Hi Kerby,
I know exactly how you feel, before I took the gmat, I had no idea how much time I should spend practicing the AWA. There´s so much on Q and V out there but AWA never really gets talked about. Well, there´s a reason for it, it really isn´t scary.
Before taking the gmat, I was a bit worried about this because I only had limited time and I needed lots of improvement on math. So I only practiced AWA on practice tests, I made sure I always included them and that was also a way to train my stamina. Without using a template and spending only 20-25 mins per essay, I scored a 5.5.
My additional advice is to read over some AWA topics in the OG the day before your exam, try to come up with a position and examples. Essay topics on the real day will be very similar.
Good luck!