how to get more words into your essay

10 Ways to Increase Your Essay Word Count (AI Included)

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One of the biggest challenges students face is writing long-form essays of 2,000 words or more.

Someone brought this up at a recent webinar I attended, and I couldn't help but think back to my freshman year. Several years ago, I had to write a long essay on an interesting but unfamiliar subject. It took me a lot longer than it should.

After writing hundreds of articles, essays and reports, I've developed my own list of 'smart hacks' to help increase word count on any written piece. 

Instantly increase your word count with this FREE AI tool > Instantly increase your word count with this FREE AI tool >

Let's dive into the word count expansion strategies I use today when I write various texts.

How NOT to increase word count

Adding fluff words.

Adding meaningless words only confuses the core arguments and distracts the evaluator. Whatever merit your actual content may have had will be obscured by a mountain of meaningless words.

The sentence in my essay read,

"Violent acts by adults are often caused by childhood exposure to violence.".  

If I try to forcedly add fluff words to expand the text, my sentence would sound stretched:

“Violent acts are often associated with the fact that adults who commit violent acts - acts that are seen as savage, harsh, rough, physically abusive, or otherwise unacceptable in society - have been exposed to similar harsh or extreme violence during their childhoods or when they were young”.

Voice and tone

Although passive voice makes a sentence longer, I have found that my writing is much sharper when I use active voice. Also, do not confuse the need to use a formal or academic tone with passive voice.

Quoting without context

This one is like digging yourself into a hole. I quoted so many out-of-context references that I found my essay running on all sorts of tangents. After spending hours trying to connect the dots between the tangents, I ended up having to rewrite the entire piece because I was unable to justify the distracting content. 

Mindless paraphrasing

You hear it from your professor, and spew it back at her. Mindlessly repeating content in different sections of an essay - as if your teacher wouldn't notice, won't really help you ace your courses.

Even more mistakes

After asking some of my classmates, I found out that some of them had resorted to even worse hacks that eventually got them in trouble:

• Using filler words - In order to fill more pages, some diverge from the specified format and increase fonts, margins, and spacing. You will lose credibility if you do this, and you will also lose points if you deviate from the writing style specified.
• Plagiarism - Plagiarizing large chunks from others' essays or research papers was not only seen as lazy, but it was a fast way from a not-so-great grade to a failed grade.
• Other sneaky tricks - These included whitening out gibberish text and increasing the size of periods. Teachers have seen it all and know every trick in the book.

The right way to increase word count

Eventually, my word count increased in a way that makes each word actually count (pardon the pun), and it turns out there are some pretty cool tricks to do that.

With the right tools and techniques, you spend less time on the heavy lifting, more time on the actual writing, and at the end of the day, you have a much more comprehensive essay that is a delight to read. 

1. Use an AI writing tool

Skip the manual paraphrasing and use a smart AI writing tool. For example, I added almost 50 words to a 125-word paragraph using Wordtune’s text expand feature .

How to add more sentences to a paragraph

One method to expand your word count is to find short paragraphs and adding more sentences that clarify what they mean. This task used to be pretty frustrating, but with the use of AI it's made simple. Start by going over the essay, and notice if there's a paragraph that stands out in terms of being lean and overly simplified. Paste that paragraph into the Wordtune editor, and click the 'Plus' icon.

You'll be able to expand the article in any number of ways, including adding a statistical fact, a joke, example, analogy, or a simple continuation of your idea. Then, simply scroll through the different suggestions that AI produces, and find the best one.

2. Take advantage of outlines

It may seem counter-intuitive, but completing your outline can help you meet your word count goal.

Say you need to turn a 200-word article into a 1,500-word essay. Make an outline of the article before trying to tackle this seemingly impossible task of writing the whole piece.This will give you a clearer picture of how your entire thesis works and how to logically support it.

As an example, suppose we're writing an essay on why kids shouldn't play phone games.

To begin, you need to summarize your message in a few sentences. For example:

‍ “Kids have susceptible brains, and games can change the whole chemistry of their brains in a bad way, causing them to go off on tantrums and screaming fits. Moreover, these games form addictive habits that will persist when the kids become older. By continuing to play phone games, the kids fail to develop emotionally, and may become unsocial introverted people. Moreover, there are signs that games make kids more violent and emotionally unstable. Since phones are always at reach, kids can continuously play throughout the day, not stopping even when eating lunch or when attending a school class.”

Before expanding it, write an outline to get a sense of its structure and flow. As a result, you can easily determine how much text is needed for each section, which ones require expanded text, and which ones can be kept brief.  This clarity not only helps me reduce anxiety, but also gives me a clear plan of action to finish this essay!

For example, for the paragraph on video games, my outline would look something like this:

Introduction (include statistics and research to argue that video games are harmful for kids) and state the thesis (250 words) Negative effects of video games on children: first build larger categories and then substantiate with smaller points, evidence and data within each point: - Effects on emotional development (200 words) - Effects on physical development (200 words) - Effects on social development (200 words) - Effects on intellectual development (200 words) Give counter-views Cite research that talks about potential positive effects of video games, if used the proper way and under supervision (250 words) Give solutions State why parents find it so hard to keep kids away from video games, especially mobile video games, and offer concrete solutions to set better boundaries with kids for video game usage (250 words) Conclusion Offer a strong conclusion that brings all of the essay together in a summary (250 words)

Note that I’ve planned to write a few hundred more words than the prescribed word limit, so I have scope to edit and tighten later on. 

3. Expand your text with intros and conclusions

I use this method all the time to get unstuck and write longer articles without worrying about word counts.

Let's say you finish expanding your outline, and the article is still short a few hundred words.

Two places you should consider expanding are the introduction and conclusion.

How does this work?

• In the introduction and conclusion, you can add free-flowing stories, ideas and paragraphs, without having to validate each sentence with technical reference, sources and quotes.
• You can use anecdotes, personal experiences, news articles, and research findings to introduce your topic, or to close it.
• You can also go into detail about why you were motivated to explore the topic in more depth and why it has helped you to develop your argument. We wrote about essay hooks in more detail here, so be sure to check it out.
• Remind readers why this entire argument matters at the human level in the conclusion. This is done by repeating the topic, the core of your argument, and why you have justified your thesis. 

Add these elements to your introduction and conclusion, and you will quickly reach your essay quota.

Here's an example from the Wordtune blog of an anecdote placed as part of the intro:

4. Use examples to illustrate your point

It is always helpful to provide examples to illustrate complex academic or technical points. As well as adding color and descriptiveness to your own words, examples help your arguments come to life in a way that academic writing cannot. Having read several essays about the same topic, your evaluator will probably find it enjoyable to read something more creative and genuine. 

Examples also help readers visualize your narrative. The situations can be real or imagined, but they must be authentic, relatable, and most importantly, relevant to your topic. Providing examples from your real-life experience will demonstrate to the teacher that you understand your topic.

I started this article by describing my experience as a freshman. The challenges I faced as a student are similar to those you are currently facing, so sharing my journey will help you learn from my mistakes.

5. Invest in serious research 

Research is the most effective way to increase a paper's word count. 

The more research you conduct, the more ideas, perspectives, and information you have to base your arguments on. 

Research takes time and effort, which you may or may not have. 

Here's where my smart tools come into play.

No matter how long a paper is, Wordtune Read will give you all the key highlights.

The following is a composite screenshot of how Wordtune Read summarized the effects of video games on children from a long and complex article. The key highlights on the right help you distill the core messages of the research in minutes, condensing hours of reading into minutes.

In just a few steps, you can add at least two supporting arguments or stats for each point you have in your outline. And just like that, you have several hundred very relevant words, added almost effortlessly to your essay.

6. Ask 'Why' questions

At this stage, the research has already provided you with some solid perspectives, but there's nothing like adding some original perspectives to the existing body of research. Asking ‘why’ questions is an effective way to do this. In addition to strengthening your arguments, it will also enhance your essay with relevant and original content.

Think back to the example of the negative effects of video games on children. Let's say one of the arguments you have is "phone games cause emotional issues". Use a series of 'why' questions to dig deeper into the text. 

Ask questions like: "why is that true?", "Why is it important?", etc. For each answer, ask another why question and develop some original angles based on the insights that may emerge. 

While it beats manual paraphrasing in terms of speed, I felt it also improved the overall quality of the writing.

7. Address the counter view

It's a foolproof way to score brownie points with tutors and also add some value - and word count - to your essay. 

Counter views or counterpoints are positions diametrically opposed to your own.

I argue, for example, that video games negatively affect children in the essay about video games. There is always some literature available (and there is always some literature available) on the counter-side of why and under what circumstances video games can actually have a positive impact on children. I am able to write a pretty solid section on that topic. 

By balancing the pros and cons of both arguments, I will also be able to bridge the two points of view.

Just like that, you've added about 200 words to your essay!

8. Use quotes and references

While the bibliography section doesn’t usually count towards the overall essay word count, there are some easy tricks you can use to maximize the references. Once you are done with the essay, run through your list of citations and find interesting quotes that you may have missed, which you can now incorporate.

9. Get feedback from a friend

If you're like me, working on the same essay for a long time with complete immersion means you develop blind spots to obvious misses and flaws in your text. This could be especially problematic for non-native English speakers .

Ask a trusted friend or peer to look over your essay again. Share your essay on Gdoc with your friends and find out if they spot something that seems missing, out of place, or that stands out like a sore thumb.

Also, ask them to question your assumptions in the essay - this may give you new angles and perspectives to explore, thus expanding the word count even further.

Your friends will help you find the problematic paragraphs in your writing and make them more concise and effective .

10. Add text while editing

Once you have finished writing your essay, you can use the review stage to edit and add text to your essay.

This is another great opportunity to use your AI writing tool, and get suggestions for ways to make your sentences more fluent . You can also replace superfluous words with stronger vocabulary, and pick alternative ways to word sentences that contain repetitive words.

Try and spot long, convoluted sentences and break them up to smaller sentences.

Keep it long and interesting

Essays that meet the prescribed criteria, including word count, indicate to your teachers that you not only possess subject matter knowledge, but also writing, grammar, logic, research, and communication skills.

You can find interesting angles even in the most mundane sounding topics if you challenge yourself to do the work and not worry too much about the word count. With the 11 smart hacks - including use of the smart writing tools - essay writing and meeting the specified word count becomes much easier! 

Learning how to expand a text in an interesting way - and not just by adding fluff - makes you a better writer regardless of the format - essays, reports, statements of purpose - even books! 

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Essay Extender for Students

Have you ever struggled to reach the specific word count while writing an essay? Our online essay extender can help you get the desired word count with just a few simple steps. All you have to do is:

• Copy and paste your essay.
• Choose how many words you need in your paper.
• Click the "Extend" button.

💎 5 Key Advantages of the Essay Extender

🙋 when to use the ai essay extender, 📜 essay extender free examples, 🖇️ essay word extender tips, 🔗 references.

Our essay word extender offers a range of benefits that can enhance your writing experience. Here are some of them:

With its user-friendly interface, our online essay extender can assist you in various ways. Check out these ideas on how you can use the tool.

1. To Increase the Word Count

One of the most common uses of our essay extender is to increase an essay's word count. You add words to the entire text or a specific part, for example, introduction, conclusion, or body paragraphs. This gives you more control over where you want to expand an essay and helps you tailor the extension to the academic requirements .

Our tool adds words without compromising the quality of their writing. Since it uses advanced AI algorithms, it extends the text while maintaining the coherence and flow of the original content.

2. To Add a New Part

AI essay extender can also help you add a new part to your essay. For example, if you have already written the introduction and body paragraphs but are struggling with the conclusion, our tool can generate it.

Similarly, if you need to add a new body paragraph to support your argument , our essay extender can generate a paragraph based on your prompt. This feature is particularly useful when you are short on time and need to complete your essay quickly.

3. To Get New Ideas

Sometimes, you only need a fresh perspective to improve your writing. Our essay extender can generate unique ideas by developing a body paragraph on any topic. This feature is helpful for those who are stuck with their writing and need some inspiration to continue. You can use this generated paragraph as a starting point and further develop it according to your ideas and arguments.

Wanna see how essay extender generator works in practice? Let's try it together. Imagine you're writing an argumentative essay on "Should all internships be paid?" We'll use our tool to add some words to a body paragraph and then develop an effective introduction.

All internships should be paid for the simple fact that interns are providing valuable work and skills to the company. It is unfair to expect young workers, who are often already struggling with student debt, to work for free. Interns are not just shadowing or observing; they actively contribute to the company's operations and success. By not compensating them, companies are perpetuating a cycle of unpaid labor and exploiting the enthusiasm and eagerness of young workers. Furthermore, paying interns shows that their time and contributions are valued, allowing them to gain practical experience without financial strain.

All internships should be paid for the simple fact that interns are providing valuable work and skills to the company. It is unfair to expect young workers, who are often already struggling with student debt, to work for free. Interns are not just shadowing or observing; they actively contribute to the company's operations and success. For example, a student who is completing an unpaid internship at a marketing firm may be responsible for creating social media content, conducting market research, and assisting with client meetings. These tasks require time, effort, and skills, and the intern should be compensated for their contributions. By not compensating them, companies are perpetuating a cycle of unpaid labor and exploiting the enthusiasm and eagerness of young workers. Moreover, unpaid internships often come with hidden costs that can be a significant burden for students. For instance, a student interning in a different city may have to cover transportation, housing, and other expenses on top of working for free. Furthermore, paying interns shows that their time and contributions are valued, allowing them to gain practical experience without financial strain. Companies should recognize the contributions interns bring to their organization and compensate them accordingly for their hard work.

Internships have become a common way for students to gain practical experience and valuable skills in their chosen field. However, the issue of whether these internships should be paid or not has sparked a debate. While some argue that unpaid internships provide valuable learning opportunities, others believe that all internships should be paid to ensure fair treatment of young workers. In this essay, we will explore why all internships should be paid, including the value that interns bring to organizations and the hidden costs of unpaid internships.

Check out these helpful tips to work on your academic writing skills and extend an essay manually.

• Expand your arguments . Instead of simply stating your point, provide more detailed examples to support your ideas.
• Use transitional phrases . Transition phrases such as "in addition," "furthermore," and "moreover" can help you connect your ideas and add more depth to your essay.
• Include relevant statistics and data . Adding statistics and data from reliable sources can boost the credibility of your essay and help you expand your arguments.
• Incorporate quotes . Including quotes from experts or authoritative individuals adds depth and weight to your essay.
• Provide background information . If you feel that certain concepts need more explanation, you can provide background information to help the reader better understand your points.

