how to write a essay in 30 minutes

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How to Write an Essay in 30 Minutes?

If you’re looking for tips on how to write an essay in 30 minutes, you’ve come to the right place. The best way to make this process easier is by following some of the most important steps: outline your essay. Make sure to spend a particular amount of time on each paragraph. If you find that you are going over your time, you’ll know where to make a few adjustments. This will help you avoid spending too much time looking up information.

Create an outline

The first step in writing an essay is to create an outline. Outlines are a great way to stay organized and focus on the topic at hand. They also help you develop a strong thesis statement and begin research. An outline always begins with a thesis statement or summarizing sentence that conveys the central idea of the paper. You can brainstorm ideas and revise them later. Generally, you should begin by writing a summary sentence and then write your entire essay from this outline.

Once you have your outline, begin dividing the ideas into categories. For example, a literary essay might group the ideas under themes, while a history essay might have three main themes. Once you have a general outline, you can break it up into body paragraphs, longer sections, and different parts that each cover one of the themes. You should also check your outline for repetition or relevancy to your thesis statement.

Your essay outline should provide boundaries and structure. Once you have an outline, it is easy to write an essay. Your outline does not need to be long. You can write in full sentences or use shorthand. What matters is that you understand your topic well enough to construct an outline that will be both clear and coherent. When writing your outline, save the introduction and concluding paragraphs for the end, and you will be on your way to completing the assignment in less time.

When planning your essay, you must come up with a thesis statement that conveys your argument and guides your essay. Creating an outline will save you a lot of time later. You will need about 15 minutes to write the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. You should also leave 5 minutes for proofreading. Don’t worry about the title, as you can fix that later. It’s best to have a title after you’ve completed writing the essay.

Avoid writing too many cross-outs

When you have 30 minutes to write an essay, you have to divide your time into various tasks. Allot five to ten minutes to plan your essay, 15 to 20 minutes for writing, and five to ten minutes for quick editing and revisions. Do not underestimate the power of planning. Create a good outline, and review your essay at least once before the deadline. This way, you can save valuable time by focusing on important areas of your essay.

Avoid writing too many paragraphs

Most SAT essays require students to write five paragraphs in 30 minutes, and while this may seem impossible, it’s not too far off. With a little planning and time management, a five-paragraph essay should be easily achievable. First, you must know how to answer the question, which will probably be directed by a question. The question could be a prompt or a quote that includes a question.

To estimate the number of paragraphs needed, think about the main points of the body text. Each of these should have at least one paragraph, though important points may require more. Ideally, a paragraph should contain at most three ideas, with a maximum of five paragraphs. However, if you have a long essay, you may need to break it up into a schematic view to determine how many sentences are necessary.

Avoid procrastinating

Good habits make life easier, and they also help you become more successful. Developing good habits is crucial for a healthy lifestyle and education. Here are some tips to help you avoid procrastinating when writing an essay in 30 minutes. Procrastinating is an unhealthy habit that can lead to frustration, poor quality work, and caffeine dependence. Therefore, you should be proactive in avoiding procrastination.

Set realistic goals. Setting too high goals may lead to procrastination. Make your deadline realistic and set yourself a timer. Having a deadline that is too close to a particular date or time will motivate you to put in the effort necessary to meet it. Aim for a deadline so that you know exactly how long it will take. You can always reschedule it if you feel you’ll be able to complete it in time.

Another way to avoid procrastinating when writing an exam essay is to make a time schedule. Make a note of how much time you have to write the essay. It will be easier to schedule your day accordingly. During the last few days before the deadline, you will be aware of how much time you have left for completing the task. Also, write down the dates of when you will submit the essay.

Self-discipline is essential for overcoming procrastination. Self-discipline is an essential skill that will allow you to overcome any problem that arises. Regular exercise and healthy food habits will also improve your discipline. This type of discipline can be beneficial in many other areas of your life. If you can stick to these habits, your life will be a happier, healthier place to be.

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How to Write a Timed Essay

Last Updated: August 10, 2021

This article was co-authored by Arash Fayz . Arash Fayz is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of LA Tutors 123, an academic consulting and private tutoring company based in Los Angeles, California. Arash has over 10 years of educational consulting experience, managing the tutoring of students of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds to score higher on standardized tests and gain admission to their target schools. He has a BA in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of California, Los Angeles. This article has been viewed 21,964 times.

Whether it be in a class or for a standardized test, students are often required to write a timed essay. Writing a timed essay is as much about organization and time management as it is about the quality of writing. Visit Step 1 to get started.

Divide Up Your Time

• Make sure the prompts wants you to write an essay and not just a simple short answer that could consist of a few sentences to one full paragraph.
• Pick a position/argument to organize your essay. Think in terms of the pros and cons of the arguments and what supporting details lead you to the facts you'd like to present in the essay.
• Jot down an outline on some scrap paper
• Write the essay based on the outline! Don't ever write without some notes and knowledge of the subject at hand.
• Proofread your essay. No reader ever wants grammatical and spelling errors to be present.
• Submit on time.

• Read and understand the prompt = 1.5 minutes
• Pick a position = 1.5 minutes
• Jot down an outline = 2 minutes
• Write = 21 minutes
• Revise = 3 minutes
• Submit = 1 minute

• Introduction: 3 minutes
• Paragraph 1: 6 minutes
• Paragraph 2: 5 minutes
• Paragraph 3: 5 minutes
• Conclusion: 2 minutes

During the Essay

Proofreading the Essay

Submitting the Essay

Expert Q&A

• Wear a wristwatch during your timed essay. Not every testing room will have a clock on the wall or a proctor who announces the time remaining at regular intervals. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Don't panic if you go over time on a particular section. You can make it up by going a little faster on the next section. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Pay special attention to the outlining at the beginning. If you have a solid structure and direction, the argument will seem focused and organized even if it has been written faster than you would do without a time limit. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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• ↑ Arash Fayz. Test Prep Tutor. Expert Interview. 1 November 2019.

