Many students have the misconception that when writing essays, they have to have all the information that they can possibly dig. They are misguided by the idea that they have to go deeper and deeper into the topic and gather every detail there is before they begin an essay plan. They feel that there is a need to do extensive reading before actually committing themselves into making the structure itself. But this is a mistake. One should keep in mind that essay writing requires the skill of being able to stop the research and begin writing.

Of course before writing your essay, you will need to have a good grasp of the topic that you want to discuss. But this does not imply that you spend all your time on research. You have to start writing your draft. Your essay will not get done all by itself no matter how massive your research has been. It is only when you actually begin planning for your essay will you realize that there is only a small fraction of the entire bulk of knowledge that you will need to answer the essay question. Then probably after that, you might have to go back to your books and research on a much smaller scope of topics.

Remember, you will be more productive if you have a defined direction, a specific piece of information to find. So avoid spending too much time on research. Put a limit on the amount of research you perform. Make a plan on how to go about writing your essay – choose a topic, define a research plan — and stick to it. This way, you are assured that you get to complete your essay on time.