Remember, when expanding on your arguments, it is essential to do so smartly. This means providing detailed explanations and relevant examples that add length to your essay and strengthen your points.

❓ Essay Extender FAQ

Updated: Apr 12th, 2024

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On this page, you can find a free essay extender for students. With the help of this tool, you can increase the word count of any text – paste it into the related field and add the necessary details. The essay extender can add particular paragraphs or double your words in two clicks! Don’t miss the helpful tips and examples of text expansion.

How to Increase Your Essay Word Count

Add Examples

Skim through your essay looking for any place you have used an example to make a point. In most cases, you should be able to provide additional examples which will make your essay stronger by showing your understanding of the topic while also increasing the word count. You can also go through the essay and look for statements made where inserting an example would be appropriate to help support the statement.

Address Different Viewpoints

An effective way of increasing word count and improving your essay at the same time is to address different viewpoints to your own. You have the opportunity to discuss how these alternative viewpoints differ from the conclusions you have made, and it gives you an opportunity to explain why you believe your conclusions are superior. This shows you have considered a range of different opinions while coming to your conclusions, and in doing so make your essay stronger while adding more words.

Clarify Statements

When you find the statements in your writing, if inserting an example doesn’t make sense, then clarifying the statement may be appropriate. This can be achieved by inserting one or more specific statements to clarify the original one. A common way to do this is to follow the statement with, “In other words…” It’s important not to over-clarify statements or use this for every statement you write as it will begin to look like filler, but using it sporadically throughout your essay can increase the word count and show you perfectly understand the points you’re trying to make.

Find Additional Sources

Another way to improve your essay and increase word count is to find additional sources you haven’t previously mentioned which support the statements and conclusions you have made. The more sources you have, the stronger the essay will be in most cases. Spending some time searching for additional sources to add to the essay can be a great way to add quality content to it.

Use Quotations

Chances are you already have appropriate quotations in your essay, and if that’s the case, skip over this suggestion. Adding more will likely not add to your essay. If you haven’t used any, however, finding appropriate quotations from experts in the field that support your statements can be an excellent way to add words to your essay while improving it at the same time.

Rework Introduction and Conclusion

If all of the above haven’t enabled you to reach your word count minimum and you need some filler, look to put it in your introduction and conclusion rather than the body of the essay. Most teachers give more leeway with the introduction and conclusion to be wordy than the guts of the essay. This is something you should try to avoid if at all possible (it’s never good to be wordier than you have to be), but if you tried everything else, it’s better to do it in these two places than in the heart of the essay.

If you’re writing an essay which has a minimum page count instead of a minimum word count, the above suggestions will work, but you have a bit more wiggle room as well. You can make slight adjustments to the font and font size you use through a Words per Page Counter . As long as you don’t go overboard, this can be a relatively easy way to increase page count while not taking away from the essay.

(Photo courtesy of Caleb Roenigk )

I hate it when teachers give a word count. Word count shouldn’t matter at all. It should be the quality of the writing. If I can get my point across in 1000 words, why do I need to write 2500? It makes no sense at all.

You have never been a teacher. If you ever are, you will know why we give word counts.

That’s a lazy answer. Students who write well shouldn’t be punished with a word count because other students aren’t good students. It’s the teacher’s job to help those students who aren’t doing as well without forcing those good students to do stupid things that make no sense for them.

If you can make it more fun to read, this can also help with word count. Add emphasizes or explain something in more detail. There are so many great ways to increase your word count. It shouldn’t be too hard if you put your mind to it!

Word count never mattered as soon as I got to college, my professors used the “bikini rule,” short enough to keep it interesting, long enough to cover the important parts. Don’t use 2000 words to say what you can in 500

This isn’t the correct question to ask. It’s easy to increase word count on an essay, but it’s difficult to increase word count to make the essay better. So many people decide to increase their word count by inserting sentences, paragraphs, quotes and other non-necessary information simply to reach the word count. While it achieves the goal of increasing the word count, it doesn’t make the essay any better, and it usually makes it much worse. What you should always strive for is to increase the number of words in the essay while also making the essay stronger than it was before.

….Read the article you’re commenting on?

In my experience, college is even worse than high school in this regard. I regularly have to conform to word counts and page counts. Right now, I’m writing a research paper that has an 8 page minimum. Why? Because the professor said so. I could certainly be a lot more concise if I didn’t have to pad it out, but this is what’s required of me. The kicker is that the prof is DEFINITELY going to take off points due to obvious padding. DON’T FORCE ME INTO AN ARBITRARY LENGTH, THEN.

Just change the font style to a bigger one and then do the same with the size of the font but not too big or it will seem too obvious.

My professor requires Times New Roman

Really? Great!

LOL i hate Times New Roman, it’s so boring. There are so many interesting fonts out there, why should we have to make it boring? Plus, cool fonts catch your eye and draw you in. I get not wanting super crazy fonts but at least a little wiggle room here! C’mon!

try using Bookman Old Style

Your prof is stupid

For me it’s either times new roman or arial

Mine too I just use it with other things I write now due to habit

bruh they LOOK at the word counts, just cuz the font will be bigger doesn’t mean that they’ll think you have gone over the limit

page counts tho

they are talking about page counts, not word counts

You’re a fuckin dumbass, increasing font size is too obvious

That’s mean

just make your periods a font style bigger, professors will notice a font style bigger for the text

Making a period a font size bigger isn’t going to do anything.

the teachers can see the word count so, there is no point in doing that

Teachers do check the font and word size y’know?

well, part of it is that you cannot be bothered to write out the word “professor” and… well let me show you a corrected version of your post.

*In my experience, college is even worse than high school in this regard. I regularly have to conform to word counts and page counts. Right now, I’m writing a research paper that has an 8-page minimum. Why? It was because the professor said so. I could be a lot more concise if I didn’t have to pad it out, but such are the requirements. The kicker is that the professor is going to take off points due to my padding. So don’t force me to an arbitrary length!

Don’t go ruining people’s self-esteem.

I’m only in Junior high and I have to write over that amount. Be grateful that your situation isn’t as bad as it could be.

That’s just nasty.

Yep, I agree!

I appreciate that I can put it to use when I tutor! Thank you.

LOL never heard of the bikini rule. I love it

Where did you go to college?

So basically you’re saying that you don’t trust your students to be able to write correctly in your class? Isn’t that more a reflection on your teaching than it is on the students who are writing?

See what you just did you got your point across in 18 words YOU JUST ARE STUPID! Anyways why are you on this web site if you are a teacher?

riiiight that’s what i was thinking like this is meant to help students lol

If it makes so much sense to give word count limits to teachers then please explain

but that makes no sense…there is no reason to do so if they are great at writing all ready…

what do i do if my word count is 800 and i only have 512

add another 288!

You keep going no matter what! Thats what i do!

This is a poor answer because it doesn’t give any reason for the word counts. The point was that they -don’t- know why the word counts are necessary, and just stating that “you don’t have my experience and if you did you’d know why” isn’t an argument or a good contribution to the discussion, when surely it would have been a better idea to just explain why word counts are necessary in the first place.

WHY DO YOU?

Care to explain? That was a super vague answer.

want to expand on that? XD

U realise this is an article for student right? u don’t need to be here dissing all of us. [EDIT]: so many dislikes on teach’s post. lmao

look, not. helping. this is why i hated a bunch of my professors, you all act like we should be overjoyed that you aren’t making us ruin our writing more because we have to stretch it out, you have students with real potential, why do so many ignorant professors waste that and take off marks for something the student cannot control? seems wrong huh?

I’m not a teacher but I do understand that word counts push students to do their best, although I according to everyone, have always been teacher’s pet, and I love to write so having a word count is an amazing way for me to experiment with my writing.

But I have an assignment in which they say use the set format, which doesn’t allow for many words, but they say it has to be 500. I physically can’t stick to the structure and the word count. I understand max word counts, but I can get my entire point across in 300 words, and I am seriously struggling to increase. I think that minimum word counts should not be put in place as I can get the point across in a lot less.

What is your essay’s point? Is it simple? I have to write 1250 word essays regularly, and I’m only on this article because I have 1156 and can’t come up with more. You sound lucky to me.

ill never be one so tell why >:(

it seems teach got the “nobody liked that” experience

We gotta keep this comment section going for 2020.

lol so many dislikes

Proceeds to not give the reason! just makes you sound like a moron with excuses. you have not proven her wrong in the slightest.

Oh my god, you are right.

Teachers too often tried to make things easier on themselves to the detriment of the students are trying to teach. I think making minimum word counts is one of those. On the other hand, I think that maximum word counts can actually be beneficial because it forces the students to better edit their writing.

“Teachers too often tried to make things easier on themselves to the detriment of the students [they] are trying to teach.” Are you making this very bold statement because you have experienced it as a teacher, completed an in-depth research on this topic, or are you just making your opinion seem like a fact? I ask simply because I am a teacher, a high school English teacher to be more specific, and I found your comment to be nothing but overblown opinion. I cannot speak for every teacher, but in my class, I have to put a minimum word count on my essay assignments or I would have the majority of the students attempt to turn in a paragraph and say it is an essay. It would not matter that I instructed them on the purpose of the essay, explained what an introductory paragraph, body paragraph, and a conclusion paragraph are and their individual purposes. It also would not matter if I also spent an entire six week grading period teaching, instructing, modeling, and practicing writing essay, I would still have some that would turn in a ridiculously short essay and argue that they have “gotten to the point.” However, any logical person would know that these student’s essays would not meet the required components of an essay and would not serve as evidence of mastery, which is what a teacher is suppose to do right? Help students master certain skills, regardless of what is “easier on” them?

Just grade them an F

Lol! Sorry to break it to you, but Z isn’t a grade. Sorry.

Lana! r/whooosh

yes it is, its a double f

nobody likes your long paragraphs.

Instead of using a minimum word count, say that you must have at least five paragraphs, and if they turn in 5 sentences, that’s on them. High school students know that a section is longer than a sentence. And if they pretend not too, that’s on them. And your problem that they turn in just a paragraph? They know what an essay is, they are lazy and, quite frankly, don’t care about the class. So give them an incomplete grade and the chance to rewrite it, if they decline, they have failed that assignment. It is harsh but necessary.

I don’t think you understand: if I can get it across in a short paragraph, and otherwise it would be graded well, then why should I have to write a three-hundred word long paragraph just to explain the same thing? I shouldn’t have to. That’s the answer.

I think that minimum word counts are fine with this reasoning, but I am very reluctant to agree with you due to your unnecessary rudeness. Also, teachers, please don’t make the minimum more than 800 words! For college, I understand, but not below college.

Exactly! 2000 words in 4 days! IMPOSSIBLE

2000/4 = 500/1

Just write approx 500 words per day; spend like 1-2 hours for the next couple day adding like 500 words every time. Or you could be a knucklehead like me and try to get it all done in one go, then me suffering the next morning because you fell asleep at 3:30

The only thing thats impossible is impossibility!!!

Hey you stole my Name!

Its Not Impossible, the only thing thats Impossible is Impossibility!!!

i agree 100%

Guidelines are so unaccepted. 🙁

I was researching but I got caught up reading you guys arguing

lmao yeah me too

Same here. Whoops.

Once more… same here.

I am supposed to be writing an essay then I just saw war in the comments so I had to read.

exactly, what is the point in a word count when you can make it easier on yourself and write shorter essays

i only have to write 400 words luckily, but it’s in a language im not great at 🙁 i only need 40 more but don’t have any ideass

Our teacher gave us a 20000 word count for the Australia Murray River Basin… I’d be lucky if my teachers ever give me a 2500 word count. Last year one of the students in our class scored a 38000 word count when the minimum word count was 25000. don’t complain. International School Of Hefei (CISH)

Just had to re-read that. Twenty THOUSAND word count? I was given that as a goal for a story in one of my classes, and we had the entire year to do it. I don’t know how long y’all had for it, but either way that’s too much for an essay.

yeah I’m in class right now in grade 8 and have to do a 250 word since assessment but I cant think of anything else to add because I stuck to the assessment sheet and used the teaches advise but I only have 227 words. (I will add my assessment below)

Energy comes in six basic forms that are chemical which is renewable, electrical, radiant, mechanical, thermal and nuclear. These types of energy are both renewable and nonrenewer, electrical, thermal and radiant are all renewable energy types but electrical, chemical mechanical and nuclear are non-renewable because there is not a infinite source of this type of energy. There are other types but these are the six basic types of energy that make up other types. Energy is the thing that powers most electrical items you can’t create and destroy energy but you can move it to an object like a light bulb or battery. Energy can be transferred by copper and other conductive materials. There are also materials that are nonconductive like wood and rubber. Energy is mostly transferred between thing with wires like when you charge you phone or turn on light. Energy can change form into other types of energy. for example if you turn on a light bulb the electric energy will turn into thermal energy and light energy. A car is also a good example of this because the car hold chemical bonds of fuel which later turns into several different types of energy and gases. The law of conservation states that every type of energy can not be created or destroyed it can and will only be transferred into other types of energy.

Now you need to write an article on how to decrease word count when you go hopelessly over the maximum allowed.

Yes! This is what I need. I don’t understand how people can write under the word count given. I’m ALWAYS over, and by a lot. I had a 1000 word paper to write and I wrote 2500. Teachers never give enough word count for writing.

I once had 200 word essay and i wrote 400!

I struggle to get to the word count, but once I’m there I go over and struggle to remove stuff without ruining it.

Here you go: https://wordcounter.net/blog/2016/01/26/101025_how-to-reduce-essay-word-count.html

The second link in the first paragraph is to just such an article.

A thesaurus is your friend when you are only a bit under word count. I’m glad to see you added one to your tool. it’s so much easier than going back and forth to another thesaurus website. Thank you for making this useful tool and not charging any money for it.

Adjectives and adverbs can help with this, but it won’t make the essay stronger. You usually want to eliminate adverbs and adjectives in your writing to make it better. You have to make a decision as to whether word count is more important or a better essay is more important before using these methods.

I’m 500 words short of the minimum word count my teacher assigned for my essay. What is the best way to increase word count fast without a lot of effort?

Did you even read the article?

Don’t use contractions.

Writing takes effort. If you want to write with no effort, your writing is going to suck.

I hate that I never seem to be able to write enough words for assignments. If I have answered a question, why do I need to write more meaningless words?

You should never write meaningless words. You would be much better off adding a different perspective or adding more support to your view. meaningless words will only lower your grade.

