining how long you will take to write an essay. If your typing skills are perfect, it will take you less time, but if you are a beginner, it will take you more time to complete the essay.

How Does Writing Process Affects the Time you Take to Write an Essay

Writing an essay is a process , and how you apply that process defines the time you take to complete your paper.

The process of writing an essay involves three main stages which are:

• Pre-Writing/preparation

This is the first stage, where you choose the topic, do detailed research to familiarize yourself, pick a provisional thesis statement and develop an essay outline.

For instance, if you are writing a 5-page essay, you may follow this guideline at the pre-writing stage.

• Brainstorming – 2 hours
• Outlining – 1 hour
• Research – 5 hours

Writing will be easier if you have researched your topic well and written a detailed outline. It is where you develop your arguments in the essay body, give evidence, and write a conclusion. 

The length of the paper will determine the time you take to complete it. If you have all the necessary information and your typing speed is good, you will need 1 hour to complete a 500-word essay.

We can divide writing into the following stages:

• Title – 20 minutes
• Introduction – 10 minutes
• Body- depends on the article’s length
• Conclusion – 20 minutes
• Post writing/revision

You cannot just hand over your work after writing without proofreading it. You revise your essay to check content, spelling, formatting, grammar, and organization.

This is how to break down your post-writing time

• Editing or rewriting – 1 hour
• Proofing – 1 hour
• Formatting – 30 minutes

The above steps are applicable whether you are writing a research paper, a term paper, a case study, or any assignment.

Few Tips for an Excellent Essay

It is boring to write challenging essays, and school life becomes more bearable the sooner you do away with them. Here are some tips you can use:

• Hire essay writing help

It is okay to request essay writing help online from experienced writers like our writers at gudwriters.com. If you are struggling to meet deadlines or have loads of work, you can pay someone to write my speech for me as you concentrate on other issues.

• Understand your instructors demands

Different schools and lecturers may have contrasting requirements on how they want the essay to be done. You should understand these demands and stick to them when researching and writing your essay.

• Manage your time

It is always a good idea to start your thesis early so you can have enough time to proofread and finalize your essay. You should never assume there is enough time to complete an essay.

• Get a good template

You should be equipped with an excellent example of the work you want to do. Get a sample text to guide you but do not copy-paste other people’s work.

• Edit your work

It is crucial to edit your work when you are done writing. Proofread to eliminate the minor errors you may have missed earlier and identify the areas you need to improve.

It indeed sucks to write an assignment, term paper, or essay. You must prepare, write and revise to say you are done with writing an essay or a term paper. Additionally, these essays have strict deadlines that you must meet. It is, therefore, crucial to follow the points discussed above to write a comprehensive paper.

Informative steps on how to write a persuasive speech.

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Writing 1,000 words can seem like a lot or little depending on different factors. Are you knowledgeable about the topic and can write everything off the top of your head? Is extensive research required? How much supplementary work needs to be done in order to finish the piece (images, links, editing)? 

These are all great questions to ask and they lead us to the conclusion that when writing a thousand word essay or blog post, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all time frame for everyone. 

Thankfully, authors, students, and bloggers have taken a record of how long it takes to write a 1000 word article. From that, we can get a pretty good average.

Can You Write 1000 Words in an Hour?

The answer is yes. However, anyone who's heard the phrase "quality over quantity," knows it's possible at an expense .

How long does it take?

If you’re a complete beginner, a 1000 word article should take 3 hours to 4 hours to complete.

In general, the rule to follow is: Take the time needed to get everything in order. It's better to use more time to submit a quality essay that readers will share, reply to, read back, email to friends, post on social media, and drop engaging comments on.

As a plus, Google algorithms will check an article for exceptional quality. A blog post that passes the inspection has a good chance of getting their title ranked on the first search page.

How many pages is 1000 words? About 2 pages of single space.

How many words can you write in an hour? See how fast your fingers can move with this typing speed test .

As you gain experience, your writing process will be way clearer, allowing you to craft better articles. You can write longer, more in-depth pieces. You should be able to write a one thousand word essay in 1 hour to 2 hours instead of 3 hours to 4 hours.

To give some perspective on how long it should take a beginner to write an essay, here are some metrics you can use to keep track of how you're improving.

How Long Does It Take to Write 200 Words?

200 words isn't much. It's less than a page. How long does it take? For a beginner writer, it should take 40 minutes.

200 words can usually fit into 1 or 2 paragraphs. The average length of a website's homepage is around 200 words. Facebook posts, emails to family and friends, comments, comment threads, app descriptions, and an outline can be around 200 words as well.

It doesn't require many points and can fit anywhere on your site in almost every case.

How Long Does it Take to Write a 500 Word Article?

Is your school making you write essays? 500 words is relatively short. If it takes 3 to 4 hours to jot down 1000 words, it should take you no more than 1 hour to 2 hours for 500 words.

