3 Steps to Write Essays Faster and Procrastinate Less (By a Published Author)

Summary

Justin Sung argues that essays and other substantial writing become faster and less intimidating when they are built in layers rather than written straight through from beginning to end. Writing linearly can leave students trying to invent points, organize them, find evidence, and polish sentences all at once, often leading to wasted time and procrastination.

A typical piece of writing introduces its main ideas, develops points with supporting evidence, and may then compare ideas, discuss implications, or add reflection. The exact structure can vary, but the core task is to make clear points and support them.

The Three-Step Method

1. Build a conceptual understanding of the topic first

   • Before planning the essay, understand the main ideas, themes, or principles and how they connect.
   • Don’t rely only on memorizing a list of themes and examples. Understanding their relationships makes it easier to explain, compare, and support them.
   • For books, films, or other authored works, Sung recommends learning about the creator’s background and perspective. This may help explain why particular themes or examples appear.
   • The same principle applies to research writing: know the material well enough to understand how its ideas fit together.

2. Create an ordered list of questions

   • Instead of immediately listing arguments or drafting paragraphs, write the questions the essay needs to answer.
   • Arrange them in an order that makes sense to a reader. The questions act as checkpoints and establish the essay’s overall flow before every argument is decided.
   • For example, an essay on learning styles might ask: What are they? Where did the idea come from? What does current research say? Why is the topic still debated?
   • This stage can be brief and manageable. A clear, limited task is less overwhelming than “write the whole essay” and gives the next writing session a specific focus.

3. Answer the questions and add evidence

   • Work through the questions one at a time, turning each answer into a point or section.
   • Support claims as you go: use relevant research for a research assignment or evidence from the text for a text response.
   • Once the answers and evidence are in place, review the order and adjust it if needed.
   • Finally, edit for clarity and style by refining wording and adding transitions. Sung treats elegant prose as a separate skill that develops through reading, analyzing, and practicing other writers’ techniques.

Sung’s overall advice is to start with a frame, fill it in, support it, and polish it afterward. Breaking the work into focused stages makes it easier to begin and reduces the need to juggle many decisions at once. He says this is the approach he uses for his own research and other writing.

Speaker and Source

• Justin Sung — The sole speaker in the subtitles. He presents the writing method and gives examples from his academic and writing experience.