How can I write faster on the Literature exam?

My Literature exam is coming up in about a month, and I am very worried about how slowly I write.

Over the years I have prided myself on taking my time to read things, allowing them to absorb, and writing at my own pace – but this is the exact opposite of what the exam wants!

I realise that I need to become familiar with the text, but because I love the texts (Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and Harwood’s poetry) this is the easy part.

I was hoping you guys could offer me some tips on using my preparation time effectively!

I’ve been practising writing essays all year – I think I’ve written close to 30 by now.

The other day I tried writing my essay under time pressure (1 hour) and it was much too vague and lacked analysis. I tried that again, same story. Then I wrote one in 3 hours, and it was absolutely amazing, such an improvement.

Just some advice to get me going, or even encouragement would be very appreciated in this stressful period of my life!

Thanks in advance!