The question of how long does it take to write a 5-page essay is a question that has every student has to ask. When you think about it, it isn’t that hard to write a 5-page essay.
However, when you add in the other assignments and tests the student has, it becomes a lot harder. We can help you estimate how long it would actually take to write a 5-page essay.
What is a 5-Page Paper?
A five-page paper is a common assignment in college or university. It is given for short papers to help students write better papers and it’s about 500-1000 words. The five-page paper is also known as a five-page essay or a five-page assignment and students are expected to write five pages including the title page and reference page.
Although the number of pages in a paper depends on the assignment, some professors will assign a page limit, in this case, 5 pages.
Regardless, it is important to remember that the page count is the total number of pages within the paper, including the abstract, introduction, discussion, conclusion, references, and appendix.
How Long Does it take to Write a 5-Page Paper?
The time taken to write a 5-page paper varies between 8 and 48 hours on average. While a good writer can take 8 hours, other writers may take a day or two. This is because, the time taken depends on factors like the complexity of the subject the topic of research, research method, writing and typing skills, and your professor’s specification.
It is important to note that the longer it takes to write a certain paper, the more comprehensive the work.
This is mainly due to the research involved.
With that said, different levels of study require different depths of research.
This is to say, the length of a 5-page paper may also depend on the level of study you’re at.
Basically, there are a lot of factors that can play a role in how long it takes to actually write the paper. An undergraduate student will often write a 5-page paper in a day or two.
A 1st-year undergraduate will take a module that requires about 5-6 hours to produce a 5-page paper. A 1st-year undergraduate could complete a 5-page paper in a day, but a 3rd year could take a week. A Ph.D. student could take up to a month to produce a 5-page paper.
How to Write a Good 5-Page Essay
We wrote a full guide on how to write a good essay for you to learn in-depth details of the steps involved. But here is a good summary. Writing a 5-page essay involves the following simples steps.
1. Do Comprehensive Research
Before you start writing your essay, you should do extensive research on the topic.
It is better to have a lot of information than to have the essay filled with mistakes.
Doing research on your essay topic is an important part of writing an essay because, the more information you have, the greater your chances of success.
Some research sources include interviews, books, journals, newspapers, and the internet.
2. Write an Outline
Before you start to write, it is important to make notes of the various parts of your essay. This will help you bring order to your ideas and make writing the essay more logical and therefore easier.
The general outline of a 5-page essay includes an introduction, at least 3 paragraph body, and a conclusion.
3. Write an Introduction to Your Essay
An introduction is the first and the most important paragraph in an essay. It sets out what you are going to say, to whom and why.
What you write here needs to hook the reader’s interest, and make him or her want to keep reading. An excellent introduction should include all the following:
- An attention grabber
- An opening sentence that gives the reader a clue as to what is to come.
- A summary of the main points to follow.
- A statement of the topic.
- A transition sentence to guide the reader from your introduction to your body paragraphs.
4. Write the Main Body
The main body of the essay is where you should place all of your strongest evidence. It contains the essential information about your subject and it’s your most effective way of showing your reader why your topic is important.
This is where you’ll make the case for your topic and try to convince people that your position is worth considering.
You could have the best thesis statement in the world, but if the evidence isn’t good, your essay will fall flat.
The main body of your essay is also where you should answer the questions your thesis statement poses.
This is where you should be focused on proving your thesis.
You should have at least three paragraphs in your 5-page essay’s main body, and you should make sure each paragraph has a topic sentence and at least two examples.
Such an essay is long. If you are writing a short essay, look at our guide on how to write a short essay for more insight on the same.
5. Write the Conclusion
The conclusion of an essay is the place where the writer’s voice becomes most apparent. It is the place where you wrap up everything that has been said, and where you make your personal opinion clear.
A good conclusion shows how the main body is related to your thesis and draws a final judgment based on the evidence.
The conclusion is the very last impression you leave with your reader and it can be a very powerful and persuasive tool if used correctly.
6. Proofreading and Editing
One of the main reasons students don’t get good grades on their essays is because they don’t proofread them enough.
The only way you are going to be able to improve your grades is by proofreading your work properly. Most students think that they have written the perfect essay when in fact it is filled with errors.
Proofreading is not something you can do in a few minutes. You have to take your time and read your work over and over again to eliminate all grammatical and spelling errors.
Tips on How to Format a Good 5-Page Essay
The format of a paper is a style of writing that a student uses when writing a research paper. Formatting is not hard to do and anyone can learn how to do it with some practice.
The main purpose of formatting a research paper is to make the paper easier to read. Also, a paper that is formatted correctly has a professional look. Some of the basic formats for most writing styles include
- Font type; Time New Roman
- Font size; 12
- Double line spaces
- An inch margin on all sides
- Half inch paragraph indentations
Read more about how long in terms of the time it takes to write a 5-paragraph essay and compare the optimal lengths for the two types of academic works.
Joseph is a freelance journalist and a part-time writer with a particular interest in the gig economy. He writes about schooling, college life, and changing trends in education. When not writing, Joseph is hiking or playing chess.