I have to write 7,000+ characters with spaces!!!! By thursday! I have 5,200 done. What should I do?

Write more… or put a ton of smiley faces in 😉

As a teacher, I’m glad to see legitimate ways for students to increase their essay word count instead of all the “tricks” students don’t think we know, but we do. Adding random words in white so it appears the word count is higher than it is doesn’t work because we know approximately how many pages the assignment should be. Best to actually do the work!

You are the exception. I have a great way to increase word count when I’m short on words. I will write a bunch of random text at the end of the essay, then change it to white so you can’t see it even though it’s there. Now the teacher thinks you have written the required word count. Brilliant! Teachers are so clueless that this works 100% of the time. Now you will never be under your word count and you don’t have to write a bunch of filler crap that isn’t needed. You can thank me later.

To add onto this, feel free to change the font size of the white text to fit in more words into less space.

There must be so many students who come to this article for the exact same reason as I did. (“hi” all you sleep-deprived people) I’m 500 words short on my essay and I need to figure out how to make it longer before tomorrow’s class. thank you for this list of ideas. I think I’ll be able to incorporate a few of them to make my essay long enough to reach the word count.

Yes, this is the exact reason I’m here, but I need to add 600 words to my essay. Why do teachers make the assignments so long when there is only a limited amount to say on the given topic?

I’m one of those looking for a way to extend an essay by 300 words when I’ve already said everything there is to say on the topic. I guess I’ll add a lot of useless quotes just to satisfy the teacher.

I think attitude has a lot to do with it. If you’re writing an essay you have little to no interest in writing, it’s much more difficult to write it and reach the word count. If it’s something you have a lot of interest in, then the issue is usually staying beneath the word count limit. One of the best ways to increase word count on essays is to take an interest in the topic. If you learn to become more curious and have an interest in things that may not at first seem to be interesting, you’ll be surprised at how much easier it is to write essays and to always reach the designated word count.

That easy to say and all, what if your teacher assigns you a topic? And what if that topic is totally boring? It’s hard to write about things that are boring and you have no interest in, so of course it’s going to be difficult to reach the word count. If you’re in school, you have to write with the teacher tells you to write, not what interests you. So your suggestion sounds good and all, but in reality we don’t have that choice.

I think the best way to increase the word count of an essay is to add more examples. This clarifies what you’re trying to say which adds value to the essay so anyone reading will understand exactly the point you want to get across. All my friends are bad at giving examples, but I am good and I’m always going over the word count while they are always under.

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. My entire essay is almost only quotes. This is the easiest way to make your essay meet word count. Just put in a lot of quotes and you’ll get there in no time.

It maybe the easiest way to increase your word count, but if your entire essay is all quotes you probably aren’t going to get a very good grade on it. Quotes should be used to support the points that you’re trying to make, but they shouldn’t be your entire essay. If you want to do well in school, you have to know the difference between these two.

This is lazy writing. It will not help you become better in the long run, and the teacher will see what you’ve done and mark down your paper. The easiest way is often not the best way to approach increasing an essay word count.

Cite every single quote in a bibliography at the bottom to make the word count huge.

This is really a skill that every teacher should teach their students. Not just assign an essay, but explain how the steps they need to take to reach a word count. It would be a great benefit to most students (I know some students are wordy and always hit their word count, but most of us don’t). I wish teachers cared enough to actually help us.

On almost any topic you care to mention volumes have been written. To imagine you have covered the topic fully and still be 500-600 words short of required count is ridiculous. The idea that the shortfall is due to the clarity of your arguments or exceptional command of language & vocabulary is laughable in most cases.

If it’s too short, it lacks content. Do more research.

The quality of your writing may suggest you are the love child of William Shakespeare and Jane Austen, but if it doesn’t cover the assignment material you won’t get the marks.

Teachers know the key points they expect to be covered on an assignment and allow a word allocation for each point, as well as marks allocation.

For example, a 1,000 word requirement may indicate a short intro and conclusion and 4 x 200 word key points.

You might be able to work out the scheme by reviewing assignments where you scored well. How many key points did you make, compared to word count?

Word count = 170.

Not everyone is born with the ability to write or enjoys writing, so sometimes it can be extremely hard to write a long essay. These tips surely did help a lot. I would also suggest learning enjoy writing more. If you like to do it, it should be easier to do.

how do you learn to like something? either you like it or you don’t.

HEy! you stole my name!!!

Any teachers out there? Why exactly do assignments have a minimum and maximum word count assigned? Is it for the students’ benefit or the teachers? I’m curious as it would seem that word count shouldn’t really matter, but that actual writing for the assignment. I waiting to hear a good answer to this question.

Word count forces students to be more concise in their writing and focus on the most important points. Minimum word counts make the student research more to find alternative supporting evidence they may have overlooked without it.

If you can’t increase your word count, you don’t know what you’re writing about well enough. There should be no issue writing about any topic up to 5000 words as long as you are familiar with the topic. If you find you don’t have enough to write about something, it’s because you haven’t taken the time to study the topic well enough.

This isn’t true. Sometimes you don’t need a lot of words to cover the topic at hand and adding more words just to increase word count does nothing but add unneeded words. Sure, you can add the words, but they are useless and don’t make the essay better. Why would anyone want to do that?

Where did you get this Bogus Idea, I’ve been trying to finish an essay and I love the topic we’re doing, but it’s almost impossible to write 2500 words on it, and according to your logic “There should be no issue writing about any topic up to 5000 words” that’s a lie.

I stumbled upon this and it’s been helpful, but are there other ways to increase word count? I still have about 500 more words to write.

Any teachers out there? Why exactly do assignments have a minimum and maximum word count assigned? Is it for the students’ benefit or the teachers? I’m curious as it would seem that word count shouldn’t really matter, but that actual writing for the assignment

As teachers, we know approximately how long an essay should be to get the points across for that particular assignment. That is why we assign a word count. If the student is well under they have not explored the topic in-depth enough and if they are well over, they are being too wordy.

Still you don’t need a word count, just let the kids try and let them be creative 😒!

But wouldn’t addressing the prompt in fewer words than assigned show that the student is smarter? Why spend 1000 words saying something that’s equally if not more so effective in 500 words?

“if they are well over, they are being too wordy.”

Now here’s something *I* don’t get. I can understand being “wordy” as something bad if it’s a student looking in a thesaurus to make every word more complicated, but I’ve done essays where I’ve covered all the points related to the topic I wanted to talk about, delivered them with examples and references where needed, and accidentally gone over the word limit to where I either have to make my essay weaker to not get points taken off OR get points taken off for being “wordy”? Why??

Hello Prince Charming! Come and Save Me from School Please! NOW!!!

The best way to increase a paper’s word count is to do more research. The more research you do, the more information you’ll have, and the more you can write on the topic.

Look, everyone has a different opinions about Word Counts, I really don’t like word counts but I do the essay anyways! So quit complaining!

Or at the bottom of your essay type a bunch of random letters like this mkfneofheoughero; then turn that to a white font.

LOL!!!!!!!!!!

you sir are a genius

well yes, genius solution, but uh— that’s cheating.

But like what if we have a page count minimum and the teacher can see if the page is full or not?

This helped a lot, thank you so much!! I don’t understand what it is with teachers and word-count. I’ve heard some teachers say, “When you become a teacher, you’ll understand why we give word counts” and I guess I do. It’s to make sure you covered all of the criteria and stuff. But If my essay word count is 800 words, and I’ve only written 300 and gotten my point across, why do I have to be marked down for it? I am in year 9 at school and I have a Geography essay due in last period today about biomes. I have gotten my point across and now I have to fluff about writing another 500 words. Thanks again, and wish me luck! 🙂

Bruh. You ain’t seen nothing yet. English 1301 has KILLED me. I’m 1500 words short….

bruh im currently 1500 words short on a 1500 word essay due tomorrow 🙁

All of you guys are complaining about essays of 2000 words or less, but I have to write a 25 000 word essay, in three weeks, which really isn’t that hard. I, for one, enjoy writing essays, but be lucky that you don’t have them of this length to write 😉

That’s not an essay it’s a book.

Actually, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone is 76,944, and that is the average length for a book so 25,000, is more like a 4 chapter fanfic…

I’ve never been a teacher but have been a university student. Personally, I get very uncomfortable when word counts aren’t given, because the fact is that the professor likely has a quiet expectation on the issue. I don’t want to try to have to hit that count by inference.

How one structures his essay depends on that word count (2000 v 3000 maybe not so much but say 1000 v 5000 is quite different). I’d like to know what kind of essay he wants.

heh, I once passed an essay online which had a minimum word count I just added random gibberish to the end in a white font to conceal it with tiny font size. try that if u really have to.

I have an idea – write a few words after each paragraph and make them white. The teacher will never know… 🙂

I think the refrigorator eat windows and the good skull

i’m 6 pages short on a compare/contrast religion paper focused around love that is due on tuesday. i have already gone over the five religions and though i need more substance (6 pages more), i don’t want to add so much that it’s just an information dump. my three options that i can see right now are: start over with a similar topic so i don’t have to just scrap everything, add more anyway, or just finish it and turn it in under the requirement but with good writing. what should i do?? do i have any other options??

use double space😂😁

i came across this because this is literally my problem now. well…

all i need is 12 more words! thats why i came to this website!

i only have 600 word for nuclear reactors i’m amazed how u guys can do 1000+ word without your brain exploding.

If i had a 2500 Word count minimum. I would die.

i love how everyone’s arguing on a blog. not complaining tho!

most of you are in college and are fussing about 1000 word essays meanwhile me still in middle school having to do 4-5 pages aka more than 1000 words

Word counts ‘work’ until students learn to hate writing, because only their word counts — not their points — matter.

UGH….. I’ve done this already and I still have 200 words to go! 🙁 It was pretty amusing to read through the comments saying someone is in Highschool or College and be like “Sucker, I’m still in Junior High”. RIP.

I had the best time reading your argument before I finished my essay thanks for the good times. 🙂

The word count at my University is a maximum word count, not a minimum. The word count is there to suggest the level of detail we’re expected to go into. For example, my last essay had a 2,500 word maximum. I could easily have written a 10,000 word dissertation or a 100 word summary. For the detail expected. I ended up with 2,464 words. If you’re writing 1,000 words for a 2,500 word essay, even if that seems OK to you, you’ve not added enough detail.

oh my god, this was SO helpful you dont understand how much this page helped me. Thank You!!!

if you have ever bean a teacher you would under stand why word counts exist jk I think text matters more than the amount of words

Im only in the 8th grade, we are righting an essay right now about the holocaust, we have to write 12 PAGES!! WHAT. i can explain it in a page or two😩

When writing a essay you got to stay on topic make sure you proofread and using correct grammar

word counts make me sad

me reading the comments in 2024 🙂 cuz i hate essay as well.

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10 Ways to Increase Essay Word Count (AI Included)

• Sep 19, 2023
• By CopyScribe AI Team

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Hey students, I know hearing “You have one day to complete a 2000-word essay” can feel like a horror movie tagline, especially when dealing with an unfamiliar topic and struggling to meet the word count. 

You might wonder, ” How will I stretch this into a full essay?” or “How to Increase Essay Word Count”.  But don’t stress; we’ve got your back!

Our game-changing solution is Copyscribe’s “ Text Extender ” tool and practical essay-writing techniques (like incorporating examples, quotes, and references). This combo will help you reach that daunting word count without pulling your hair out,  staring at a blank screen for hours, or wasting time and effort.

Are you curious about other effective methods to increase the word count of your essay while making it more engaging and informative for your readers?

 Stick around—we’ve compiled 10 awesome tips just for you to improve your essay and make it super captivating to read.

• Avoid using fluff words, passive voices, and repetitive words that affect the overall quality of your essay negatively and expand the number of words only.
• One of the most effective, quickest, and perfect ways to expand essay word count is using the AI powered paragraph expander feature “Text Extender” by Copyscribe.ai. It is an amazing sentence expander tool.
• You can also meet your word count requirements and make sentences longer by adding examples, references, and quotation in your essay.
• Researching your topic in detail is essential to writing a quality essay and more words.
• You can use the “General Writing” feature of Copyscribe.ai to bring more precision and perfection to your writing.
• Copyscribe is designed to improve your essay writing experience by introducing amazing features (such as text extender, content shortening, passive to active voice) and more.

So, take advantage of this magical AI-powered tool to write essays and assignments quickly.

Wrong Ways to Increase Your Essay Word Count

Do you know what is the most annoying aspect of writing an essay?

Spending hours to meet the required word count but still needs to achieve this goal. 

After choosing the writing style and completing the main ideas of your essay, it is heartbreaking and stressful to realize you are just halfway through completing the required word count.

Nevertheless, we recommend you refrain from using any illogical method to increase your essay’s word count, as using such shortcuts can decrease your content quality and make it challenging to understand what you wrote.

1-Don’t Include Fluff Words

Never include fluff words in your essay, as they can adversely affect your essay’s quality. Surely, fluff words can expand your word count from 12 to 45, but adding meaningless words can divert the targeted audience’s mind, and they will never get your essay’s main idea.

Here’s an example.

Augmented reality lets students see science ideas as pictures on a screen in the classroom or real life.

If we forcefully add fluff and irrelevant words to expand our terms it may look stretched and meaningless to readers. 

In the educational setting of a classroom or even in the real-world environment, augmented reality technology allows eager young minds to visually observe and interact with complex science concepts by transforming them into easily understandable, graphical images displayed on a digital screen.

The first phrase is simpler as it perfectly conveys the message without diverting readers (unlike the second one). So, expanding word count by adding fillers is the worst idea every student should avoid.

2-Avoid Using Passive Voices

No denial: passive voice makes sentences longer but you can express your ideas better and in simple words using active voice. Using passive voice (that too unnecessarily) in your academic papers can negatively affect your grades and your paper’s quality.

3-Avoid Repetitive Sentences

Want to ace your academic papers or essays? The trick is easy: don’t repeat the same points or sentences. Doing so confuses your readers and muddles your main point. For top-quality writing, vary your language and cover different ideas in each section. Besides, focus the word limit to make written essay enjoyable, easy to understand, and shows you know your stuff.

10 Ways to Increase Essay Word Count

Want to know the secret behind expanding your essay’s wordcount? 

We will share some cool hacks to increase word count in an essay without compromising the quality and readability of the content. 

Follow these hacks to take your essay to the next level and get higher grades.

1- Use an AI Paragraph Extender

Looking for the easy way to increase word count?

You can use AI tools to add extra sentences to your essay and expand the word count.

