Google has dozens of suggestions on how you can make your essays longer, but the truth is that most of those “tips” aren’t worth your time. If you’re spending time converting numerals into letters, playing with font sizes, and using fluffy adjectives, you’re losing more marks than you gain. Your essay must be the right length, but it’s also essential to go around reaching that length the right way.
Here are some genuine tips on how to make an essay longer from a college professor.
Be Sure To Include Everything
You’d be surprised how many students turn in essays without hitting the critical points. Make sure you go through the prompt again. You’ll be graded on how well you stuck to the prompt after all. Did you write about what the teacher asked you to in the paper? Are there other vital points you could include? Did you answer everything?
Make All Paragraphs at Least Four Sentences Long
Read through the paper again and see how long paragraphs are. Are there any paragraphs less than four sentences long? These are an obvious solution to making your essay longer. Add another sentence or two to complete the paragraph.
The ideal essay paragraph is up to seven sentences long. Add a new sentence to the start to explain what the paragraph is about, including a real-life example of what you discuss, or add a summary sentence to lengthen the paragraphs in your essay.
Define Terms
Have you written a paragraph defining the key terms of the paper? For example, if you wrote an essay on modernism, then include a section defining the term modernism. If you’re writing about education, then have a brief history of education. Not only does this make an essay longer, but it also makes them look better and impresses your teacher.
Check the Class Handouts for New Ideas
Class handouts are your best resource for new ideas on a paper. Check handouts and worksheets, articles and readings, and lecture slides for new ideas. You’re sure to find something new to talk about in the essay if you look hard enough.
Ask Your Friends
Everyone else in your class is working on the same essay – or something similar. What did they come up with? See if you can get any ideas from your friends. Offer to help them out with their work and work together, so you aren’t just sponging off them. Trade key ideas with one another and brainstorm so new ideas together.
Check Related Blogs
There are countless articles, blogs, and posts online about any topic you can imagine. The topic you’re writing about is no exception. Why bother adding new words to existing sentences when you can write new sentences and get a better grade?
Rather than search for how to make an essay longer, search for the topic of the paper instead. What can you find on the subject? Can you borrow some ideas from other people? Google Scholar is another excellent resource. The service searches research papers for you to find new ideas.
Include at Least One New Example Per Paragraph
Another way to take your essay to the next level is to include one new example and supporting evidence in every paragraph. Don’t worry if you already have an example in the section. There’s no harm in adding more. Teachers enjoy seeing more examples and evidence. Great examples are what separates the good students from the bad ones.
Giving an example means you’ve understood the subject. That’s why teachers enjoy seeing them. It gives them a sign you’ve read the assignment and know what you’re talking about with the paper.
Avoid Adding Pointless Words
The worst thing you can do to extend your essay is to use “padding” and pointless words. Anyone can make a sentence look longer by adding new words here and there. You want to improve your essay and add new points to it, not just make it look longer.
Avoid adverbs such as “actually” and “generally.” Also, avoid using terms like “contrary to popular belief” and “which is.” Your teacher can tell you’re doing this and think less of your writing ability. These are signs of being a lousy writer, and your final grade reflects your perceived writing ability.
Leave the Formatting Alone
Increasing font size or line spacing is a typical essay hack. Doing these things makes the paper look worse. You need to have one space between words and line spacing of 1.5 or 2.0, depending on the format. Use a font size 12 and the standard margins in Microsoft Word. Teachers are smarter than you think. They’ll notice if you change the structure and mark you down for doing it.
Try Using The Keep Writing Service
Keep Writing is an excellent website for students and budding writers alike. This online platform lets you write as much as you want, but you can’t delete anything. You have to keep on typing no matter what. It’s a great way to jot down ideas without worrying about if they’re good or not. Writing like this creates a great writing flow and lets you write longer papers without much extra effort.
You can always copy and paste the text and edit it when you finish. The point is that you give yourself an excellent starting point with a lot more words than you need. It’s much easier to edit down than it is to edit up. Cutting words is easy – adding them is difficult.
Final Thoughts
There are plenty of ways to make an essay seem longer, but you need to do it in a way that improves your score and gets you better marks. Don’t do simple things like change the formatting. Your teacher can see that instantly. You can be smart about making your essay longer – and we all know it’s better to work smarter. Do things the right way, and you’ll get a better paper and a better grade.