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How to Write an Essay in 30 Minutes

via Skillshare Help

Do you struggle to get a good grade on your essays? Have you been out of college for a while, and the idea of writing an essay is intimidating? If so, this beginner class on essay-writing is for you. 

My name is Helen Companion, and I have a Master's in English and teach at the college level. I've worked with thousands of students, and essay-writing is one of the most common areas of difficulties for many of my students. The good news is that essays are actually very easy to write once you understand how they work. 

In this class, I'll explain what an essay is, how it works, and how to write one of your own. Together, we'll write an example essay, and you'll write your own in pieces throughout the class.  You'll also learn: 

• The most common format taught in college classes. 
• The parts of the essay, including the introduction, the body, conclusion, thesis statement, topic and transition sentences, exposition, and the hook. 
• The repeating structure used in all academic writing. 
• How to write a thesis statement, which is the single most important sentence in the essay. 
• How to use that thesis statement to instantly create an outline and write about 1/3 of the body of a paper. 
• How to write compelling and convincing proof even with a ridiculous topic 
• How to select a hook and write an interesting introduction 
• How to write a conclusion that will leave your reader -- and your teacher -- wanting more. 
• Introduction
• The Five-Paragraph Form
• The Thesis Statement
• Turning the Thesis into an Outline: Step 1
• Turning the Thesis into an Outline: Step 2
• Turning the Thesis into an Outline: Step 3
• Turning the Thesis into an Outline: Step 4
• Writing the Introduction
• Writing the Conclusion
• Class Conclusion

Helen Companion

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Essay essentials: improve your academic writing, essay writing: help & tutorial, getting started with essay writing, how to write a thesis - a complete research writing guide, how to write a personal essay, 5 essay writing classes in less than 1 hour, related articles, top 250 skillshare courses of all time.

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How To Write An Essay In 30 Minutes

Question is How To Write An Essay In 30 Minutes? Unless you’re born with the natural ability to write well and to love writing in and of itself — which most of us aren’t — it can be extremely difficult to get an essay done in a short amount of time.  Are you looking for some support in how to do your essay in a short period of time so that you can get back to your life faster without compromising your grade?  Here are the best suggestions to help you get it all done in 30 minutes or less!

                              How To Write An Essay In 30 Minutes

• Focus your attention on each paragraph’s focus points: When it comes to actually writing. You’ll want to start by writing the body paragraphs first. It’s important to have your plan done, still, as having the essay organized point form paragraph by paragraph is critical to staying on topic. If you just do all of your body paragraphs first — which are basically just quotes and explanatory sentences — you’ll find that your motivation shoots up when you realize that all you have to do is the introduction and the conclusion.
• Write in a distraction-free zone: It’s important to do your essay in a zone free from distractions. This includes conversations, social media and even the internet (which shouldn’t be a problem since you’ve already done your research, right?). This will keep you on-task for the full 30 minutes.

Doing your essay doesn’t have to take you 2 weeks.  You can do the planning first and then write the entire draft in 30 minutes.  It’ll give you control back over your life and you’ll still get a great mark.  These tips will help you.

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How to Write an Essay: 400 Words in 30 Minutes

How to write an essay

What do you want to write about?   You need a topic first.  If you’re new to writing for fun start with something you know or a personal story.  Not sure what to write about?  Brainstorm.  Make a list and then just pick something.  My topic here is how to write an essay.  I’ve written about everything from swimming with pigs to how to falling apart after my divorce .

Introduce your topic.    This is your first paragraph.  You want to catch the readers attention.  Pose a question or fun fact.  This is where you share what you’re going to write about and make it known you’re qualified to give this info.  I started off telling you about my friend badgering me for a writing template, then let you know I’m a published author.

Close it up.   The closing is usually the easiest part for me.  You reiterate your main points in a few sentences.  Then you tie it back to your opening paragraph.

Reread and edit.   Don’t overthink it. Give it a quick read, looking for errors and making sure your thoughts were presented clearly.

Write a title. I usually do my title last.  If you’re writing for the Internet, you want a title that gets people’s attention, but also makes your topic clear.  I find titles come to me easier once the piece is finished.

That’s it.

And that’s how to write an essay.  This one took 25 minutes from start to finish and clocks in around 450 words.  If this format doesn’t work for you, mix it up and try it a different way.  The parts are interchangeable.  Sometimes I start with the title and go from there.  It really doesn’t matter.

I stand by, “Just write, mother fucker.”

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• Memorization Skills

Quick Ways to Memorize Long Texts and Paragraphs

Last Updated: July 8, 2024 References

Breaking the Text into Chunks

Creating a memory palace.

• Other Memorization Techniques

Expert Q&A

This article was co-authored by Alexander Ruiz, M.Ed. and by wikiHow staff writer, Jennifer Mueller, JD . Alexander Ruiz is an Educational Consultant and the Educational Director of Link Educational Institute, a tutoring business based in Claremont, California that provides customizable educational plans, subject and test prep tutoring, and college application consulting. With over a decade and a half of experience in the education industry, Alexander coaches students to increase their self-awareness and emotional intelligence while achieving skills and the goal of achieving skills and higher education. He holds a BA in Psychology from Florida International University and an MA in Education from Georgia Southern University. There are 14 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 412,643 times.