Yes, you heard it right!

For example, you can use the Copyscribe.ai “ Text Extender ” feature to increase  essay’s paragraphs.

You can easily use this amazing ‘Text Extender’ feature following these simple steps.

• Login to Copyscribe.ai > Templates > General Writing > Text Extender
• Choose the paragraph you want to expand and add it in the “Description” section.
• You can also add some main keywords in the “keywords” section.
• Choose “Language,” “Quality Type,” “Tone of Voice,” and “Number of Results”.
• To extend your essay, you can include the desired word count in the “Max Result Length” bar.
• Once you have added all the information.
• Click on “Generate.”

Following these simple steps and using this magical content generator tool will help you generate elaborative, up-to-the-mark, and relevant essays without spending too much time.

2-Create an Outline

If you want to write a well-written essay in a limited time, it may be appealing to dive in and start writing immediately. 

But hold your horses!

Have you crafted a solid outline?

With a solid outline, you can ensure quality write-up, meet targeted word count, and enjoy your entire writing process. 

With the proper outline, you can allocate the word count for each section or paragraph of your essay. Besides, it helps build a sturdy foundation for your essay. 

Every professional writer can tell you that preparing a thorough outline is one of the most critical steps in crafting and completing a quality essay.

No worries, if you have trouble creating an outline for your essay, you can also use AI tools . You can ask any of the conversational AIs to create a top-notch and relevant outline for your essay. 

Nevertheless, adding a detailed prompt and waiting for AI’s magic to craft an outline for you is important.

Copyscribe.ai’s “ Articles Outline ” is a way to go when creating an outline. 

Here’s how you can give an outline command.

• Log-in to copyscribe.ai
• Write “Article Outlines” in the search bar to look for this magical feature of Copyscribe.
• Mention “Blog Title”
• Choose language, quality type, tone of voice, and max result length.
• Click on “Generate” after adding all your commands.

Wow, you have generated the finest and most relevant outline for your essay in no time.

What are you waiting for? Your outline is ready; now, start writing!

3-Use Examples to Illustrate Your Point

If you want to increase your essay’s word count, including examples is one of the smartest techniques to contemplate. You can use examples to illustrate your ideas better. 

Moreover, it helps readers to understand your arguments better and drive your point home. It makes the essay engaging, convincing, and readable. 

Therefore, always incorporate some well-fitted and relevant examples to spice up your write-up and elevate your essay to a new level. Surely, its a great way to increase word count and quality of the essay. 

4-In-depth Research is the Key

No worries if you have a written assignment of minimum word count. Another effective method to increase your essay’s wordcount is to know more arguments and counterarguments relevant to your topic.

The better you know your topic, the more you can explain sentences and examples.

Its the best way to increase word count of your assignment without incorporating fluff or irrelevant content.

That’s why it is suggested to in-depth research your topic before the write-up starts.

Unless you are using AI word  count tool, research can take considerable time. Therefore, use AI tools to streamline your research process and access advantageous academic resources in less time.

5- Rework Introduction and Conclusion

It is another great way to expand your assignment’s or essay’s wordcount without incorporating irrelevant sentences and fluff words. 

Let’s say you have completed your essay’s outline, but it still requires 200-300 words to meet the word count requirement. 

You can expand the introduction and conclusion to meet this goal.

Do you know how it works?

• The introduction and conclusion are the two best places where you can add free-flowing stories, quotes, and ideas without citing them every time or mentioning sources. The smartest way to increase word count is to find additional sources.
• You can include personal experiences, anecdotes, news articles, and research findings to introduce or close your topic. This included whitening out gibberish text and increasing the size of the period.
• You can also write in detail about the motivation behind choosing this topic and your strategies for writing the essay.
• In the conclusion section, remind your readers why the specific argument matters at the human level. You can do it by repeating the topic, the core arguments discussed in the essay, and how you justified your topic.

You can add more content in these sections instead of including them in the body of the essay. So, add these elements to your essay’s introduction and conclusion to meet your targeted word count.

6-Add References and Quote

Quotes and references improve the credibility of your essay and make your content authentic to read. Also, its a perfect way to increase the word count without adding fluffs and fillers.

However, it is essential to know that more than adding references and quotes in your essay is needed; you must cite them properly in the citation list. 

If you don’t cite your sources, it may question your essay’s credibility. Also, it may lead to plagiarism and formatting errors. So, double-check your work and make sure the mentioned sources are well-attributed.

7-Ask Why Questions

It’s the stage where your research has already provided you with some logical perspectives. But, it’s better to add some original perspectives to the existing research to expand your paper’s word count.

You can ask “Why” questions to do this more effectively. It strengthens your arguments and provides relevant content to increase your word count. 

Think back to the example of “benefits of technology on education.”

 Let’s say one of your arguments is, “Excess use of technology may affect education negatively.”

You can add a series of “why” topics to dig deeper into the text. 

Ask questions like  “Why is it true?” “Why do you think it happens?” etc. Adding these questions will make your essay more interesting and increase the word count.

8-Address the Counter View

Using alternative point of view can also help increase the wordcount. Moreover, you impress your teachers and makes your essay better and longer using this smart strategy.

For example, if you discuss “technology is essential for students in the 21st century,” you can also discuss “how the negative use of technology can affect students’ grades,” etc.

Addressing the counter-views and arguments will balance your essay and show you have discussed both sides of the story. Thus, arguments must be added to the word count.

9-Get Your Friend’s Feedback

Surely, writing a 2000-word essay on a unique topic is an achievement for a student. That’s why most students overlook loopholes and flaws in their write-ups. It is a key concern and a problematic situation for non-native English speakers.

You can ask a peer or any of your trusted friends to look over your essay and recommend things you could add to your essay. Share your essay on a Gdoc with your peer/friend to get their valued feedback. They can highlight something missing, misplaced, or looks out of context. 

This way, you can find more problematic paragraphs and make the essay more effective and concise.

10- Add Text When You Edit Your Essay

Still trying to increase wordcount?

Once you have finished writing your essay, please review it and consider editing where needed. This way, you can add more content and increase the length. 

It’s another great opportunity to use AI writing tools and get suggestions to write more fluent sentences and write a long essay with the help of AI. 

Replace redundant words with strong vocabulary and replace repetitive words with alternatives. 

Try to spot long phrases and divide them into small terms and paragraphs. You can add as many words as needed but they must be relevant to the context.

Did the discussion mentioned above help increase your word count?

If yes then follow these strategies and increase word count without compromising the quality.

Copyscribe.ai: All-in-One Writing Assistant

Copyscribe is an AI assistant ideally designed to take your essay writing experience to the next level, with multiple impressive features such as Text extender and Article Outlines. 

So, you must take advantage of it to create a masterpiece while completing your academic tasks, assignments, and essays.

Copyscribe Writing Features

Copyscribe comes with 50+ templates designed for your different writing needs. Here are some remarkable templates of copyscribe you can use while writing your essay.

• Text Extender (It can extend short sentences into more descriptive and informative paragraphs).
• Content Shorten (to shorten your content into a different voice and style to make it appealing to the readers).
• The article outlines (to help you write better content consistently).
• Article rewriter
• Paragraph writer
• Passive to active voice
• Tone changer
• Rewrite with keywords
• Bullet point answers

So, use any of these features to increase the word count of your essay and make it interesting to read.

Frequently Asked Questions

To increase the essay’s wordcount, consider the following strategies:

• Expand on Points: Each point or argument in your essay can be expanded. Add more examples, quotes, or data to support your statements.
• Include Counterarguments: Present and refute them to add depth to your essay.
• Add Subsections: Introduce new subtopics or subsections relevant to the main topic.
• Review the Introduction and Conclusion: Often, these sections can be elaborated upon to provide more context or summarize more thoroughly.

Several AI-based tools are designed to assist with writing such as Copyscribe, EssayBot, Textcortex, and Wordtune. These can help you rephrase content, suggest additional points, and expand on existing ones to make your essay longer. However, use them responsibly to expand word count without sacrificing quality. 

Here are some tactics:

• Use Descriptive Language: Instead of saying “good,” you could say “exceptionally good,” or instead of “fast,” use “rapidly.” as natural language processing matters.
• Include Additional Evidence: Cite more research, include more case studies, or add more anecdotes.

Clarify Statements: If you’ve made broad statements, break them down into specific points.

If your assignment’s maximum word count is 1000+ words, you can extend it by following simple strategies:

• Add Quotations: Incorporate relevant quotations from experts as they can increase 10% length of the essay.
• Use Examples: Use concrete examples to illustrate abstract concepts.
• Expand Each Paragraph: Review each paragraph to see if your point can be further elaborated. Follow these strategies if you need to increase your shorter essay or reach your word count limit

Every student tries to reach the minimum word count of the assignment. Nevertheless, the word count for an extended essay will largely depend on the guidelines set by your educational institution or the specific course for which the essay is being written.  It mainly depends on the kind of essay you are writing. In many cases, extended essays are expected to be around 4000 words essay length for subjects like History or English, but it’s essential to adhere to any guidelines you’ve been given. If you’re unsure, consult with your instructor or advisor to look for practical options to reach the word count limit.

The minimum word count of essay depends on the type of essay you are writing. However, the length of 250 words is generally considered to be short for an academic essay. Such a word count would likely be appropriate for a high school essay assignment or perhaps as one part of a longer university paper, but it would be insufficient for a detailed analysis or research paper. Typically, academic essays at the college level are at least 500 words (usually a short essay), and they can be much longer depending on the topic and requirements.

Various AI platforms like Copyscribe, Wordtune, and Grammarly can assist with essays by expanding word count,  checking grammar, suggesting sentence structures, and even offering ideas to include. These tools with word counter can help you track the total words you have written.

Absolutely. AI tools can provide real-time feedback, offer synonyms for overused words, and correct grammatical errors. This lets you focus more on the content and less on writing mechanics. So, follow AI tools to increase word count in essay.

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7 Ways to Increase Word Count in Your Essay

No matter how much work you put into a piece of writing you can sometimes find yourself needing to increase word count. While most colleges and universities allow students to be 5-10% under the required words, less than this will result in significantly lower marks. In these situations, it is advisable to find ways of adding to your total number of words.

This article will give you the seven best suggestions to increase word count.

• Clarify your statements – An easy way to increase word count in your essays is to look for sentences that can be clarified with a follow-up statement. Although you need to avoid over-using this technique so that your writing doesn’t become too long-winded, you can effectively insert a few sentences that start with “in other words…” or “for example…”.
• Use supporting quotations – If you haven’t already, add a few quotations from well-respected authors to support your own points. Alternatively, you can slightly increase the length of text that you’ve already cited, by including the sentence before or after the relevant quote.
• Add another example – Look for paragraphs where you’ve used examples to illustrate your points, and add another one. This can demonstrate your thorough understanding of the topic, and it will add a significant number of words.
• Insert tables or diagrams – While your bibliography and footnotes aren’t usually included in the word count, tables, diagrams and illustrations are, especially when they appear in the main body of the work. Try to find relevant items to insert that provide important data, rather than purely illustrative material.
• Address alternative viewpoints – A great way to increase word count (and quality) is with opposing viewpoints. Include reference sources that counter your own argument. Then be sure to include these sources and also explain why you feel your own position is superior.
• Consult one more text – Although you’ve already put many hours into your writing, you can still eke out more words by simply consulting one more source. To save time, approach this strategically by consulting the source for specific topics that you’ve already mentioned in your writing. If it’s a book, use the index to quickly locate relevant material.
• Expand your introduction or conclusion – Finally, a good place to add words is in the Introduction and Conclusion. These paragraphs are typically expected to be less critical in nature, so you can get away with padding them out a bit.

Further Reading

• Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process
• The Good Study Guide
• Thinking Critically

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How To Make An Essay Longer

To make an essay longer, focus on quality: elaborate on arguments, add evidence, consider counterarguments, deepen analysis, and clarify points. Use examples, expand introductions and conclusions, and enhance transitions for better flow and comprehension. ‍

Struggling with an essay that just won't stretch to the required length? You're not alone.Studyfy is your ally in this common academic predicament.

Most students have experienced looking at their word count and thinking about how to reach the maximum limit without using filler content. This guide tackles that problem head-on with practical solutions and insights.

We’ll introduce you to plenty of useful techniques so you can increase your word count effortlessly and without compromising your essay’s quality.

How To Make Your Essay Longer With In-Depth Research

One of the first approaches you can use to make your essay longer is to research your points. Remember these pointers:

• Conduct meticulous and thorough research on your essay’s topic to find new and overlooked information and insights.
• Make sure you use insights that strengthen your argument further, and not just information to use as filler and is irrelevant. 

Dig a little deeper, and you’ll surely find something you might have overlooked and can add to your paper. 

Ways To Make Your Essay Longer With Elaboration

Another way to make your essay longer is to elaborate more. This means you should explore the points you argue in greater detail. Keep these tips in mind:

• Break down your arguments : Detail each of your arguments and break them down into sub-points. For example, if you’re writing about sustainable energies, you can elaborate on the different types of sustainable energy sources that exist.
• The power of descriptive language : By using descriptive language, you can lengthen your essay because you’re painting a more vivid picture of your topic. You’re adding more detail and nuance. 
• Use real-world examples : These can help add substance, and they will strengthen the validity of your argument.
• Add background information : When adding new arguments to a topic, you can easily provide background information on whatever it is you want to add. This will help make your essay longer but can also add context, which will help the reader understand your point better.
• Use anecdotes : If done right and added in the right places, sharing personal stories can make your essay better. 

Using Counter Arguments In Your Essay

You can make an essay longer by using counterarguments. This strategy not only elongates your word count, it has the potential to increase your essay’s quality and persuasiveness.

Consider the following: 

• Find popular counter-views: Find common counterarguments against your thesis statement. If you know them, you’ll be better equipped to deconstruct and counter them to a larger paper's word count.
• Show the strength of your view : Properly, you can introduce the strength of your perspective through the counterargument. For example, use strong evidence to oppose the view and then show why your stance deserves to be considered.

Using Quotations and Analysis

If you’re looking for other ways how to make a paper longer, you can use quotes. Quotations and further analysis is a great strategy to add more content to your essay. So, how exactly can you achieve this? Check these pointers out: 

• Choose relevant quotes : Of course, you’ll have to select quotations and transition words that are related to your topic. You want quotes that capture the core ideas of your argument. If you’re writing about the environment, you’d want to quote an expert environmentalist and so on.
• Give analysis on your quotes : When you’ve presented a quotation, try providing analysis on it. Discuss its meaning and implications, and demonstrate why it backs up your claims. 

