Essays often cause problems for students, especially in college. One of the main challenges students face is falling short of the stipulated word count and having to make their essay longer to fulfill it. It’s one of the two challenges individuals face with a word limit, whereby other writers exceed the count and have to shorten their essays.
So, what makes students fall short of the required length? Maybe they choose topics that are too narrow, have omitted something, or are not giving enough explanations. For page length, you might get away with it through simple solutions such as enlarging the font size and spacing, but word count requires more complex solutions. But do not fret! We’ve compiled some practical techniques to make a paper longer.
Ways to Make a Paper Longer
One of the worst feelings concerning essay writing is finishing an essay and realizing you’re way below the minimum word volume. Some individuals try to solve this issue by rewording the sentences to make them longer or wordier, but it only weakens the work. That’s not the best approach to handle the issue; if you find yourself in this situation, here’re some effective techniques to fulfill the stipulated minimum page count.
Add Supporting Evidence
Use illustrations to expound on key ideas to make an essay longer. Examples are great at bringing your assertions to life in ways regular writing doesn’t. They help your audience properly envisage your narrative and maybe even identify with them.
The great thing about examples in creative essay writing is that they don’t need to be real. Draw them from imagination as long as they feel authentic and relevant to your topic. Review the essay and identify statements that would benefit from examples. You’ll likely find opportunities to use multiple examples, which is also a win for your audience. In a nutshell, incorporating examples helps you develop a longer essay while enhancing its quality.
Ensure That You’ve Included Everything
Maybe you failed to fulfill the instructed word count because you left out something important. It’s common for writers to leave out some things, especially when rushing unintentionally. It could be something as little as one idea.
All you need to make the article longer is to reassess the prompt and the marking criteria to identify anything you might have missed. Confirm you have addressed all the elements and that all your arguments are well explained with relevant quotations where needed. Finally, add any omitted information to make your composition longer.
Use Transitional Phrases
Transition phrases greatly help anyone trying to craft a longer essay. They help link paragraphs and sections and improve cohesion. Besides, transitional words ease your reader’s ability to track your line of thought, making it a win-win. Moreover, they can transform your essay into a great piece of writing as long as you use them correctly and don’t force them into sentences. Examples of Transitional words that’ll make an article longer include:
- In truth
- Moreover
- As a result
- Consequently
Take Another Look at Your Outline
An essay outline is an amazing guide for writers and a reference point when you intend to make an essay longer. Since your outline already contains all your main ideas and points, use it to locate them within the essay. From there, identify the ideas or paragraphs you have underdeveloped and work on them to make the article longer.
One idea can make all the difference if you properly discuss it and add good examples to validate it. Thus, we encourage students to gather as much information as they can. Even if you can’t use it all in the essay, you might need it to make your composition longer.
Review Your Introduction and Conclusion
The intro and conclusion are probably the best places to work on to make an article longer. These two grant you the freedom to present ideas without expounding or validating them. So, once you’ve completed your draft and realized you had not attained the specified paper’s word count, revisit these two sections and add a few details to make the piece longer.
It’s okay to add some personal experiences and use anecdotes without offering any justification. Furthermore, instructors are more lenient with these two sections than the rest of your paper, so it’s the best place to add some buffer to make an essay longer.
In conclusion, summarize the main argument and remind the audience why your argument matters. Also, try to explain the motivations behind justifying the main thesis.
Read Your Essay Aloud
Reading your paper aloud makes identifying any grammatical issues within the text easier. It becomes important when you have to rewrite some sections because you get an opportunity to make the paper longer.
You might also identify missing details in the paragraphs or arguments you haven’t sufficiently supported. Adding these will help work towards the required word count.
Spell Out Numbers or Contractions
Chances are, you have used several contractions within your essay, such as numbers or words like “don’t,” “you’re,” and “won’t.” Eliminate these contractions and spell out numbers in your essay to attain more words that will make the article longer.
Importantly, when making your piece longer by spelling out numbers, ensure that you adhere to the requirements of the formatting style used. For example, under APA rules, you can write out any number below 10. On the other hand, MLA only allows you to spell out the numbers that appear at the start of a sentence. So understand the formatting rules, including the correct font size and spacing.
Breakup Paragraphs
Breaking up lengthy paragraphs is an assured way of making your essay longer without compromising the flow of your work. Furthermore, while breaking up paragraphs, you can find opportunities to add some ideas that you’ll then expound on to make the composition longer.
Try Some Essay Services
When you’ve tried everything and you’re still not meeting the required count, you should consider seeking help from other writers. It’s a decent option when you’re struggling to meet deadlines or if you are experiencing writer’s block. Some reputable services like EssayWriter and My Assignment Help can get you in touch with a writer who will help you make your essay longer. These professionals will also help you proofread and offer a good second opinion on your paper.
Conclusion
Essays are never perfect on the first draft. You’ll sometimes fail to meet the word count; other times, you’ll exceed it considerably. Don’t panic; revise your essay and find areas where you can add more words or phrases to make your paper longer.
The above tips should be useful to help fix this issue, but you should try and prevent it in future essays through proper planning. First, choose the right topic; narrow topics are often the cause for most students trying to make their essay longer.
Then, conduct sufficient research to gather enough information to use in your argument. A good outline will also guide you and serve as a reference for your essay. Finally, be more expressive when arguing your points because it is always easier to reduce your word count than increase it.
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