How to Write Essays Faster: My Story of Writing 40,000 Words in a Week

If you’ve ever wished you could write essays faster—without all the stress, overthinking or last-minute panic—you are not alone.

In this post (based on episode 173 of the Chloe Made Me Study podcast), I’m sharing the true story of how I wrote 40,000 words in one week. Yes, it really happened. No, I don’t recommend it. But the process taught me a lot about how to write essays faster—lessons you can use whether you’re writing 1,000 words or 10,000.

This isn’t about hustling harder or magically becoming more motivated. It’s about building the right academic writing skills and using simple strategies to make the process easier, faster and less overwhelming.

Let’s dive in.

This post originated as a podcast episode which you can listen to below or watch on YouTube. Or, if you’re more of a learn-by-reading student, carry on for the blog version based on the podcast script.

Ways to listen:

Listen in the player above
Click to listen on Apple Podcasts.
Click to listen on Spotify.

Why I Had to Learn to Write Essays Faster

The short version? I was finishing my teaching practice portfolio as part of my qualification to become a Specialist Study Skills Tutor. The final word count was 53,000 words—longer than most master’s dissertations.

I’d written about 8,000 words early on, but then life (and course chaos) got in the way (more info in this episode). With just 10 days to go before my deadline, I had to start writing seriously—and in the final 7 days, I wrote 40,000 words.

Now, this wasn’t traditional research-heavy academic writing. I wasn’t juggling citations, literature reviews or new sources. But I was engaging in high-level critical reflection. I had to review hours of video footage, analyse 22 student sessions and meet pages and pages of learning objectives.

Early-in-my-degree-Chloe couldn’t have pulled this off. But because I’ve spent years teaching essay writing, analysing academic work and building strong systems, I could do it.

That’s why I want to show you exactly what helped me write essays faster—and what won’t help you at all.

What Won’t Help You Write Essays Faster

Let’s bust a few myths. These things didn’t help me write 40,000 words in a week—and they probably won’t help you either:

1. Typing speed

Yes, I can type reasonably quickly. But the real bottleneck is your thinking speed—your ability to turn complex academic ideas into clear written arguments. Typing faster won’t help if you’re not sure what you’re trying to say.

2. Motivation

Motivation is flaky. It comes and goes. That week, I didn’t feel inspired—I felt stressed, alone and desperate for someone to just swoop in and do it for me. What got me through was acceptance of my fate… backed by systems and skills.

3. Figuring it out while writing

This is one of the biggest time-wasters I see. If you’re trying to structure your argument, make sense of the guidance, and come up with examples as you write, you’ll end up going in circles—and your writing will show it.

4. Overloading your working memory

If you’ve got 17 tabs open, your phone pinging beside you, and your assignment guidance buried somewhere in another document, your brain is spending more energy juggling than writing.

How to Write Essays Faster: 7 Strategies That Actually Worked

Here are the 7 specific strategies that helped me write essays faster, with less stress and better results. Each one is backed by hard-won experience—and they’re all things you can start applying right now.

1. Decode the rules of the game

You can’t write fast if you don’t know what you’re aiming for.

I didn’t just read the guidance—I decoded it. I pulled out every single learning outcome and turned it into a checklist. If anything felt vague, I clarified it and rewrote it into clearer, more actionable instructions for myself.

Then I grouped those outcomes by section. I pasted the relevant learning objectives and reminders directly into each document so they were always in my line of sight. No flicking between tabs. No relying on memory.

One example: I had to demonstrate flexibility in my tutoring. So I wrote “must show flexibility” into my checklist, right at the top of the relevant section. That way, when I wrote that session up, I made sure I included and labelled that flexibility.

Action tip: If your assignment includes learning outcomes, module aims or marking criteria—copy and paste them into your draft. Use them as a checklist. They’re not just admin—they’re your map to better marks.

2. Create templates and structure for every section

Before I wrote a single word, I knew what each section needed to include.

For example, one part of my portfolio had to show how I applied the seven core principles from my training. So I created a list of sentence starters tailored to those principles:

“I supported the student’s metacognition by…”
“I used multisensory approaches such as…”

I wasn’t relying on memory or pulling ideas from thin air. I gave myself structured starting points so I could write faster and stay focused.

I also created checklists for each section so I could visually track progress and get the satisfying feeling of ticking things off.

Action tip: Build a bank of sentence starters or paragraph structures for your subject. Not only will this help you write essays faster—it will help you sound more academic too. You can start with my free sentence starters guide.

3. Plan before you write

When I wrote The Return to Study Handbook, I didn’t just sit down and start typing. I planned the entire book—chapter by chapter, section by section, paragraph by paragraph.

I did the same thing with my portfolio.

Because here’s the truth: a well-planned essay doesn’t just help you write faster—it helps your tutor read and mark it faster. It’s easier to follow. It’s focused. And it’s clearer what you’re trying to say.

Action tip: For your next assignment, don’t just jot a few bullet points and call it a plan. Break your essay down into sections. Write a short summary sentence for each paragraph. This is your map—and it’ll save you hours.

4. Do the pre-writing work

We often underestimate how much prep is needed before writing.

For my portfolio, I:

Reviewed notes and transcripts
Rewatched session recordings
Grouped my notes into categories (e.g. tasks, strategies, student responses)
Jotted timestamped quotes I might use later

Only then did I begin writing. And because I’d already grouped and prioritised my material, the writing flowed much faster.

Action tip: Don’t expect to open a blank doc and just start. Spend time comparing theories, grouping case studies, pulling key quotes—before you write. It will massively reduce editing later.

5. Write messy and edit later

I didn’t worry about clunky phrases or whether I’d already used the word however twelve times. I gave myself full permission to write messy and polish later.

But here’s the important part: because I’ve practised academic writing so much, even my “messy” drafts were pretty decent. The more you build the skill, the better your first drafts get.

Action tip: Stop aiming for perfection in your first draft. Start with getting your ideas down. You can refine for clarity, flow and finesse later.

6. Reduce cognitive load

Cognitive load = the amount of mental effort your brain is under while studying.

There are two types to be aware of:

Intrinsic load = how complex the task itself is
Extraneous load = the friction you add (e.g. unclear instructions, distraction, flipping tabs)

I simplified both:

I broke complex tasks into smaller checklists and templates
I studied with a second monitor so I wasn’t switching between tabs
I kept my reference material within sight, not just “somewhere else” in a doc
I used a notepad to capture unrelated to-dos so they didn’t hijack my brain mid-flow

Action tip: Minimise the tabs, split your screen, and keep reminders visible. Consider borrowing a second monitor during assignment season—it makes a huge difference.

7. Get in the zone

No phone. No half-watching something in the background. No bouncing between five tasks at once.

I knew how to get into deep focus—even for short bursts. As the deadline loomed, something clicked. I stopped reaching for my phone. I protected my focus like my grade depended on it (because it did).

Action tip: If you struggle to get in the zone, try using my Study With Me videos. They’ll help you build momentum and stay focused while writing.

What This Means for You

You don’t have to write 40,000 words in a week to benefit from these strategies.

But if your writing process feels slow, confusing or stressful—if you’re tired of starting late, running out of time, or feeling like you’re “just not good at writing”—then improving your writing skills is what’s going to change that.

When you know what’s expected of you, when you’ve got a clear plan and structure, when you reduce distractions and trust your process?

You will write essays faster. You’ll write better. And the whole thing will feel way less awful.