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A Blueprint For A Longer Essay

Another way to tackle how to lengthen an essay's word count is to make a detailed outline before writing so you can plan the number of words you’ll be writing from the start. This will motivate and reassure you that you’re hitting the word count.

Seek Writing Help

Finding writing assistance from professionals can be an easy and effective strategy to make your essay longer. For example, you can send a “ do my essay ” request on Studyfy to get in touch with a professional writer at any time. Here are some tips to remember when seeking help. 

• Look for credibility : Be sure you’re getting writing help from reputable people. Take a look at their customer feedback and reputation to make sure they deliver what they promise. 
• Be clear with what you need : Make sure they know that you want a longer essay. Be clear with your instructions.
• Guidance, not plagiarism : Use professional help for assistance, professional insights, and inspiration. You should use their work as a reference and foundation to build your writing and reach that desired word count.
• Make use of expert feedback : Make sure you use the feedback that is given to you and practice it. 

If you don’t have much time or energy, turning to writing professionals can be a great deal of help at desperate times of trying to fill out the minimum page count. 

Using Complex Sentence Structures and Richer Vocabulary to Up Your Required Word Count

Another strategy you can use if you’re keen on knowing how to make your essays longer is enriching your essay with vocabulary and complex sentence structures. What does this mean? Check out these tips: 

• Employ varied language and use synonyms : You can avoid repeating your words by using synonyms to convey similar phrases and meanings. This will add length and keep your audience engaged. With that, try utilizing transition words, transitional phrases and relevant quotations to reach supporting evidence.
• Use complex sentences : By using complex sentences and clauses in your writing, you can add more nuance to your writing and you can convey more insights. Vary your sentences from short to more detailed and lengthy. Balance this out with easy readability. Make sure that your essay is still easy to understand, regardless of a more nuanced writing style.

Taking Advantage of Examples and Case Studies when Essay Writing

If you want more words to make your essay longer, then using examples and case studies and integrating them into your essay is a great strategy to reach your word count goal.

These can strengthen your argument since they provide tangible evidence. They don’t solely make your essay longer. Here’s what you need to remember: 

• Select relevant examples and case studies : You should, of course, use examples that back up your arguments. Make sure they are recent examples as well. Imagine yourself writing on technology. If you’re using an example, you should use one from recent years.
• Go into detail when demonstrating case studies : When you use a case study, you should go into detail and include the context, process, and outcomes. You will add length to your essay, but you will also simultaneously make it more nuanced and strengthen your points.

Using Visual Elements

If done effectively, you can make your writing more engaging. Still confused? Don’t forget you can pay for essay services on Studyfy right now for an extra hand. So, what can you use?

You can use graphs, charts, and even image s to strengthen your essay and make it longer. For example, when you’re finishing up a scientific essay, you can use graphs to showcase statistics and data.

Writing Detailed Intros and Conclusions

Since your introduction and conclusion are decisive elements in your essay, you can make do by increasing their length without compromising their strength and quality. Do keep these tips in mind: 

• For the introduction : Provide more context so that you can present your thesis in a stronger light. Write hints about what you’ll discuss in your body text.
• For the conclusion : To make your conclusion longer, you can elaborate on the arguments you’ve developed over the body. You should present a “developed” and concluding version of those arguments. Reflect on what you’ve written without introducing new information. You can create a detailed and persuasive call to action to invite readers to explore the topic more. 

Development

Make sure your sections are well organized, and every argument is fully developed. If they’re not, this might explain why you’re not reaching your word count limit. Need extra help? Don’t forget to take advantage of Studyfy’s custom writing service right now. Elaborate a point completely. Be meticulous and diligent with the development of your points.

Did you like our article?

For more help, tap into our pool of professional writers and get expert essay writing services!

Can you teach me how to make my essay longer without sacrificing quality? 

Make sure that your points strengthen your arguments. Elaborate carefully. If you need help, use our college admission essay writing service for expert writing help.

Does this guide include everything I need to know?

Yes. Use our table of contents to jump to the techniques you feel keen on using. You'll find everything you need to know on how to make paper longer. We offer key points, supporting evidence and more examples to help you achieve the desired essay length.

How do I make my essay longer and keep it coherent?

You can make an essay longer and maintain its focus by going back to your thesis statement and main arguments when adding new material. Make sure they strengthen your arguments. 

What should I avoid doing?

When finding ways how to make your paper longer, avoid using filler content, and don't repeat words and sentences.

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12 Ways to make your Essay Longer: Words, Phrases, Transits

by James Khim | Oct 17, 2022

Writing a high school or college essay requires a lot of research and typing. Even after toiling for hours or days, frustration arises when you find out that you are out of the word count.

However, with additional research, the inclusion of more quotes and descriptions can make up for the word count shortfall. There are different tricks you can use to boost your word count and reach the page requirement of your teacher. 

You can make an essay longer by writing more points, explaining your arguments well, or including insightful questions. In addition, you can use formatting hacks to increase the length of an essay by writing shorter paragraphs, using larger fonts, and adding illustrations to an essay. However, these methods should adhere to academic writing standards.

et us explore each one of these tips in detail and add more ways to lengthen an essay.

Ways to Increase Word Count and Make an Essay Longer

1. write more points.

In the outline of your essay, the body has points that you had to explain. If you are yet to meet the word count, including more points in your body is one of the ways of making up for this.

Also, you can increase the sources and anecdotes in explaining a point so that you get more ideas. 

Adding more sources will provide extra evidence for the reader and makes it possible to increase your word count significantly.

You will not only be providing additional support for your argument but also boosting the paper’s word count. 

2. Using illustrations

Including illustrations is the perfect way to make your essay lighter but longer.

These illustrations can be in the form of screenshots, charts, graphs, infographics, and images.

This helps to make your arguments strong and the essay longer. The trick revolves around making a better argument with a deeper precision. However, always ensure that the illustrations you add are relevant to the arguments of the essay. 

3. Use short paragraphs

The use of precise and well-formatted paragraphs can also help to make your paper longer. A shorter paragraph makes the essay more coherent and gives it a better reading experience.

The paragraphs must have a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence. These are the elements that make a readable paragraph with points that are flowing effortlessly. 

4. Stretch the headers

When there is a possibility, try to make your headers longer. In most cases, teachers state what they expect you to include in the header.

You are given the information but there is no limitation to the header word count. In the absence of the guidelines concerning word count, expand on the header to reach the essay’s word count. 

5. Let another person proofread your essay

When you involve an extra eye to go through your essay, it is possible to spot areas where you have not exhausted. A friend, teacher, or classmate can proofread your essay and spot important areas that need more elaboration.

In doing so, you will be adding more words to the essay and covering the deficit. You can add more explanations to the arguments by including relevant quotes that will give it more strength. 

6. Expanding your arguments

If you check the outline you made before writing your essay, it will be possible to spot areas that need more alterations. The outline is the ultimate guideline that will show you if you have drained your points.

When you were writing, it is possible to skip vital points. Therefore, you can lengthen your essay by adding more arguments. Feel free to use first-person language to introduce personalized opinions if needed.

If you did not outline, check what you have written, analyze what the audience needs then know what to include. Writing more points in your essay is one of the best ways of adding more words to your essay.

7. Explain more

Giving more explanation is also a good way of topping up the word count. You can check the arguments and see if some sections still need more explanations.

Inadequate explanations could be one of the reasons why your essay is short of words.

Go to the introduction, body, and conclusion and give deeper explanations to points that were not well elaborated.

8. Seek clarifications from your instructor

Most teachers, professors, and teaching assistants are always willing to guide students. If you develop a good rapport with them, they are the best source of guidance especially when it comes to essay writing.

They will look over your essays and spot the necessary areas that need tunings before you do a final submission. 

When you have plenty of time remaining before the submission deadline, try to get an appointment with the teachers so that you go over the paper together. The instructor is the best person to give you helpful tips to increase your word count.

9. Include more references and evidence

When you add more references alongside evidence, you will not only make your essay longer but also stronger. An extra reference that goes with evidence will give you a chance to make more explanations that will eventually top up the word count. If you refer back to your essay outline, you can still make each point better by including more supporting details.

10. Include relevant quotations

Apart from adding references and evidence, you can also bring in quotations for strengthening and lengthening the paper.

Make sure that the quotations you add are relevant to the paper’s arguments. The inclusion of a quote that supports the points makes the paper more powerful.

11. Include more transitions

If your essay is only short of a few words to reach the expected limit, transitions can do the trick. Smooth transition words to connect paragraphs or sentences can give you the extra words you need. Their use in connecting one sentence to the next one also makes the essay a seamless flow. 

12. Check the prompt of the essay again

The prompt of the essay is the ultimate guide that shows you how to outline your essay. If you check it again, you can find something you missed discussing in the essay.

Look at the prompts or essay questions from a different perspective to get more ideas. In this way, you can become more thorough and get more words for your essay.

Consulting your instructor about the essay prompt can also help you to find new ways of tackling the subject of the essay. 

13. Check the introduction

As usual, the introduction is one of the most important parts of an essay. It not only sets out the paper’s tone but also captures the attention of your audience

. However, the introduction does not have to be a short paragraph. You can expound by including more information or simply expand on the ideas you already have.

Adding a quote or a simple story can make the introduction even catchier and attention-grabbing. Taking a moment to revise your introduction adds more words and also makes it a better one. 

Alternative to Score High in an Essays without Writing

It is not easy to get good grades if you cannot write essays that will satisfy your teacher. If the instructors and friends are not helping you, the best alternative is to get professional help. Many online academic writing websites can help you to get your assignment done. 

Select a good writing firm that employs quality and professional writers. These services have writers and editors who scrutinize your essay to ensure it is in line with your guidelines.

As usual, plagiarism will be a subject of concern. Only select writing services that can manually check the essay and also use plagiarism scanners to check for copied content. Online reviews from previous clients can guide you to select the best paper writing services.

An academic assignment is very sensitive and that is why you must give your essay to only professional writers. Check if they are accredited and the number of years they have been offering the same services to students.

Look at their guarantee policy, the turnaround time, previous complaints from clients, and other important factors.

Essays can weigh you down because they need a lot of research and writing. Even so, there is no excuse for late submission or submitting poor-quality papers.

You only have to submit your order in time and give all the necessary instructions. Even more importantly, you can check and ask for revisions if there are areas your requirements were not met. 

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How to Make Your Essay Better: 7 Tips for Stronger Essays

Krystal N. Craiker

Essay writing doesn’t have to be intimidating. With a few tips, you can improve your writing skills for any type of academic essay.

How to Write Better Essays

7 tips on how to make your essay better, how to become a better essay writer.

The best way to sum up how to write better essays is, “Make sure you’re answering the question.”

This sounds obvious, but you would be surprised how many students struggle with this.

From not understanding the prompt to poor research skills to off-topic body paragraphs, it’s easy for an essay to derail.

We’ve got seven tips for writing better essays that will help you avoid common mistakes and craft the best essays possible.

Here are our top tips for improving your essay writing skills.

Understand the Prompt or Research Question

The first step in your writing process is to fully understand the essay topic. If your professor gave you a prompt for your academic essay, spend some time analyzing it.

First, take note of whether you’re writing an expository or persuasive essay. The tone, structure, and word choice will differ between essay types.

Pay close attention to the wording of the prompt.

If your teacher wants you to “analyze” the effects of new technology in World War I, but you turn in a descriptive overview of the technology, you are not answering the question.

If they have given you a topic but no prompt, you’ll need to create a guiding question for your research.

Be specific in what you are trying to research, or you’ll end up overwhelmed with a topic that is too big in scope.

“Symbolism in modern literature” is too broad for a term paper, but “How does F. Scott Fitzgerald use symbolism in The Great Gatsby ?” is an achievable topic.

Take Excellent Notes

Once you understand exactly what your essay is about, you can begin the research phase. Create a strong note-taking system.

Write down any idea or quote you might want to use. Cite every note properly to save time on your citations and to avoid accidental plagiarism.

Once you have gathered your research, organize your notes into categories. This will help you plan the structure of your essay.

You’ll likely find that some of your research doesn’t fit into your essay once you start writing. That’s okay—it’s better to have too much information to support your argument than too little.

Write a Strong Thesis Statement

Possibly the most important step in essay writing is to craft a strong thesis statement. A thesis statement is a brief—usually single-sentence—explanation of what your essay is about.

The thesis statement guides the entire essay: every point you make should support your thesis.

A strong thesis is specific and long enough to address the major points of your essay.

In a persuasive or argumentative essay, your thesis should clearly establish the argument you are making.

Make an Outline

Once you have all your research, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. How do you turn the information into a cohesive essay?

Rather than writing an essay with no roadmap, an outline will keep you on track. An outline helps you organize your thoughts, plan your arguments, and sort your research.

A good outline saves you time, too! You can compile the relevant evidence in your notes before writing, so you don’t have to find that specific quote in the middle of essay writing.

An outline will also stop you from reading your finished essay and realizing you went completely off track.

With an outline, you can avoid finding paragraphs that don’t support your thesis right before you submit the essay.

Craft a Great Introduction

An academic essay needs a strong introductory paragraph.

The introduction is the first impression of your essay. It prepares the reader for what’s coming and gets them excited to read your paper.

A good introduction has three things:

• A hook (e.g. insightful statement, quote, interesting fact)
• Brief background information about the topic
• A thesis statement

Using this formula will help you write a strong introduction for your essay.

Have Original Ideas and Interpretations

The best academic writing advice a professor ever gave me was, “You’ve shown me what other people have said about the topic. I want to know what you think about the topic.”

Even a fact-heavy or data-heavy essay needs original ideas and interpretations. For every piece of information you cite, whether you quote or paraphrase it , offer original commentary.

Focus on insights, new interpretations, or even questions that you have. These are all ways to provide original ideas in your essay.

Proofread for Readability

A good essay is a proofread essay.

Readability, or how easy something is to read, has many factors. Spelling and grammar are important, but so is sentence structure, word choice , and other stylistic features.

Academic essays should be readable without being too simple. In general, aim for a readability score that is close to your grade level in school.

There are several ways to check readability scores, including using ProWritingAid’s Readability Report.

The quickest way to increase readability is to fix grammar and spelling mistakes . You can also raise the readability score by using more complex and compound-complex sentences.

ProWritingAid can offer suggestions on how to improve your essay and take it to the next level.

Our free essay checker will check for spelling and grammar errors, plus several other types of writing mistakes.