If you've ever tried to memorize an essay, monologue, long answer, or other text, you likely just repeated the words over and over again until you could recite them from rote memory. However, this isn't necessarily the quickest way to memorize something and if you're working with a longer text you may not have the time it would take to keep repeating it aloud. Instead, use memorization techniques that suit your learning style and focus on recalling the text rather than rote memorization. [1] X Research source

Best Ways to Remember Long Text and Paragraphs

To memorize long passages, break the text into smaller chunks and practice them separately. When you're confident with one chunk of text, combine it with the next chunk of text and recite them again. Keep adding new chunks of text until you have it completely memorized.

• For example, if you're trying to memorize Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, your first chunk might be the first line of the speech, in which Lincoln talks about the founding of the United States. The second chunk might relate to Lincoln's description of the civil war, then the third to the battlefield Lincoln was consecrating that day. Despite being separate chunks, the second and third chunks make up the same paragraph. [3] X Research source
• Look for phrases you already know that you won't have to work as hard to commit to memory. For example, if you already remember the phrase "four score and seven years ago" from the Gettysburg Address, you don't need to worry about memorizing that.
• Sometimes it can also help to reformat the text. You might hand-write or type the text out with plenty of space between the chunks. You might even include separate headings for each of the chunks.

• Get a good familiarity with each of the chunks separately before you start to combine them. If there is a particular area of your original chunk that's giving you trouble, try separating it into even smaller chunks. Then you can combine those smaller chunks together once you've got them down.

• Practice the first and second chunk together until you can recite them flawlessly. Then you're ready to add the third chunk.

• If you run into rough spots, stop and go back over them until you can recite them smoothly. Then integrate that part into the rest of the chunk.
• Throughout the process, keep your eye out for transitions that you can use as triggers to combine the chunks together seamlessly. If these transitions aren't in the text, add them mentally to help you connect the chunks — just remember not to say them out loud.

• It's often easiest to use your home, since you're intimately familiar with the rooms and the objects inside.
• Your place can also be a fictitious place that you're deeply familiar with. For example, if you're a big fan of Harry Potter and have a familiar map in your head of Hogwarts, you could use that.
• Your "memory palace" doesn't have to be a single building or location. It can also be a route from one place to another. For example, you might use your route from home to work or school.

• For example, if you're trying to memorize Hamlet's soliloquy, you might imagine a letter "B" on the door of a room. When you open the room, there are arrows and slingshots pelting you from a large bag of gold coins. If you close the door and move down the hall, there are arms reaching out that grab you and carry you across a turbulent ocean. [8] X Research source

• If you encounter pieces that are difficult to remember, you may want to rethink the object you have associated with that piece or break it up into smaller pieces associated with multiple objects.

• This technique may take some practice to master. If you're up against a deadline, it may not be the best time to create a memory palace. However, once you've used it a few times, you may find it enables you to memorize text more quickly.
• If you used a route rather than a place, you can travel through the text you're trying to memorize every day as you head to work or school. You could even try it in reverse as you go back home. Then you'd be able to say you know the text "backward and forward."

Trying Other Memorization Techniques

• For example, if you were trying to memorize Hamlet's soliloquy from Shakespeare's Hamlet, you would write "t b, o n t b? t i t q — w 't n i t m t s t s a a o o f, o t t a a a s o t, a, b o, e t?" [11] X Research source Then you would see how many words you could get just from those first letters.
• Circle the letters that correspond to words you couldn't remember and then go back to the text. Use your favorite memorization technique to better commit those words to your memory in the context of the text, then try the first letters again.
• This trick is also useful if you're trying to recall something you memorized a long time ago but haven't thought about since. You might be surprised how much you'll recall.

• If you're musically inclined, you could try recording yourself playing the song. You may also be able to find an instrumental version of the song on your favorite streaming service.
• Educational programs, such as "Schoolhouse Rock," often create songs for historical documents and speeches. Search the internet or your favorite video streaming service and see what you can find.

• Feel free to gesticulate as well to really get into the emotion of the text. The more passion and emotion you attach to it, the better you'll be able to remember it.

• For example, if you were trying to memorize Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, you might think of an image of your father, an image of the United States, an image of the Statue of Liberty, and an equal sign to represent the first line: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."
• If you enjoy emoji, you might try "translating" the text into emoji. Since those images are already familiar to you, it might make the text easier to remember.

• If you dislike the sound of your own voice, you can always get someone else to read the text for you. However, you'll get less of a benefit by listening to someone else's voice than you would if you listened to your own voice.
• If you're trying to memorize a relatively famous text, you may also be able to find recordings online of famous actors or other celebrities reading the text.

• Once you've found a method that works for you, practice it by memorizing speeches, monologues, or essays that spark your interest. The more you practice memorizing things, the better you'll get. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• After you've memorized something, make an effort to recite it at least once every few days so it sticks in your memory. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

Tips from our Readers

• Try recording your own voice saying the text and play it back to yourself. After listening to it, practice saying it along with the recording.
• If you are learning a script, then try learning the other lines in between yours so that you can remember your cues.
• Try and write down a "spark word" from a section that helps trigger the memory of what the section is about.