Many times, a 500 word essay will be more complicated than you thought. Teachers assign subjects that require critical thinking, reason, and order.

In this kind of paper, there's zero room for fluff. Each sentence should be straight to the point, and each idea should be a cohesive element with an introduction and conclusion. The body should flow well from one point to the next.

What About 1200 Words?

Writing 1200 words should take you approximately 3 and a half to 4 and a half hours.

This length of an article can include key details, but you won't be able to expand too much unless the subject is straightforward.

An essay of this size usually requires a fair amount of research. You can dedicate at least half of your writing time on finding helpful websites, good topics to expand on, discussion, and anything that will get teachers votes and a good grade.

A 1200 word article could be a tutorial, a transcription of a conversation, a home report, a menu, a facts paper, or a lengthy product description including guidelines on how to use it.

How Long Should a 2000 Word Article Take to Write?

At 2000 words, the content becomes a project rather than a quick article. You can issue a fair amount of attention to the subject matter.

In 2000 words, you can write a short book, a story, a listicle, or guides.

How long to write 2000 words should take 6 hours to 8 hours. That seems like a very long time to focus on one task. However, with time and improvements, you'll be able to finish in three hours to four hours.

What's The Average Writing Time for a 2500 Word Article?

2500 words should take between 7 hours to 9 hours to write. How many pages is 2500 words? Approximately 5 single-spaced.

The type of word essay you can create is a great blog post, product revisions, or a university term paper. You can also expand honorably on an assignment involving data, industry trends, language, statistics, numbers, or a statement.

How Long Does It Take to Write 5000 Words?

It takes about 16 hours and 40 minutes to write a 5000 word essay.

The truth is, 5000 words is a lot more complex than writing 1,000 words. This type of essay requires a strategy with different aspects involved such as time, editing, lots of room for errors, and hope that you'll reach the word count.

This length of essay gives you the opportunity to dive deep into different fields, answer a complicated question, and channel different thoughts.

A small dissertation essay or term paper is commonly 5000 words.

And, How Does It Take to Write 10,000 Words?

It takes about 33 hours and 20 minutes to write a 10000 word essay. 

Although it's not quite as long as a thesis, this type of essay requires a hell lot of planning. You can easily spend more than 5 hours on fact checking, gathering data, organizing the structure, collecting figures from research, and thinking of ways to get your point across.

Writers need to gain knowledge and become experts in each section of the report. A 10000 word essay could be a dissertation, a marketing strategy for a client, a revision of a safety system or medical technology, and many other things.

Many short books are 10000 words. If you're a blogger, you can create an ultimate guide filled with solutions, issues, problem-solving a-level information that acts as an excellent service to your audience.

How Long Does It Take Me to Write a 1000 Word Essay?

I am a person who includes writing as part of my daily life. I write for clients as my career and have been doing so for years now. Even before I started making money from writing, I had a blog. As a child, I was the author of my own little fictional books with a thin plot.

I'll share a secret: When I first started writing for money, I was one of those UpWork writers who fill sentences with Jargon. My writing wasn't to the point, I would include my own opinions, and I would submit the piece basically as a draft. While quality was always my intention, I had some problems delivering it. I'm sure my clients didn't have fun editing the work they paid for.

While content writing still makes me wipe the sweat off my brow, in the last 3 years, my improvement has skyrocketed. I've gotten way more efficient and waste little (but not zero) time stuck on what to write. Thanks to the pressure, the aggressive deadline, and a world of competition, bit by bit, my ability to write got stronger.

How long does it take me to write? I can write a thousand word essay in 1 hour to 2 hours. Of course, that depends on what my client expects, the extent of the topic, and the writing voice.

Keep in mind, 1 hour to 2 hours includes the entire writing process from developing points to answer the question, going back and fixing typos, adding image attributes, temporarily post it and read it out loud.

I'm not sure when, but at some point, writing and editing became a second nature to me.

Below I will list a few factors that could contribute to the time it takes you to write.

How Long Have You Been Writing?

Whether it's for school, a paper, a novel, a case study, an instructions book, a debate, a dissertation, or a course, writing is a skill that takes time and practice to develop. 

Beginners often struggle with the writing phase because they end up taking way more time than necessary, or they write too fast.

If writing a 1k article takes you more than a day, you’re overthinking it. Or, your typing skills are terrible. On the other hand, if you write too fast, the results likely won't turn out, and you'll spend time going back to review the material.

The thing is, with time, you'll get a better idea of how to find points, piece, and research your story more effectively. This allows you to craft longer, more in-depth pieces without getting stuck or lacking vital information.

How Well Do You Know the Topic?

Another vital factor to consider is how deeply you know the subject matter. Are you a PPC expert and can write without any doubts? Or are you creating a travel guide based on memories and emotions from a recent trip?