The essay checker will offer you suggestions on sentence length and passive voice.

It will help you trim the excess words that bog down your writing by analyzing your sticky sentences and overused words.

The essay checker is here to help you turn in an error-free essay.

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Krystal N. Craiker is the Writing Pirate, an indie romance author and blog manager at ProWritingAid. She sails the seven internet seas, breaking tropes and bending genres. She has a background in anthropology and education, which brings fresh perspectives to her romance novels. When she’s not daydreaming about her next book or article, you can find her cooking gourmet gluten-free cuisine, laughing at memes, and playing board games. Krystal lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband, child, and basset hound.

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8 Ways to Expand your Writing Vocabulary

Looking for how to become a better writer? Start by improving your writing vocabulary. After all, the stronger your words are, the more powerful your writing will be.

But why is writing important? Why bother expanding your vocabulary and building your writing skills?

For starters, it may lead to fewer revisions during editing stages, meaning your essays and assignments won’t take as long to complete. And it may even result in higher grades for the work you turn in for class.

And who doesn’t want that?

There are many methods you can use to expand your vocabulary as a writer. Here are some tips on how to increase your word power.

1. Read More

Read a lot, and read from a variety of sources. Magazines, newspapers, blogs, novels, comics, and more can fill you up with new words you might never have seen without exploring these texts. The more words you put into your brain, the more words you will have available for you to use in your writing.

Reading other people’s writing can open your mind to a plethora of new words. (plethora=overabundance, excess.)

2. Look Up Words in a Dictionary

As you are reading more varied texts, you will come across words you don’t know. Don’t just simply gloss over them.

Instead, stop and look up the meaning of each new word. If you’re reading an e-reader, such as a Kindle, you just need to highlight the word and you’ll see the dictionary definition. Dictionary.com and the Merriam Webster dictionary app are also helpful to have on-hand.

Taking the time to investigate the meanings will help cement the word into your brain for future use. It helps cohere the new word to your memory. (cohere=to stick to, cling.)

3. Keep a Word Journal

Once you’ve looked up new words using your dictionary, record each new word in a journal. This will put all of your new words in one handy space. Refer back to your journal often to review some of the vocabulary terms you have gained.

Make a goal to incorporate these words into your writing (for school, social media, personal journals, notes, etc). Actively practicing these new words in written form will help you improve your vocabulary.

You will soon acclimate to using your fancier vocabulary. (acclimate=make or become adjusted.)

4. Learn a New Word Each Day

There are numerous sites that can help you learn a new word every day. Merriam-Webster has a Word-of-the-Day feature that has a mini-podcast each day to give multiple examples of how to use the word. Collins Dictionary also offers a Word of the Day .

As you visit these sites, make a note in your word journal of these new words. You can also visit an improve vocabulary app on your phone to get some word coaching on the go.

These circadian visits to learn words can help you stay on track with broadening your vocabulary. (circadian=daily.)

5. Use New Words Frequently in Conversations

Try out your new words verbally in daily conversations. Make a goal to incorporate one new word into your communication with others every day.

The more you speak and use new words, the more they will be committed to your memory. There’s definitely a connection between speaking and writing. Improving your spoken vocabulary also improves your written vocabulary and vice versa (or contrariwise .) (contrariwise=vice versa)

6. Play Word Games

Doing daily crosswords can help you step up your vocab game. There are online options or you can use the simple pencil-and-paper route.

Interactive word games like Scrabble and Boggle can be fun and educational for you and a group of your friends. Apps on your phone such as Words With Friends can also be entertaining ways to increase your vocabulary.

Many of these games are riveting . (riveting=fascinating, gripping.)

7. Choose Better, More Specific Words

Once you’ve started to learn new words and expand your vocabulary, choose better words in your writing. Certain vague words (like big or small ) should be avoided and replaced with specific, more descriptive words.

If the house was big, was it colossal? Enormous? Monstrous? Gigantic? There are better choices you can make with an expanded vocabulary. Using these precise words helps paint a clearer picture for your reader. It also helps your writing be less obscure . (obscure=not easily understood.)

8. Use a Thesaurus

If you’re trying to incorporate more specific words, it’s helpful to use a thesaurus. When you see a vague word in your essay, look it up in a thesaurus and pick a more accurate and effective word.

OneLook has a thorough thesaurus that is extremely helpful. Or should I say practical? Beneficial? Handy? The thesaurus helps you find the exact word you are looking for. It will ameliorate your word choices. (ameliorate=make, become better.)

Becoming a better writer means choosing better words in your writing. The more specific and interesting your words are, the more engaging and comprehensible your writing will be. With a small amount of daily effort, you can increase your vocabulary and take your writing to the next level.

How to Write Essay Titles and Headers

Don’t overlook the title and section headers when putting together your next writing assignment. Follow these pointers for keeping your writing organized and effective.

101 Standout Argumentative Essay Topic Ideas

Need a topic for your upcoming argumentative essay? We've got 100 helpful prompts to help you get kickstarted on your next writing assignment.

Writing a Standout College Admissions Essay

Your personal statement is arguably the most important part of your college application. Follow these guidelines for an exceptional admissions essay.

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• Writing Tips

How to Make an Essay Longer

• 7-minute read
• 10th May 2023

So you have an essay due the next day. You’ve been holed up in your dorm all day writing it, and now you’ve finished the conclusion. You shake your fist in celebratory fashion as you punctuate the paper’s last sentence. However, your jaw drops in horror when you focus on the word count. The essay rubric states that you must write at least 1,500 words, but you’ve written only 1,000 ! How can this be? You worked so hard to do what the assignment asked you. We know the feeling, and we’re sure every college student experiences it at least once.

So with time running out, you can do the following:

●  Submit the essay and hope the professor doesn’t notice

●  Add some gibberish sentences to get close enough to the required word count

We don’t recommend these options. Making an essay longer seems daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. That’s why we’re providing this post on expanding your essay while keeping it relevant to the topic. We’ll share our helpful tips, and by the end of the post, you’ll know what to do next time your essay falls short of the word count.

1. Add Content to the Essay

Adding more details is a great starting point for increasing the word count. Review your essay and see whether you should have addressed additional points about the topic. Could you include a few more arguments?  

You’ll likely have to review your sources to find additional claims. We understand that you might not want to do this, especially if the clock reads midnight and your class starts in nine hours. However, adding more content not only increases the word count; it also makes your essay more credible. 

If you need to add content, make sure it’s relevant to the topic. Consider the following example:

Personal details about the source’s author are irrelevant. Submitting such details will only earn you the wrath of your professor’s red ink. Let’s try an alternative:

Expanding on the citation with personal insight about screen time adds punch while keeping the discussion relevant. Additional details must move your essay forward the way dialogue and narrative do for a work of fiction.  

2. Add Transitional Sentences and Phrases

Your essay might be short of words because it lacks transitional phrases, so you should add some to the mix. In fact, every academic paper should include a healthy blend of transitional sentences and transitional words/phrases . Not sure what we mean by that? You know words and phrases such as however , moreover , and in addition . 

As with details, transitional phrases help to move the essay forward, so make sure to use them correctly. Let’s take an example from an essay about the late Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic:

As you can see, the writer uses transitional phrases correctly, adding value and words to the essay. When you use them correctly, transitional sentences and phrases improve the flow of your writing , enhancing readability. Professors expect coherent essays that flow smoothly, so transitional sentences and phrases are mandatory, regardless of word count. 

That being said, it can be easy to overuse linking words, particularly if you’re a non-native writer. Check out this interesting article from Fabio Cerpeloni, who argues that linking words can impact the readability of your text . 

3. Spell Out Words and Numbers

If you have contractions in your essay, such as can’t , won’t , and couldn’t , write them out in full. You shouldn’t use contractions at all in academic writing because they’re considered informal. Although using full versions of words seems to be a miniscule measure, doing so can go a long way to increasing your word count. And as a rule, you can also spell out numbers one through eleven. Again, doing this will help expand your essay.

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To save time switching out your contractions, make sure you’re familiar with Microsoft Word’s find and replace tool .  

4. Add More Examples

Using at least two examples, you should aim to support every argument you present. If you have only one example for an argument, add a couple more. Provide citations to support your claims; otherwise, your professor will question your knowledge. As with details, examples will strengthen your essay. It’s a win–win situation!

If the essay has enough citations but still needs more words, you could try paraphrasing claims from sources. Just be sure to paraphrase effectively . You wouldn’t want to fall into the trap of plagiarism!

5. Review the Introduction and Conclusion

Now that you’ve written the essay, go back to the introduction and the conclusion. You might be able to expand on them and provide extra details. Remember that the introduction serves as a lead-in to the essay. In other words, it captures your readers’ attention and makes them want to keep reading. If your introduction appears weak, add details that will engage the reader properly.

And for the conclusion, provide a takeaway for the reader and offer a call to action. For example, what are the most important things to remember about your essay? The conclusion may lack punch, so add some details to improve it.

6. Expand Your Research on the Topic

The amount of research you’ve done could affect the word count. One way to check this is by reviewing your reference list. It should have at least five sources, so if yours has fewer, you need to do more research. Again, it’s not something you’d like to do in the middle of the night; however, sacrifices must be made if your essay needs more research. We guarantee your professor will notice if you haven’t done enough research. Here’s an extra tip: adding details will be much easier if you’re fully knowledgeable about the topic. Trust us on this!

While making an essay longer may seem daunting, doing so is easier if you’ve adequately researched the topic. The essay likely needs more ideas or examples, so go ahead and add them. Additional details will lend value, improve flow, and make your essay more credible. The most important thing to remember is that any details you add must be relevant. Simply adding fluff will weaken your essay and cost you marks. So never submit an essay with a low word count; your professor will notice! And after all, expanding on an essay is part of mastering essay writing skills .

We recommend not waiting until the last minute to check that your essay meets the required word count. Adding details or doing additional research the night before will only spell trouble. We understand the difficulty of making time when multiple papers are due in the same week. However, college life will test your time management skills like nothing else! Use your time wisely!

1.  Why do essays fall short of the required word count?

This is often due to a lack of details and transitional sentences. Review your essay to see whether it’s missing important examples that can strengthen your claims.

2.  Can I simply add “fluff” to increase the word count?

Anything you add to the essay must be relevant and must add value. Your professor is no fool, after all!

3. I hear proofreading is essential before submitting my essay. Can anyone help me with this?

We suggest our proofreading experts at Proofed! They can check your writing for grammar and punctuation errors and ensure perfect spelling and concision. Consider submitting a 500-word document for free today!

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Add Words to My Essay

How often do you lack words to meet an essay word count? Indeed, finding the correct phrases to add to your essay can be a challenge, especially when the deadline is soon.

Fortunately, our online Add-Words-to-My-Essay Tool is here to help. With just three clicks, you can quickly expand your essay to meet the required word count without sacrificing quality or coherence. Keep reading to learn more about the tool and tips on increasing word count.

• 📝 What Does It Mean to Add Words?
• ❇️ Add Words to My Essay – Benefits

✍️ How to Add More Words to an Essay

🙅‍♀️ how not to add more words.

• 💯 How to Add 100 Words

✒️ Other Ways to Increase Word Count

🔎 references, 📝 add words to essay – what does it mean.

Wondering how you make your essay longer? Here are some of the best ways that can help increase your word count while keeping the piece logical and well-structured.

• Expand on your idea. Take the time to develop your main points fully, providing more detail to your analysis.
• Include more research. Conduct additional research to find more sources and information to incorporate into your essay, adding more depth to your writing.
• Provide additional examples and evidence. Support your arguments with more examples and evidence to strengthen your points and add more words.

❇️ Add Words to My Essay – Tool Benefits

Many benefits make our Add-Words-to-Essay Tool stand out among similar essay expanders. Let's consider the main advantages:

If you're struggling to meet the word count for your essay, there are several tips you can try to add more content and strengthen your arguments. Have a look!

• Add more analysis . Offer deeper analysis, delving into the implications and significance of your findings .
• Use transitional phrases . Include phrases like "moreover," "in addition," and "furthermore" to connect your paragraphs, creating a more cohesive essay.
• Expand on your introduction and conclusion . Provide a more comprehensive introduction that sets the stage for your essay and a conclusion that offers a deeper reflection on the significance of your arguments.
• Address potential counterarguments . Anticipate and reflect on possible counterarguments to your essay, demonstrating a deeper understanding of the topic.
• Provide more detailed explanations . Offer deeper explanations of key concepts and ideas, ensuring that your readers thoroughly understand the material.
• Consider different formatting options . If the instructions allow, explore various formatting options , including subheadings or bullet points.
• Seek feedback from others . Ask for feedback from peers or instructors to identify areas where you can expand or elaborate on your ideas to make the essay longer and more thorough.
• Include relevant statistics or data . Consider incorporating specific numbers, research findings, and case studies that support your claims.
• Rewrite the text using longer phrases . Instead of using short, concise sentences, rephrase your ideas using more elaborate and descriptive language .
• Use quotations . Incorporating quotes from relevant sources can add authority to your writing and contribute to a more comprehensive discussion.
• Provide some background information . Introducing background information about the topic, such as historical context, relevant theories, or key concepts, can add depth to your essay.
• Incorporate personal experiences or anecdotes . By sharing stories or examples from your personal experience, you can present the real-world implications of your arguments.

When increasing an essay's word count, it is essential to add words purposefully without ruining the quality of your essay. Avoid these common mistakes:

• Repetitive statements. Don’t repeat the same points over and over in different ways to fill up space.
• Irrelevant information. Don’t include unrelated facts or details that do not contribute to the overall argument.
• Filler sentences. Don’t add meaningless sentences that do not add any value to the content of the essay.
• Excessive adjectives and adverbs. Don’t overload sentences with unnecessary descriptive words to artificially inflate the word count.
• Lengthy personal anecdotes. Don’t share long personal stories that are not directly related to the topic.
• Overly complex language. Avoid convoluted and verbose language .
• Long-winded quotations. Don’t insert lengthy quotes from sources without adding any meaningful analysis or insight.

💯 How to Add 100 Words to an Essay

Wanna see how the Add More Words to My Essay tool works? Let's try to make a longer body paragraph for the "The Psychological Harm of Social Media" essay.

Besides the Add Words Generator, other useful tools can increase the word count of your essay and maintain coherence. We recommend checking them out!