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/backstage-experts-answer-ways-quickly-memorize-lines-6719/
• ↑ https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/teaching-strategies/chunking
• ↑ http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm
• ↑ https://psychcentral.com/lib/memory-and-mnemonic-devices/
• ↑ https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-psychology/chapter/step-1-memory-encoding/
• ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4056179/
• ↑ https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56965/speech-to-be-or-not-to-be-that-is-the-question
• ↑ https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/enhancing-your-memory/
• ↑ http://www.productivity501.com/how-to-memorize-verbatim-text/294/
• ↑ https://poets.org/poem/hamlet-act-iii-scene-i-be-or-not-be
• ↑ https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/sciencecommunication/2017/10/20/want-to-remember-something-better-put-it-in-a-song/
• ↑ https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/7-easy-monologue-memorization-tips/
• ↑ Alexander Ruiz, M.Ed.. Educational Consultant. Expert Interview. 18 June 2020.
• ↑ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09658211.2017.1383434

About This Article

To memorize a long text in the shortest time possible, start by splitting it into 1-2 sentence sections to make it easier to remember. Read the first section a few times. Then, cover the page and practice recalling the section from memory. You can say it aloud, in your head, or write it down on a new piece of paper. Once you’ve memorized the first section, move onto the next one. Whenever you start a new section, say or write the text from the beginning so you learn the flow between each section. Repeat the process until you’ve learned all of the sections of your text. For more tips, including how to memorize text by using pictures for each section, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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“She never could keep secrets”: Todd Fisher explains Carrie Fisher’s problem with keeping secrets

D23 2024: andor season 2 reveals k-2so and director krennic, d23 2024: congratulations disney legends harrison ford, john williams and frank oz, star wars: young jedi adventures shorts: firehawk rescue, comic review: darth maul – black, white & red #3, regal robot: designing the aliens for jabba’s palace in return of the jedi, daisy ridley talks graves’ disease diagnosis, donald glover: childish gambino no more, san diego comic con 2024: harrison ford and giancarlo esposito on captain america 4 crew panel, comic review: darth vader (2020) #48, comic review: star wars inquisitors #2, comic review: star wars (2020) #48, comic review: star wars inquisitors #1, best way to write an essay in under 30 minutes.

Sometimes, we have no choice but to do our best and write an essay in under 30 minutes. It sounds like a real hassle, and at times, it can be. There are many steps to write an essay, but even if you know them, the real thing you need to nail is how to write your essays faster. If you’re wondering how to write an essay quickly, or how to finish an essay in under 30 minutes flat, you’re in luck because we have compiled an excellent list of tricks to help you.

Tips to Write an Essay in Under 30 Minutes

To know how to write essays faster, read on:

Read the Essay Question

The most important thing you need to do before starting your essay is finding out precisely what topic you’ll be writing on. Read the question and then re-read it. This will help you understand better. Taking a pencil and underlining the keywords also helps. Keywords include actions words, like “describe” or “inform” that tell us the writing style we need to adopt, and other essential words or phrases like the subject under discussion, which is essentially the topic of the essay.

Research Your Essay

If you’re not cooped up in an exam hall and have internet access, you may find yourself researching the topic at hand. If you choose to do this, make sure you stick to the exact amount of time you have allowed yourself for it, be it 3, 5, or 10 minutes. The best way to do this is by searching up the underlined keywords from your question. For example, the question may be “describe the effects of climate change on polar bears,” in which case your online search keywords might be “climate change polar bears.”

Using only the keywords and cutting out extra words can help you type faster, and get better, accurate results. Don’t worry about perfect grammar during research-none of it really matters when you’re performing an online search!

Some students simply don’t have the time to do a research-based essay. While some essays are doable, others are more demanding, and finishing them before the due date can prove to be a real challenge. In such cases, many students go over well-known essay writing service ratings and choose a third-party academic writer to pen their essay for them. Before selecting a writer, though, it is important to go over their essay writing services reviews and see which writer best fits your criteria. Also, don’t forget to ask for prices beforehand!

Make a Plan Before You Start Writing

First, you need to know exactly how much time you have and divide it according to what you need to get done. When working within a 30-minute time-frame, consider dividing up your time like this: allot 5-10 minutes for planning and outlining 15 to 20 minutes for writing, and the remaining 5 minutes for quick revisions and editing.

Do not underestimate the power of planning and editing. If you start writing with a decent essay outline in place, your work will finish faster because you’ll have a clear idea of exactly what needs to be done. Finish off by taking the time out to review your essay-it can do wonders for your final product.

Set a Timer and Dissect Your Essay

If you’re still wondering how to write an essay fast , follow this advice: set a timer, especially if you have multiple things to do, like research, planning, and editing, apart from writing the essay itself. As highlighted in step 2, decide how long you want to spend on each task, and then set timers accordingly, so you don’t bleed into another time slot. Time management can make or break your essay, so be sure to do your best to keep those minutes under check!

How To Make Your Essay Stand Out

These are the tips that will help you complete your essay within 30 minutes. However, there is more to essay writing that just managing your time efficiently. Here are some professional tips on how to write an essay:

Brainstorm Your Thesis

Deciding on a solid thesis statement is vital because it sets the tone for your essay. The thesis statement contains the essence of the rest of your essay, so choose it wisely. A good thesis statement takes the question or topic at hand head-on without beating around the bush.

Write an Interesting Introduction

The thesis is generally a part of the introduction, namely the first line after your essay’s “hook,” which is a sentence used to grasp the reader’s attention. But there is more to an introduction than just the hook and thesis statement. Use the introduction to tell your reader the basics of the topic you’ll be covering so that when they read the body paragraphs, they’ll know what to expect from the rest of the essay.

Write Your Body

The body paragraphs tell the tale of your essay. They contain all the essential substance and context, and really help flesh out your writing. Your first body paragraph should discuss your strongest point alongside some examples to make it clearer to the reader. Try ending the paragraph with a one-liner conclusion that ties your paragraph back to your thesis statement. You can have as many body paragraphs as you need, but the typical amount is three, especially if you’re working within a tight time frame.

Conclusion Time

A good conclusion summarizes the essay and reinforces the statement. If your topic demanded you to “describe” and not “argue,” you may want to avoid giving a biased opinion in your conclusion.

Use these steps to write an essay to help you finish your work in 30 minutes. The additional writing tips will help you have the best essay of them all!

