What is the question actually asking?
Before you write, what decision do you need to make?
Decode the operator, focus and material. Panic is not a planning strategy.
Is your first idea enough?
What would make this answer less predictable?
Keep the useful first thought — then complicate, qualify or sharpen it.
Which evidence earns its place?
What does this quotation allow you to say?
Use fewer quotations better. Evidence should move the argument forward.
What deserves your minutes?
Where are you most likely to lose time?
Make deliberate choices. A perfect introduction is less useful if the final paragraph never exists.
What do you actually know?
Can you build from one precise observation?
Return to the text, question or source. One defensible thought is a better restart than three impressive empty phrases.
What would you fix with three minutes left?
Meaning first. Then language.
Check whether you answered the question, supported your claims and made the reasoning visible. Then hunt the recurring language errors.