When it comes to VCE assessments, essays are either your best friend or your worst enemy. If you fall into the second category, this article is for you. With these five tips for writing impressive essays under pressure, we're going to make that relationship a bit more positive and help you boost your grades in the process. 

Ask An Expert

If you really struggle to put together an essay, your best bet is to enlist the help of a tutor. VCE English tutors specialise in helping you improve. Since they've recently been through the course, they might even have some insight into the content that hasn't been explored in your class. This makes them a great resource, even if you're not particularly struggling as they can help you boost your study efficiency and get ahead. 

Find A Way To Care

In many cases, half the reason you struggle so much with writing essays is that you're not invested in anything beyond your marks. We're conditioned all throughout our educational journey to create content that grades well, which can lead to burnout and apathy. 

Instead of focusing on what mark you'll get, write an essay that you actually want to write. Obviously, you'll still need to adhere to the marking criteria but if you can frame your writing in a way that means something to you, you'll produce better essays with less effort.

Gather Related Resources

While copying is never the answer, researching other essays and literature about the topic you'll be focusing on can help you gain a deeper understanding of the concept. This will make formulating your essay easier as you'll have a wider knowledge base to pull from when deciding what to write. These resources can also be used as references if your assignment requires them and serve as a great source for quotes. 

Break It Down

When you think about it, essays are just a collection of arguments strung together logically. Because of this, you'll probably find it easier to write a winning one if you break it down first. Start with your overarching position, then brainstorm all the possible arguments that could support it. From here, you'll have a better idea of what you can write about, and what counterarguments you may need to address. It may also help you to write out your body paragraphs first and come back to your introduction and linking sentences later. 

Practice

Whether the saying “practice makes perfect” is true or not depends on your definition of “perfect,” but it does certainly lead to improvement. One of the best ways to improve your essay writing is to simply write more of them. 

If your study schedule and workload allow for it, crafting practice essays will help boost your results come assessment time. If you're working with one, your tutor can also grade these for you and help you make progress in any areas that need improvement. 

VCE is tough, but these five tips will help you write impressive essays under even the most stressful conditions. When you're going through the last two years of your formal schooling, it can be hard to see that there's more to life than the ATAR that you'll receive on graduation. But rest assured that there is. 

Your grades are important if you've got your heart set on a certain university course, but they don't define you. It's always a good idea to level up your skills, but don't let this time destroy your mental health or overall well-being. Good luck.

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