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• Writing Tips

7 Top Tips on Writing the Time

7-minute read

• 25th July 2019

As anyone who has turned up for a midday meeting at midnight will tell you, clarity is vital when writing the time of day. But there are many ways to write the time, and the best approach isn’t always obvious. We have a few tips to help, though.

1. Words or Numerals?

You can write the time of day using either words or numerals. If you are using numerals, you would usually include both hours and minutes, although you can omit the minutes in less formal writing .

For instance, all the following would be acceptable:

She gets up at six in the morning every day.

She gets up at 6:00 in the morning every day.

She gets up at 6 o’clock in the morning every day.

As a rule, though, you would only write out the time as words when:

• It is part of a full sentence, particularly in descriptive or literary writing.
• Using a 12-hour clock (never with a 24-hour clock ).
• You’re referring to an approximate or round time (e.g., saying “ten thirty” is fine, but you would not usually write “twenty-four minutes after eight”).

In most other cases, numerals are the clearer option for writing the time, especially in scientific and technical writing, where precision is vital.

2. AM and PM

The abbreviations AM and PM can be used when writing the time as numerals. Each applies to a different time of day:

• AM is short for ante meridiem , meaning “before noon.”
• PM is short for post meridiem , meaning “after noon.”

As such, we use AM and PM to indicate the time of day when we are using a 12-hour clock. We can see how this works more clearly if we write out various times of day in both 12-hour and 24-hour formats:

You can see here that we need AM and PM with the twelve-hour clock for clarity. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between, e.g., midday and midnight. Likewise, though, you do not need to include AM or PM with a 24-hour time because it is already clear.

There are also several ways to write AM and PM, including:

• ALL CAPS, small caps , or lower case (e.g., 12 AM, 12 AM , or 12 am)
• With or without periods between the letters (e.g., 8 PM or 8 P.M.)
• With or without a space after the number (e.g., 1 AM or 1AM)

Consistency is key here, so make sure to apply one style throughout your document. You may also want to check your style guide if you have one, as some organizations will have their own rules for how to write AM and PM.

3. When to Use O’clock

You’ll have noticed we use “o’clock ” in one of the examples above. This term means “of the clock,” so we can use it to show that a number refers to a time.

However, you should only use “o’clock” with exact hours:

It is precisely 5 o’clock . ✔

I’m leaving at seven o’clock . ✔

It arrived at 7:34 o’clock . ✘

The gig starts at half past seven o’clock . ✘

We’ll save a discussion of when wine o’clock is for another blog post.

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4. Past, After, Till, and To

When writing the time as words, use “after,” “past,” and “to” for intervals between hours. You can combine these terms with either numbers or the words “half” and “quarter” depending on the time in question:

• Use after or past for intervals up to half an hour past the hour.
• Use to for any interval after the half hour up to the hour.
• Use half past to indicate 30 minutes past the hour.
• Use quarter past   or  quarter after for 15 minutes after the hour.
• Use quarter to for 15 minutes up to the hour.

For example, we would use the above accordingly in the following times:

7:05 → Five after seven

7:15 → Quarter past seven

7:30 → Half past seven

7:45 → Quarter to eight

7:55 → Five to eight

Keep in mind that using “after” for times is only standard in American English. In other English dialects, “past” is far more common.

5. Punctuating the Time

When writing the time as numerals, you can use either a colon or a period between the hour and the minutes. In some cases, such as in the military , you can even write out a 24-hour time without any punctuation.

For instance, the following are all acceptable ways of punctuating a time:

We need to leave by 6:45 pm at the latest. ✔

We need to leave by 6.45 pm at the latest. ✔

We need to leave by 1845 at the latest. ✔

The colon is the most common option here, but it is a matter of preference. Unless you’re in the military, in which case we suggest sticking to protocol.

6. Time Zones

For the contiguous states in the USA, we have four standard time zones:

• Pacific Time (PT) [UTC-08:00]
• Mountain Time (MT) [UTC-07:00]
• Central Time (CT) [UTC-06:00]
• Eastern Time (ET) [UTC-5:00]

We also have regional time zones for Alaska, Hawaii, and 5 US dependencies, plus daylight saving time in some places during the warmer months of the year. And people in other countries use different time zones entirely!

Basically, we’re saying geography can make time complicated.

This is why we sometimes include a time zone when writing the time. The initials UTC above, for instance, stand for Coordinated Universal Time . We can use this to compare times in different places. So, “UTC-8:00” means Pacific Time is 8 hours behind UTC. And since we know Pacific Time is 8 hours behind UTC and Eastern Time is 5 hours behind UTC, we can work out that ET is 3 hours ahead of PT.

In other words, by including a time zone when we write a time, we can help people in other places “translate” it into their own time zone.

This is important if you are writing for an international audience, since not everyone will be in the same time zone. You thus need to include a set of time zone initials so your reader can calculate the equivalent time where they are. For example, if we were writing a time for an international audience, we might say:

The live broadcast will begin at 9:00 pm UTC .

Someone in Bolivia could then look up the difference between UTC and BOT (Bolivia Time) and know the broadcast begins at 5:00 pm where they are.

7. Avoiding Redundancy when Writing the Time

In writing, redundancy means using a word unnecessarily. We mentioned above, for example, that you do not need to use AM or PM with 24-hour times because we already know whether a time is the morning or afternoon/evening when using a 24-hour clock.

Other cases of temporal redundancy you may want to avoid include:

• Using “in the morning,” “in the afternoon,” etc., alongside AM/PM.
• Combining “in the morning,” “in the afternoon,” etc., with a 24-hour time.
• Using “midday,” “noon,” or “midnight” alongside a time in numbers.