If so, it’s going to be a lot faster. The time it takes depends more on your typing speed than anything else. 

If you need to dig for data, do calculations, find different materials, look for answers, and record sources, it will take much longer.

How Well Did You Organize the Content?

While very experienced writers can generally measure 1000 words in their heads and write it as it is, others need to spend more time in preparation mode. 

Outline details like different headings, subheadings, and some points underneath. This may seem like a waste of time, but it’s helpful because you will write a lot smoother and even save time in the long run. 

A great outline looks something like this:

While yours doesn’t necessarily need to be the same, it’s an excellent example to aim for. Outlining helps content writing by breaking things down into chunks. It eliminates the need to think about what to write and how to format while you’re writing the paper.

How Much Editing Needs to Be Done?

How long does it take to go through and edit your paper? Before you publish something, make sure it’s 100% ready for success. It should be visually appealing with pictures, structured, and easy to read with headings and digestible parts. 

Depending on how big the paper is, you can spend as little as thirty minutes or as long as 5 hours editing.

For beginners, WordPress can be tricky to navigate and may end up spending time watching "how-to" videos on YouTube or reading tips on the internet. Also, if you need to add a meta description, alt tags on images, add keywords, or any other SEO thing, it can take much longer.

Create an SEO checklist so you can swift through future articles without forgetting any steps.

Pro tip: Read the article out loud AT LEAST TWICE to look for improvements before publishing. Reading helps to catch awkward sentences and grammar mistakes. There's also nothing wrong with sending the article to a friend, members of your team, or an editor to check your essay and give feedback.

Another option is to use an app. Thanks to tools like Grammarly, you can edit all your writings from your computer screen. If you want to explore more apps, there are tons on the market.

Tips to Help You Write a Quality Essay Faster

Whether you're a student struggling to write papers faster, or a blog on a weekly publishing schedule, there's a thing or two you can take to heart that may result in faster writing (while maintaining the quality, of course).

Fun fact: Blogs who publish often gain much more traffic.

When Neil Patel experimented with publishing 2 posts per week instead of 1, he saw traffic grow from 46,124 to 59,787 visitors per month. 

HubSpot analyzed the 13,500 companies and found those who posted 16+ posts per month got 3.5 times more traffic than those who posted 0 to 4 blog posts per month. 

Good to know: Asana is an effective app to create a publishing calendar. In the calendar, someone can color code, give others tasks, and assign a name to an article.

So, what can you do to write 1000 words faster and more effectively to reach your weekly publishing goal?

Find Your Productive Hours

Are you an early bird or a night owl?

The majority of writers can work at their own pace and schedule. Often, it’s only the conditions you give yourself that matter.

As working from home can often ride out, give yourself enough rest and make sure the place where you sleep isn't your office. Taking advantage of productive hours lets you process word essays much easier. Better ideas come to mind, and not much time is wasted. If you try to write while you're tired or in the mood for something else, your concentration won't be present.

Discover Your Ideal Writing Process

If you’ve been writing articles for a while, you’ve probably heard things like:

• Don’t edit while you write. 
• Write first, edit later. 
• You can fix a first draft but can’t fix a blank page.

Listen to this advice. If your brain is full of ideas, get them written down before you forget! 

Editing as you write is tempting, but it can cause beginners to forget the next point or lose the flow of the article.

Write Under Pressure

Most people with a writing career get the bulk of their work done with a metaphorical gun pointed to their heads. As deadlines creep closer, the pressure to write increases. Deadlines work. 

Set your own deadlines.

If you’re writing one thousand words for the first time, set your timer for 4 hours from now.

When you write your next 1000 words, try setting your alarm for 3.45 hours. And the time after that, set your alarm for 3.15 hours. Keep decreasing until you achieve a time that meets your goals.

Practice Until You Get It

Take Tim Ferris as an example: “My quota is two crappy pages per day. I keep it really low, so I’m not so intimidated that I never get started.” 

At the start, word count doesn't matter. Even a paragraph per day can help. The goal is to build yourself up until writing a one thousand word essay with real information becomes close to effortless.

Nobody writes fast AND writes well at the same time from the beginning. It takes time to hone your skills enough to do both well. If you have to choose, writing an essay well is the obvious answer. Writing fast comes naturally with time.

Now before you sit down and start an article, remember the rule — find a comfortable place, eliminate the number of distractions in the area (people, noise), take time to research thoroughly, and focus on your paper during your productive hours.

If you gained inspiration, get out there and be a writer who gets shares, likes, and good grades on their articles.

Coral Ouellette is a writer who specializes in digital marketing and travel. In her spare time, you can find her planning trips and playing fetch with her Aussiedoodle, Elliot.

Ugh, I think I will just have you guys handle this. Lol

hah - we'll take care of you, Marty. Shoot me a message if you have any questions.

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