• Attention grabber generator An online attention grabber generator can be helpful by providing intriguing and concise introductory statements or hooks. These attention grabbers serve as a starting point for establishing a solid narrative and contribute to more in-depth exploration and elaboration.
• Transition phrase generator A free transition phrase maker can add more connecting phrases and words within the text. Utilize this tool to introduce more seamless transitions between ideas, paragraphs, and sections, enhancing the essay's overall flow.
• Introduction generator You can use an online introduction generator to expand the initial content as you get more background information, context, and details related to the essay's topic. You can delve into deeper analysis by using the generated introduction as a springboard.
• Conclusion generator A free conclusion generator can offer effective ideas that you can further develop with additional analysis and exploration. The tool also generates concluding remarks, reflections, or suggestions, further expanding the word count of your essay.
• Essay paraphraser An online essay paraphraser can provide alternative ways to rephrase and expand upon existing content. Using a paraphraser, you can present the same concepts in various ways, incorporating synonyms, different sentence structures, and additional descriptive language.
• How to Increase or Decrease Your Paper’s Word Count | Grammarly
• 3 Ways to Increase Word Count - wikiHow
• On Paragraphs - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University
• Paragraphs and Transitions - Essay Writing - Monroe College LibGuides at Monroe College
• Academic Language - San José State University Writing Center

How to Stick to the Word Count on College Essays

You have a lot to think about when writing your college essay: brainstorming a topic , writing it well, and proofreading and editing it until it represents your best work. And of course, you can’t forget about sticking to the word count.

Keeping your essay short can be challenging. It’s supposed to showcase your best self, set you apart from other candidates, and give some extra insight into your individuality and personality. And you have to accomplish all of this in a limited amount of space?

Don’t worry—sticking to the word count while writing an excellent college essay is certainly possible. We’ll show you how!

What is the word count for college essays?

First, you might be wondering: What is the word count for college essays? The answer varies, but let’s take a look at some general guidelines.

Most college applicants will end up writing the Common App essay. Currently, the Common App asks you to write an essay ranging from 250-650 words . 650 words is just over one page of single-spaced type. When you fill out the application online, it won’t allow you to submit an essay with less than 250 or more than 650 words. So, sticking to the word count is not optional.

If you don’t write the Common App essay, or if you write additional essays, note that most college essays set word limits around 500-750 words. In the rare case that no word limit is specified, most experts recommend staying under 800 words.

Remember that the person reading your essay has read a lot of other essays, so be kind. Say what you need to say as concisely as possible. Here’s how:

Tips to Stick to the Word Count on College Essays

1. “zoom in” on your topic.

The best college essays focus on a specific topic . For instance, you might write about a single moment or event that profoundly impacted you, or a small but meaningful aspect of your life.

When you get specific, you’re able to provide details that are unique to you and your experiences, crafting an essay that no one else could write. Plus, you narrow the scope of your essay, which helps you stay within the word count.

Think about it like “zooming in” with a camera. Maybe you have a broad idea to start with, like family. But you can’t pack all of your thoughts, feelings, and experiences about family into 650 words. If you tried to, your essay would probably feel scattered and unorganized. It wouldn’t give a close, personal look at you or your life.

That means you need to zoom in some more. Let’s take a closer look. Maybe there’s a specific aspect of your family you want to highlight, like the way your family has taught you to speak your mind and stand for your beliefs. This is good, but it’s still pretty broad.

Let’s zoom in again. Get more specific. How has your family taught you to speak your mind? Is there a particular memory that stands out? Now, you decide to write about the spirited debates your family loves to have around the dinner table—and how those debates have shaped you as a person.

Now, that’s a topic you might be able to thoroughly cover in 650 words. And it’s going to be a lot more reflective, meaningful, and personal than a generic essay about “family.”

2. Outline First, Then Write

Once you’ve narrowed the scope of your essay, you’re almost ready to write. One of the most powerful strategies to help you stick to the word count is to create a plan or outline. Map out your essay before you start writing. If you have a plan, you’re less likely to ramble, go off on tangents, and ultimately waste words.

Think about the main purpose of your essay. What do you want the reader (college admissions officers) to know about you when they’re finished? What’s the point you’re trying to make?

As you plan or outline your essay, create a narrative:

• What is the beginning, middle, and end of the story you’re telling ?
• What is your character arc?
• Who were you at the beginning? How were you challenged, influenced, or inspired? What did you learn or how did you grow as a result? Who are you now?

Focus on including information that accomplishes your main purposes and moves your narrative along. If it’s unrelated to any of your key points, you can probably cut it. And if it’s information that’s found somewhere else in your application, you don’t need to include it in your plan.

Having a clear, concise, and focused plan for your essay will help you convey your message without exceeding the word limit.

3. Keep the Introduction Short

The most important part of your essay is the body. That means your introduction doesn’t need to be extremely long. Save your words for the “meat” of the essay, where you’ll really dig into your narrative.

An effective introduction is engaging, interesting, and brief. It provides a glimpse or a preview into what you’ll discuss, but not too much. You want to leave the admissions officer wanting to read more.

In general, an introduction only needs three key parts:

• Hook/grabber (an interesting sentence that immediately engages the reader)
• Necessary background information (keyword: necessary)
• Thesis statement or thematic statement (a clear statement summarizing your overall point)

Because college essays are more creative, you don’t have to follow this pattern exactly. But it gives you an idea of why a solid introduction can be short and sweet. Many students make the mistake of including too much unnecessary background in their introduction. Try to limit your intro to 4-6 sentences, unless there’s other essential information you must include.

If your intro is longer than six sentences, go back and underline or highlight sentences that are essential to the meaning of your essay. Then, review the sentences you didn’t highlight. Can you cut them entirely, or at least shorten them? Can this piece of info wait until the body of your essay?

4. Focus on the Important Stuff

We already mentioned that you want to focus on information that advances your narrative and relates to your main point. You also want to devote most of your word count to reflection and introspection.

When an admissions officer reads your essay, they’re most interested in reading your analysis of your life experiences. Think about questions like:

• What did this event mean to you?
• Why is it significant?
• How has it shaped your life?
• How did you learn or grow from this experience?
• What does the information in this essay convey about you as a person, the way you think, or what you believe in and value?

If you write an essay about a challenge in your life, for example, you want to describe the challenge itself only briefly. The majority of your essay should focus on how you overcame the challenge and what you learned from the experience. It should demonstrate positive qualities that the experience revealed or helped you develop, like resilience, determination, and courage.

So, if it looks like you’re going to exceed the word count, reread. How many of these sentences are telling your story? How many are reflecting on your story? If you have to cut something, cut nonessential storytelling pieces. Include specific details that bring your story to life and tell it clearly without taking up too much space.

5. Eliminate Repetition

Have you included any repetitive words or phrases? Do any of your sentences basically mean the same thing? Reread your essay for repetition, and cut it.

Here’s an example:

It was the hardest decision I had ever made in my life. I wanted to avoid embarrassment, but I also wanted to do what was right. Making matters worse, I was torn between my two best friends. I never expected to face such a tough decision.

The first and last sentences of the paragraph above basically say, “It was a hard decision.” The writer doesn’t need both of them. If you can find sentences in your essay that don’t add any new information, then it’s safe to delete them.

6. Avoid Using Unnecessary Words

Similarly, sticking to a tight word limit requires you to write concisely. Concise writing is succinct and to the point. It avoids unnecessary words and sentences. To write concisely, think of each word as a $100 bill. You want to spend them wisely.

Of course, you don’t want to sound like a robot. Writing concisely doesn’t mean that you need to cut interesting details or doses of personality. Choose your words deliberately, and avoid words that don’t add meaning, like:

In some circumstances, some of these words might add meaning. But if you’re struggling to stay within the word limit, these words should be some of the first to go. Does the sentence make sense without it? If yes, cut it. In using the $100 bill analogy above, where can you save money? What unnecessary expenses could your essay live without?

Avoid Using Unnecessary Words: Let’s Practice!

Let’s look at my first paragraph above:

I’m not trying to stick to a 650-word limit, but what if I was? What could I cut? Here are some ideas:

• The word “Similarly” doesn’t add any information. I could just say, “Sticking to a tight word limit requires you to write concisely.”
• In the third sentence, I could delete “To write concisely.” You already know that the topic of this paragraph is concise writing. It would still make sense to say, “Think of each word as a $100 bill.”
• In the final sentence, I could say, “Spend them wisely” instead of, “You want to spend them wisely.” Deleting those two words doesn’t change the meaning of the sentence. In fact, it makes the sentence clearer and more direct.

Now, let’s look at my third paragraph:

If I had to cut something, what could I cut? Here are some suggestions:

• In the first sentence, I could shorten “In some circumstances” to “Sometimes.” It means the same thing and saves me two words.
• In the second sentence, I could delete “some of,” making the sentence, “But if you’re struggling to stay within the word limit, these words should be the first to go.” “Some of” doesn’t add meaning, and deleting it makes the sentence stronger. Plus, I said “some of” in the previous sentence too, so it sounds repetitive.
• I could delete “above” from the question, “In using the $100 bill analogy above, where can you save money?” You probably know the analogy is above. And even if you don’t know, it’s not essential information.
• The final sentence asks, “What unnecessary expenses could your essay live without?” I could delete “unnecessary” because it has the same meaning as “could live without.”

Hopefully, this gives you an idea of how to cut unnecessary words from your essay! As a writer, it’s easy to get attached to the words you’ve chosen. But when it comes to word counts, you must be prepared to trim the fat and delete any words that don’t add meaning.

You should also shorten sentences and phrases whenever possible. For instance, instead of saying, “I wondered if I had made the right decision,” write, “Had I made the right decision?” With the question mark, “I wondered” is implied. Shorter sentences save you words, and they’re often clearer, stronger, and more direct.

7. Ask for Help

If you’ve tried all of these ideas and exercises, but your essay is still too long, ask for help! Ask a friend, parent, teacher, or other trusted adult to read the essay.

Do they see any sentences, phrases, or words that you can cut?

Sometimes, getting an extra pair of eyes on your essay makes a huge difference. An outside perspective is always clearer.

Final Thoughts: How to Stick to the Word Count on College Essays

You might have a lot to say in your college essay, but you have to say it within the required word count. Use strategies like:

• Narrowing down your topic
• Mapping out your essay beforehand
• Focusing on information that supports your main point and advances your narrative
• Cutting repetition
• Cutting unnecessary words and phrases
• Shortening sentences whenever possible
• Asking for a fresh perspective

Believe it or not, using these strategies will also make your essay more engaging and powerful. Not only will you stick to the word count on your college essays, but you’ll also write a clear, concise, and memorable essay for the admissions officers.

Jason Patel is the founder of Transizion , a college counseling and career services company that provides mentorship and consulting on college applications, college essays, resumes, cover letters, interviews, and finding jobs and internships. Jason’s work has been cited in The Washington Post, BBC, NBC News, Forbes, Fast Company, Bustle, Inc., Fox Business, and other great outlets. Transizion donates a portion of profits to underserved students and veterans in of college prep and career development assistance. Jason is a Brazilian Jiujitsu martial artist, outdoorsman, and avid reader. You can find more content on his blog and YouTube channel.

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16 Tricks to Stretch Out an Essay

By lucas gardner.

Let’s face it, students: sometimes in the middle of writing an essay, you realize your thesis doesn’t quite have the “legs” you thought it did. You might find that you’re only able to write 10 pages, when you’ve been instructed to write 20. Not to worry — there are many subtle tricks you can use to stretch that essay out. Your professor will be none the wiser.

1. The Classic “Big Punctuation” Trick You’re probably writing your essay in size-12 text. Here’s a classic trick: make all your periods, commas, and exclamation points size-13 text. You’ll be surprised at how much this inflates your page count, and the change in text size will be too subtle for your professor to notice.

2. Long Quotations There’s no better way to stretch that page count than by including a full paragraph of quotations on nearly every page.

3. Use Small Paper Sure, your essay may only be ten pages, but that’s on standard 8” x 11” paper. Print your essay on 4” x 5.5” paper instead. It sounds crazy, but this will actually double your page count, and your professor will never notice.

4. The “Double Articles” Trick Read the following sentence:

“Among a pantheon of literature exploring 20th-century Indian diaspora, perhaps the the most essential is Bharati’s Mukherjeet’s work beginning in 1971 with…”

Now look closer—you probably didn’t even notice that the word “the” appears back-to-back. The human brain is conditioned to “correct” this mistake without even realizing it. Double up your “the’s” and watch that paper grow before your very eyes!

5. The “Five Diasporas” Trick Read the following sentence:

“Among a pantheon of literature exploring 20th-century Indian diaspora diaspora diaspora diaspora diaspora, perhaps the most essential is Bharati’s Mukherjeet’s work beginning in 1971.”

You probably didn’t even notice that the word “diaspora” is written back-to-back five times. This is the classic “five diasporas” trick.

6. Eulogize Everybody A great little trick to expand that page count is to briefly eulogize any deceased figure mentioned in the essay. It works especially well if you only mention people who have passed away. Example:

“Pioneers in the field of astrophysics include Carl Sagan (rest in peace), Stephen Hawking (gone but not forgotten), Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (still hard to believe he’s gone), Jerry E. Nelson (we love you brother), and Annie Jump Cannon (damn…)”

7. The “Guess What?” Trick A subtle way to eke out a few extra pages is to preface all your facts, arguments, and observations with the phrase “Guess what?” Example:

“The capitalist ideal is a system in which every person’s potential to prosper is relative to their work ethic. Guess what? I will now refute this by examining Marx’s notion of pauperism. Guess what? Karl Marx was born in Germany in 1818…”

Your professor will not notice this.

8. The “Mama Mia!” Maneuver Similar to the “Guess What?” trick, you can pad an essay by punctuating all your facts, arguments, and observations with the phrase “Mama mia!” Not only will this make your paper longer, but it will also help to really drive things home. Example:

“Studies show that a rise in global temperatures has melted roughly 80% of the Earth’s icebergs since 1910. Mama mia! Climate scientists predict that Arctic ice may be completely melted by 2050. MAMA MIA !!!”

9. Include an Intermission Still falling short of that page count? Including an intermission is a time-tested classic. In the middle of your essay, instruct your professor to take a brief intermission. Include 20-30 blank pages at this point, giving your professor time to stretch their legs, use the bathroom, smoke a cigarette, etc. You’ll be amazed at how much 20-30 pages of blank space can stretch your page count. Sometimes it can be up to 30 pages.

10. Spell Out Numbers An easy way to get some extra length is to spell out numbers. The more numbers you can squeeze in, the better. Compare the following paragraphs:

“James K. Polk was born in 1795 and would go on to become the 11th President of the United States in 1844.”