We’ll end this post with a few examples of redundancies so you know what to watch out for. Check out the table below, good luck writing the time, and let us know if you need any help proofreading your work.

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Want to write a college essay that sets you apart? Three tips to give you a head start

1. Keep it real. It’s normal to want to make a good impression on the school of your choice, but it’s also important to show who you really are. So just be yourself! Compelling stories might not be perfectly linear or have a happy ending, and that’s OK. It’s best to be authentic instead of telling schools what you think they want to hear.

2. Be reflective . Think about how you’ve changed during high school. How have you grown and improved? What makes you feel ready for college, and how do you hope to contribute to the campus community and society at large?

3. Look to the future. Consider your reasons for attending college. What do you hope to gain from your education? What about college excites you the most, and what would you like to do after you graduate? Answering these questions will not only give colleges insight into the kind of student you’ll be, but it will also give you the personal insight you’ll need to choose the school that’s right for you.

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How do you write a 4-page essay in 5 hours?

I know it's norm for people to write their essays the last minutes possible, but how do you actually do it?

edit: I'm not about to write one myself but was just curious about how people managed to do it.

Also I meant A+/A essays.

As one of the people who plan to write at least 1 week ahead of time but only getting A/A-s, I think it's an exceptional skill to have.

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22 Easy Pasta Recipes You Can Make in Under 30 Minutes

With pasta and a few fresh ingredients, dinner is done in a snap.

Simply Recipes / Karishma Pradhan

Is there anything better than coming home from a long day and sitting down to a bowl of comforting pasta? Or knowing you need to feed the family quickly and you can throw together something quickly that they'll all like? We don't think so.

These 21 pasta dishes come together in 30 minutes or less, contain lots of fresh ingredients, and usually allow you to change out the pasta so you can use whichever dried pasta you happen to have in the pantry.

If you want to save an extra couple of minutes, consider ditching the cooking directions on the back of the pasta box and starting your pasta in cold water. The method can cut the time to cook the pasta down by half, and it saves water, too!

1. 5-Ingredient Tomato Pasta

Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

The recipe comes together in around 15 minutes, since you make the sauce while the pasta is cooking and then toss everything together in the saucepan at the end.

2. Brown Butter Cacio e Pepe

A small extra step of browning butter will give your next cacio e pepe an extra layer of depth to offset the sharpness of the fruity cracked peppercorns and pungent Pecorino Romano.

3. Creamy Cavatappi

If you have 20 minutes, you can make this pasta dish with cavatappi—fancy elbow macaroni—that holds onto all the creamy cheese sauce. While the pasta cooks, make the sauce with butter, garlic, heavy cream, Parmesan, and lemon juice. Adding peas is optional, but doing so helps you get some veggies in if you're not serving a green salad.

4. No-Cook Tomato Basil Pasta

Simply Recipes / Sarah Tane

You do in fact have to cook the pasta for this recipe. It's the sauce—made with fresh tomatoes, basil , Parmesan, olive oil, and a few other pantry staples—that's no cook. The fresh sauce bursting with flavor heats up when it hits the just-cooked pasta.

5. Warm Caprese Pasta

Simply Recipes / Photo by Fred Hardy II / Food Styling by Ana Kelly / Prop Styling by Shell Royster

The combination of mozzarella, tomato, and basil—served together as caprese salad —is magical. Those there simple ingredients all work well mixed with warm bow-tie pasta, too. If you want to make this a little heartier, add some cooked pancetta or bacon.

6. Pasta Carbonara

This indulgent recipe takes just 30 minutes. Fry up pancetta or bacon in a skillet, then create the silky carbonara sauce of Parmesan and beaten eggs tossed with the hot pasta and a little fat from the pork. It's a real treat.

7. Creamy Ziti Florentine

Spinach, green onions , herbs, lemon, and ricotta cheese combine to make a creamy sauce for ziti. It's a quick and easy stovetop dinner that comes together in 20 minutes, and it's so good you'll eat it all up in just minutes, too.

8. Easy Pasta with Winter Greens

This vibrant sauce is made with fresh Swiss chard , pasta water, olive oil, garlic, and Parmesan cheese. It's simple and goes with the pasta of your choice. Substitute kale, spinach, or collard greens for the Swiss chard if you'd like.

9. Skillet Cacio e Pepe Tortellini With Wilted Greens

Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe

The fresh or frozen cheese tortellini cooks right in the same pan you'll later add the sauce ingredients to, saving the time you'd normally take it boil the pasta (and saving you one more to wash). The sauce is the same as a traditional cacio e pepe , just salty Pecorino Romano cheese and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. A few handfuls of spinach finish the dish.

10. Creamy Miso Mushroom Pasta

Simply Recipes / Hannah Zimmerman

Just 8 ingredients and come together in 30 minutes to make this creamy pasta with white miso, Parmesan, and mushrooms . It uses a whole pound of spaghetti so you get an umami-filled pasta dinner for four.

11. Penne alla Vodka

Simply Recipes / Alison Bickel

In the time that it takes to cook the penne, you can make this rich, creamy vodka sauce that's full of garlic, crushed tomatoes, cream, Pecorino, and of course the vodka of your choice, as long as it's not flavored. Add a side of garlic bread , and oh yum!

12. Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

This pasta is simple and delicious, but using good ingredients is a must. Only quality extra virgin olive, fresh garlic , real Parmesan, and red pepper flakes that haven't been sitting in your pantry too long will do. Boil the pasta. When that's done, it takes just a couple of minutes to make the tasty sauce with the oil, garlic, Parm, and pepper flakes.

