In high school, I took the course AP English Language and Composition, where the goal was to formulate essays quickly and efficiently. Our main assignments were rigid, timed essays, each with the same criteria:

• follow the prompt in a 5-paragraph essay (about 700 words)
• complete the essay in 40 minutes
• write on paper with a dark ink pen
• include a thesis, cite sources, use examples, and have easy flow between paragraphs

Although this method was intimidating at first, I found that under the time constraint and the 5-paragraph quota, I not only finished but often ended up with an essay more insightful than I could’ve written in a week.

When the exam rolled around, I was fully confident in the task of writing three five-paragraph essays in 2 hours (about 2000 words in two hours).

How to Unlock the 5-Paragraph Essay to Improve Your Writing

Why Beginnings, Middles, and Ends Still Matter in Writing

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In applying this method to your writing routine, there is a customizable approach. The rigid, five-paragraph-only structure doesn’t work most of the time, but the idea is the same.

You can utilize the Pomodoro technique that so many writers swear by — write for 25 minutes, break for 5, and repeat. You can set the timer for as long as it takes you to complete a draft.

Don’t try to edit much — just write furiously.

But write as though the product you have you’d be confident publishing. That was the premise of the AP test — one-shot essay writing.

This way, you shouldn’t have to spend more than 5 minutes editing. My approach is to turn it out as well as I can and then plug it into Grammarly for a few minutes of correction.

For writing stories, you’d begin with your idea, then create a rough outline of what the piece will say. After that, all you can do is write.

In structuring your piece, we had the standard, 5 paragraph essay. For you, that could mean creating a template for each post that includes

• Title and subtitle
• Opening hook and introduction leading up to the thesis
• Thesis (What is the post about, in one sentence? What will it show the reader?)
• Evidence (sources, quotes, etc.)
• Conclusion (wrap it up with final insights or a quote)

Some other givens in the process that can be applied to your routine:

• Isolate yourself from people, noise, or distractions
• Use a clock or watch and not a device to keep track of time
• Use the same tools every time; if you’re using paper, the same notebook and writing tool. If you’re using a laptop or tablet, turn off all other notifications and hide all other pages. Your main focus should be the story.
• Before you start, decide on your “prompt”. What topic will you be exploring?
• Take the first few minutes of your time to map out the outline and then get to writing. Don’t stop until you’re finished.

This article was originally published on medium.