13. Chicken Carbonara

Alison Bickel / Simply Recipes

Switch up pasta carbonara by using chicken along with pork like bacon or pancetta. The chicken is cooked in the garlic-infused drippings, the simple sauce has eggs and Parmesan, and it still comes together in just 30 minutes. The recipe is scaled for 2 servings, but double it and it's dinner for 4.

14. Fresh Corn Pasta

You can make this with corn any time of the year but when fresh corn is in season, you'll be really happy to have this recipe on hand. It's kind of like a mash-up between creamed corn and mac and cheese, and it's so good. Add a salad and it's a meal or serve it as a side dish.

15. Pasta with Tuna and Arugula

Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

Break out the canned tuna in olive oil and add it to olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes for this simple pasta dish with wilted arugula. It works really well with fettuccine, spaghetti, or linguine.

16. Buttery Tomato Pasta

The ridges of corkscrew pasta perfectly capture tomato sauce made with canned tomatoes and butter rather than olive oil . There's a good chance you have the ingredients you need in your pantry already, and while the corkscrew pasta works great, you can use whatever pasta you have on hand.

17. Angel Hair Pasta With Garlic, Herbs, and Parmesan

This simple angel hair pasta is a side dish, but if you have leftover rotisserie chicken in the fridge and add it in, you have a meal. Start the water boiling for the pasta and then sauté garlic, red pepper flakes , and herbs in olive oil. After the pasta cooks, drizzle it with the infused oil and add the Parmesan.

18. Mom's Pasta Primavera

Sautéed onions, carrots, zucchini, bell peppers, and eggplant and a quickly made flavorful marinara sauce top pasta. Far from a typical primavera, it's a Mediterranean delight that you can top with or without Parmesan.

19. Angel Hair Pasta with Quick Cherry Tomato Sauce

The Italians can turn tomatoes, olive oil, fresh herbs , cheese, and pasta into something that's even better than the sum of its parts, and this dish is just that. Angel hair pasta, capellini, or capelli d’Angelo is the base for a sauce that's full of cherry tomatoes, and it's simply delicious.

20. Sautéed Swiss Chard Ribs with Cream and Pasta

Did you know you can eat the ribs from Swiss chard? You can, and this creamy pasta dish (use your favorite pasta) sautés them up in butter then mixes it all up with heavy creamy to create a sauce for your quick, weeknight pasta dish.

21. Lemony Sardine Pasta

If you love lemon, this pasta is for you. Briny sardines, caramelized lemons, olives, and crispy, crunchy garlic and breadcrumbs create the unusual but delicious pasta sauce you didn't know you wanted. Spaghetti works great, but use whatever pasta you want.

22. Pasta Pomodoro with Shrimp

Pasta pomodoro is a simple pasta with olive oil, fresh tomatoes, and basil. This dish takes the simple classic and adds fast cooking peeled and deveined shrimp , frozen or fresh. It's quick and delicious.

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Has the Long Friendship of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett Reached Its Final Act?

Growing tensions between the two billionaires, over issues both substantive and stylistic, have roiled the world of philanthropy.

By Anupreeta Das

Anupreeta Das is the author of the forthcoming book “Billionaire, Nerd, Savior, King,” from which this article is adapted.

In the summer of 1991, Mary Gates, the mother of the Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, convinced her workaholic 35-year-old son to spend the July 4 holiday at Hood Canal, a scenic, outdoorsy location about two hours from Seattle that had long been the family getaway.

The Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, was among the guests. When Mrs. Gates tried to introduce her son to Mr. Buffett, however, he brushed her off, saying that he didn’t want to meet a “stockbroker.”

But the two men hit it off immediately. Settling into a patterned couch, Mr. Buffett, dressed in a red polo shirt and dark trousers, his left foot propped up against the coffee table, and Mr. Gates in a tennis outfit — shorts and a white shirt, his white socks coming up to mid-calf, his mop of hair tousled — talked for 11 hours straight. The other guests had to pull them apart. Mr. Gates was surprised by the penetrating questions Mr. Buffett directed at him about the software business, and found himself warming to the avuncular Midwestern billionaire.

The two have been close friends ever since. Once, recounting the story of their meeting to students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Mr. Gates called it an “unbelievable friendship.” Mr. Buffett quipped, “The moral of that is, listen to your mother.”

Theirs has been an unusual friendship. Mr. Buffett is folksy and outgoing, and never passes up an opportunity to crack a joke. He likes to speak in aphorisms. He enjoys breaking down complex investing principles into simple nuggets that anyone could understand. When he meets new people, Mr. Buffett is genuinely curious about their backgrounds. He asks them questions and listens intently, eyebrows furrowed, to the answers. Banter comes to him easily.

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Remembering Jimmy Buffett (1946 – 2023)

September 6, 2023

Posted by: Cary O’Dell

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Like the rest of the world, the Library of Congress was very saddened to hear of the passing of Jimmy Buffett this past weekend.  His passing was, to us, all the more poignant as Mr. Buffett’s iconic recording, “Margaritaville,” was added the the Library’s National Recording Registry just earlier this year.  At the time, Mr. Buffett expressed his great pleasure at having his song selected, providing to us not only a wonderful interview on the song and his career but also generously sharing his memories of its making.  At the time of its induction, esteemed music writer (and Buffett fan) Scott Atwell wrote for the Library the following essay.  We share it below.

He claims the song took just six minutes to write.  He claims Elvis almost recorded it.  He claims a woman is to blame.

In a career that has reached beyond a half century, Jimmy Buffett has over 350 songs to his credit, but one of them–this one–has defined his popularity as a lifestyle artist who inspires others to live vicariously through his travels.

While the Florida Keys are closely tied to his persona, it was the Texas music scene that kept Buffett buoyed in the 1970s, playing “every junior college in the entire state, including El Centro in downtown Dallas,” he joked on Jerry Jeff Walker’s Austin TV show.  After working a 1976 show, Buffett was set to fly back to Florida and on the way out of town, stopped at a Mexican restaurant, where he ordered burritos and a margarita, the taste of which was extraordinarily satisfying at the time, if not inspiring.

In an interview with Michael Riedel, Buffett says he was visiting a woman he was dating, and “there was the potential for a breakup.”  After a couple of margaritas and a few tears, she drove him to the airport and, at the gate, he got out his guitar and churned out the chorus for a new song.  “I was going to call it ‘Wasting Away Again in Austin, Texasville,’” he said.

But then, Florida intervened.  After landing in Miami, Buffett set out to drive to Key West via the Overseas Highway, which still featured a remnant of Henry Flagler’s railroad:  an old-fashioned swing bridge on the Seven Mile Bridge that often got stuck in the open position, leaving automobiles backed up for miles.  Stalled in traffic, Buffett pulled out his note pad and finished the song he had started in Austin.

The next night, Buffett was back in Key West and performed “Margaritaville” for the first time on stage at long-lost Logun’s Lobster House, where literary giants Truman Capote, novelist Dotson Rader and poet John Malcolm Brinnin were seated in the front row.  By the end of the song, they were all singing, “Searchin’ for my lost shaker of salt,” he told the Riedel.

Buffett carried the song with him to his next studio session, the “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” album, which his new producer insisted be recorded near an ocean setting.  At Miami’s Criteria Studios, Buffett pitched Norbert Putnam the story of a boozy, barefoot walk home that ended with a cut toe.  Putnam recounted the moment on the Paul Leslie Hour radio program:  “All great songs contain one ingredient,” Putnam explained, “some form of conflict.  It can be between you and your girlfriend or worse.  As Jimmy is describing this song, I’m hoping it has some conflict.”

As if Buffett had summoned the wisdom from a lifetime of reading literary classics, the song’s struggle appeared in the form of a lost shaker of salt.  “He introduces conflict,” Putnam continued, “and then he takes all of the blame for it and claims humility.  Then we have to give him a hug, you see?  So, he covers all of the emotional bases.  I just sat there and said this is one of the best-formed songs I’ve ever heard and I think history has proven that to be true.”

In a 2010 appearance on “CMT Crossroads” with the Zac Brown Band, Buffett confessed that Elvis Presley was on the verge of taking “Margaritaville” into the studio as his own.  Perhaps Putnam, who had already worked with the King, was trying to double dip, but Buffett’s version would prove worthy enough on its own, making it to #1 on “Billboard’s” list of Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks and as high as #14 on their Hot 100.  Putnam calls it as one of the biggest hits in the history of the MCA catalog, with more than 30 million units sold.  “Thank you, Mr. Buffett.  He funded my retirement.”

As the legend of song grew, one of the most important business decisions made by Buffett was to avoid fixing one location as the source of Margaritaville’s magic.  “Whatever Margaritaville is, it’s an oasis for people from all walks of life,” he has said, “whatever’s going on in your life, to spend anywhere from three minutes or three months in a bit of escapism.”  To extend the thought, if Margaritaville could be “anywhere” then it might be found “everywhere,” and today the brand has taken on a life of its own in the form of hotels, retirement developments, casinos, restaurants and bars, RV parks, Sirius Satellite Radio channels, Internet TV sites, Broadway musicals and even kitchen appliances.  Home-shopping behemoths HSN and Frontgate are said to boast more than 400 Margaritaville-branded items.

As a legal matter, the key to Buffett’s use of the song title grew out of a 1983 lawsuit which followed his attempt to open a Key West store called Margaritaville.  “I discovered the Chi Chi’s Restaurant chain had copyrighted the word Margaritaville,” he explained to reporter Ken Ringle. “I had to reach a settlement with Chi Chi’s to use the name of a song I’d written!  Then I found a woman in Hawaii had copyrighted ‘Cheeseburger in Paradise’!  I was being ripped off everywhere because I wasn’t paying attention.  There was a demand there, and everyone was exploiting it but me!  So I started taking care of business.”

Today, Margaritaville Holdings includes four booming divisions:  lodging, alcohol, licensing and media.  The company’s specialty is licensing the Margaritaville name, guaranteeing revenue without taking on a financial risk.  For franchisees, use of the brand appears to be worth the hefty fee.  “Variety,” in 2018, reported the Margaritaville name was bringing in upwards of $2 billion annually.  Buffett biographer Ryan White can summon only one analogy when describing the reach of the franchise:  It’s as big as “Star Wars.”

As a fitting footnote, the 2021 Florida Legislature approved a Margaritaville vehicle license tag for car owners.  If they only knew the song was literally completed… on the road.

Scott Atwell was born and raised in Key West, Florida, where he is fiercely proud of his hometown, and people who sing about it.  While hosting an all-Jimmy Buffett radio program, he authored “Buffett Backstories:  Fifty Years, Fifty Songs” from which this essay was adapted.

For more information related to this blog or any Library of Congress holdings, please see Ask a Librarian , and if you plan to come in to view or listen to any collection items, please reach out to our reference staff in the  Moving  Image Research Center  and the  Recorded Sound Research Center .

To learn more about the National Recording Registry, click here .

*The views expressed in this essay are those of the author and may not reflect those of the Library of Congress.

Jimmy Buffett was an amazing performer. So glad I got to see him in Vegas. I was also lucky enough to assist in Margaritaville Tequila promotions where I learned his music I became a Parrothead, and loved following his music and career. His music and legacy will live on forever ❤️. I know I will be proud to carry the torch , to share his music and legacy ❤️ On going prayers for him and his family always 🙏 ❤️

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