“James K. Polk was born in seventeen ninety-five and would go on to become the eleventh president of the United States (of which there are fifty) in eighteen forty-four at the age of forty-nine, succeeding the tenth president John Tyler (born seventeen-ninety) and preceding the twelfth president, Zachary Tyler (the first), who was elected in eighteen forty-nine, forty-seven years after the War of Eighteen-Twelve.”

11. Translate It into Spanish At the end of your short essay, explain that you will now translate it into Spanish so that Spanish-speaking readers may enjoy it as well. Re-writing your entire essay into a different language and including the foreign translation in the master document is a quick way to watch that page count double. You can translate it into other languages, too—just keep going until you hit the page minimum.

12. The Psych-Out Get some extra mileage out of your essay by dedicating several pages to arguing the exact opposite of your thesis, then say: “NOT! The exact opposite is true” and invert everything you’ve just written. Example:

“…In conclusion, the Industrial Revolution had no impact on the civilized world whatsoever. NOT ! The exact opposite is true. Let us now explore the impact the Industrial Revolution had on the civilized world.”

13. The “Opposite Day” Switcheroo Argue the opposite of your thesis for several pages, then say, “…On OPPOSITE DAY .” This is basically the same as the “Psych-Out,” but I needed to stretch this list out a little.

14. Number Your Pages with Roman Numerals You may be able to “sneak one by” your professor by numbering your pages in Roman numerals. If they’re unfamiliar with the Roman numeral system, they won’t even be able to tell how many pages your paper is. Note that this will not work if they are a professor of Latin, or know how to count.

15. Change Your Thesis in the Middle of the Essay Has your thesis run out of steam by page five? You can go ahead and change to a different thesis at any point. Example:

“At this juncture, I am actually realizing I have a better thesis than the one I’ve laid out in the previous five pages. Let us now pivot to this new thesis and explore it in depth.”

It’s okay to do this a bunch of times. I have written thesis papers with over twenty different theses in them.

16. Accuse Your Professor of Losing a Bunch of the Pages If all else fails, you can turn in your way-too-short essay as is, then when your professor reprimands you for failing to meet the page minimum, insist that the professor must have lost a bunch of the pages. Furthermore, you can tell your professor, “Aw man, those pages you lost had all the best parts, too.” This works 100% of the time.

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What's a paraphrasing tool?

This AI-powered paraphraser lets you rewrite text in your own words. Use it to  paraphrase articles, essays, and other pieces of text. You can also use it to rephrase sentences and find synonyms for individual words. And the best part? It’s all 100% free!

What's paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing involves expressing someone else’s ideas or thoughts in your own words while maintaining the original meaning. Paraphrasing tools can help you quickly reword text by replacing certain words with synonyms or restructuring sentences. They can also make your text more concise, clear, and suitable for a specific audience. Paraphrasing is an essential skill in academic writing and professional communication. 

Why use this paraphrasing tool?

• Save time: Gone are the days when you had to reword sentences yourself; now you can rewrite a text or a complete text with one click.
•  Improve your writing: Your writing will always be clear and easy to understand. Automatically ensure consistent language throughout. 
• Preserve original meaning: Paraphrase without fear of losing the point of your text.
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• Accurate: Reliable and grammatically correct paraphrasing.
• No sign-up required: We don’t need your data for you to use our paraphrasing tool.
• Super simple to use: A simple interface even your grandma could use.
• It’s 100% free: No hidden costs, just unlimited use of a free paraphrasing tool.

Features of the paraphrasing tool

Rephrase individual sentences

With the Scribbr Paraphrasing Tool, you can easily reformulate individual sentences.

• Write varied headlines
• Rephrase the subject line of an email
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Paraphrase a whole text

Our paraphraser can also help with longer passages (up to 125 words per input). Upload your document or copy your text into the input field.

With one click, you can reformulate the entire text.

Find synonyms with ease

Simply click on any word to open the interactive thesaurus.

• Choose from a list of suggested synonyms
• Find the synonym with the most appropriate meaning
• Replace the word with a single click

Paraphrase in two ways

• Standard: Offers a compromise between modifying and preserving the meaning of the original text
• Fluency: Improves language and corrects grammatical mistakes.

Upload different types of documents

Upload any Microsoft Word document, Google Doc, or PDF into the paraphrasing tool.

Download or copy your results

After you’re done, you can easily download or copy your text to use somewhere else.

Powered by AI

The paraphrasing tool uses natural language processing to rewrite any text you give it. This way, you can paraphrase any text within seconds.

Avoid accidental plagiarism

Want to make sure your document is plagiarism-free? In addition to our paraphrasing tool, which will help you rephrase sentences, quotations, or paragraphs correctly, you can also use our anti-plagiarism software to make sure your document is unique and not plagiarized.

Scribbr’s anti-plagiarism software enables you to:

• Detect plagiarism more accurately than other tools
• Ensure that your paraphrased text is valid
• Highlight the sources that are most similar to your text

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How does this paraphrasing tool work?

1. put your text into the paraphraser, 2. select your method of paraphrasing, 3. select the quantity of synonyms you want, 4. edit your text where needed, who can use this paraphrasing tool.

Paraphrasing tools can help students to understand texts and improve the quality of their writing. 

Create original lesson plans, presentations, or other educational materials.

Researchers

Explain complex concepts or ideas to a wider audience. 

Journalists

Quickly and easily rephrase text to avoid repetitive language.

Copywriters

By using a paraphrasing tool, you can quickly and easily rework existing content to create something new and unique.

Bloggers can rewrite existing content to make it their own.

Writers who need to rewrite content, such as adapting an article for a different context or writing content for a different audience.

A paraphrasing tool lets you quickly rewrite your original content for each medium, ensuring you reach the right audience on each platform.

The all-purpose paraphrasing tool

The Scribbr Paraphrasing Tool is the perfect assistant in a variety of contexts.

Brainstorming

Writer’s block? Use our paraphraser to get some inspiration.

Professional communication

Produce creative headings for your blog posts or PowerPoint slides.

Academic writing

Paraphrase sources smoothly in your thesis or research paper.

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Craft memorable captions and content for your social media posts.

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The Scribbr Paraphrasing Tool lets you rewrite as many sentences as you want—for free.

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Frequently asked questions

The act of putting someone else’s ideas or words into your own words is called paraphrasing, rephrasing, or rewording. Even though they are often used interchangeably, the terms can mean slightly different things:

Paraphrasing is restating someone else’s ideas or words in your own words while retaining their meaning. Paraphrasing changes sentence structure, word choice, and sentence length to convey the same meaning.

Rephrasing may involve more substantial changes to the original text, including changing the order of sentences or the overall structure of the text.

Rewording is changing individual words in a text without changing its meaning or structure, often using synonyms.

It can. One of the two methods of paraphrasing is called “Fluency.” This will improve the language and fix grammatical errors in the text you’re paraphrasing.

Paraphrasing and using a paraphrasing tool aren’t cheating. It’s a great tool for saving time and coming up with new ways to express yourself in writing.  However, always be sure to credit your sources. Avoid plagiarism.  

If you don’t properly cite text paraphrased from another source, you’re plagiarizing. If you use someone else’s text and paraphrase it, you need to credit the original source. You can do that by using citations. There are different styles, like APA, MLA, Harvard, and Chicago. Find more information about citing sources here.

Paraphrasing without crediting the original author is a form of plagiarism , because you’re presenting someone else’s ideas as if they were your own.

However, paraphrasing is not plagiarism if you correctly cite the source . This means including an in-text citation and a full reference, formatted according to your required citation style .

As well as citing, make sure that any paraphrased text is completely rewritten in your own words.

Plagiarism means using someone else’s words or ideas and passing them off as your own. Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas in your own words.

So when does paraphrasing count as plagiarism?

• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if you don’t properly credit the original author.
• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if your text is too close to the original wording (even if you cite the source). If you directly copy a sentence or phrase, you should quote it instead.
• Paraphrasing  is not plagiarism if you put the author’s ideas completely in your own words and properly cite the source .

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How to Make an Essay Appear Longer Than It Is

Last Updated: February 2, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Jake Adams . Jake Adams is an academic tutor and the owner of Simplifi EDU, a Santa Monica, California based online tutoring business offering learning resources and online tutors for academic subjects K-College, SAT & ACT prep, and college admissions applications. With over 14 years of professional tutoring experience, Jake is dedicated to providing his clients the very best online tutoring experience and access to a network of excellent undergraduate and graduate-level tutors from top colleges all over the nation. Jake holds a BS in International Business and Marketing from Pepperdine University. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,774,511 times.

You are writing a paper and the deadline is approaching, but you are nowhere near the page limit. Many students find themselves in this position. Luckily for you, you can lengthen your paper by using a few tricks. Increasing the font size, adding a lengthy header, and manipulating the spacing between lines are just a few strategies you can use to make your essay appear longer. However, be aware that breaking your teacher’s guidelines may result in a lower grade.

Playing with the Font

• Don’t pick a very large font like Arial Black or Lucida Handwriting. Your teacher will notice that you are trying to make your essay longer by choosing a larger font.

Manipulating Spacing and Margins

• If the increase is too noticeable, then try 1.15 or 1.1 instead.
• Because all documents are left justified, avoid increasing the left margin. Adjusting the left margin will produce a noticeable change that your teacher will detect.

Adjusting the Header and Footer

Expanding the Content

• Additionally, if you are quoting or paraphrasing research or literature, make sure to cite it properly. Citations can add extra length to a paper as well.

• Expand your introductory paragraph with an attention-getting statement to hook the reader in.

• However, try to avoid being descriptive when it is unnecessary since this may cause your paper to appear embellished or sound verbose.

Community Q&A

• Copy and paste your paper into a new document. Make these changes to the new document. Then compare and contrast the document with the changes to the original document. Remove any adjustments that seem obvious. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Use a thesaurus to find longer synonyms to use in place of shorter ones. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Spell out abbreviations; for example, write out “United States" instead of using "US." Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• Be aware that breaking your teacher’s guidelines may be considered cheating, which may result in a lower grade or even a zero. Thanks Helpful 11 Not Helpful 1
• Don't be redundant. Thanks Helpful 5 Not Helpful 1

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.paperhelp.org/blog/how-to-make-a-paper-longer.html
• ↑ https://www.jakebinstein.com/blog/how-to-make-an-essay-look-longer/
• ↑ https://studentshare.org/study-guides/how-to-make-your-essay-look-longer
• ↑ http://www.seventeen.com/life/school/advice/a27491/tricks-you-try-to-make-your-school-paper-longer/
• ↑ https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-make-paper-longer-793288

About This Article

To make an essay appear longer than it is, pick a font that's slightly larger than Times New Roman, like Arial, Courier New, or Cambria. If you're required to use 12-point font, try increase the font to 12.1 or 12.2 to gain some extra length without the font looking noticeably larger. Then, press on Control and the F key at the same time to activate the find and replace function, and replace all of the commas and periods with 14-point font. If the essay still isn't long enough, increase the line spacing by 0.1 or 0.2 and make the right margin 0.1-0.2 inches larger. For tips on adjusting the header and footer or adding more content to your essay, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Spotify Premium Users Can Now Turn Any Idea Into a Personalized Playlist With AI Playlist in Beta

April 7, 2024

We know that discovery happens on Spotify , with nearly two billion discoveries happening on our platform every day. Features like our AI DJ and daylist power those discoveries and bring fans closer to the artists they love. Now we’re providing our Spotify Premium subscribers with another tool to fuel discovery and music curation. With AI Playlist in beta, you can effortlessly turn your most creative ideas into playlists.

Starting with users on Android and iOS devices in the United Kingdom and Australia, creating a new playlist with AI Playlist is as simple as typing a unique prompt into the chat. Looking for “an indie folk playlist to give my brain a big warm hug,” “relaxing music to tide me over during allergy season,” or “a playlist that makes me feel like the main character”? AI Playlist has you covered. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert playlist creator, AI Playlist pairs our powerful personalization technology with AI to deliver that perfect musical mix, just for you.

You can use prompts that reference places, animals, activities, movie characters, colors, even emojis. The most successful playlists are generated with prompts that contain a combination of genres, moods, artists, or decades. It’s a brand-new tool, and still in beta, so we’ll continue to iterate and innovate on the experience. Stay tuned for what’s to come!

Get started with AI Playlist:

To find AI Playlist, head to the Spotify mobile app and select “Your Library” at the bottom-right corner of your screen.

• From Your Library, tap the “+” button at the top-right corner of the app and select “AI Playlist.”
• Select one of the suggested prompts or type your own. Get creative and be specific! For example, you could try creating “sad music for painting dying flowers” or “tracks for horse riding into the sunset.”
• Wait as we do our magic. Spotify will offer some tracks that match the vibe you’re going for. 
• From there, you can easily manage the selection of songs by previewing and deleting tracks. Have notes? You can revise and refine the playlists you generate by telling AI Playlist what you’re looking for (i.e., “more pop” or “less upbeat”).
• Tap “Create,” and your new playlist will be saved automatically in Your Library.

Just like that, Spotify will help you curate a personalized playlist based on the tracks, artists, and genres we think you’ll like. While it’s designed to be fun, the tool is still in beta and won’t produce results for non-music-related prompts, like current events or specific brands. We also have measures in place around prompts that are offensive—so please prompt responsibly!

At Spotify, we aim to deliver the right piece of music for that exact moment in time. With AI Playlist in beta, we’re excited to give Premium subscribers in the U.K. and Australia a new way to discover music. Over the coming months, we look forward to continuing to iterate on this new feature to best serve our listeners.

How Spotify Uses Design To Make Personalization Features Delightful

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What Solar Eclipse-Gazing Has Looked Like for the Past 2 Centuries

Millions of people on Monday will continue the tradition of experiencing and capturing solar eclipses, a pursuit that has spawned a lot of unusual gear.

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By Sarah Eckinger

• April 8, 2024

For centuries, people have been clamoring to glimpse solar eclipses. From astronomers with custom-built photographic equipment to groups huddled together with special glasses, this spectacle has captivated the human imagination.

Creating a Permanent Record

In 1860, Warren de la Rue captured what many sources describe as the first photograph of a total solar eclipse . He took it in Rivabellosa, Spain, with an instrument known as the Kew Photoheliograph . This combination of a telescope and camera was specifically built to photograph the sun.

Forty years later, Nevil Maskelyne, a magician and an astronomy enthusiast, filmed a total solar eclipse in North Carolina. The footage was lost, however, and only released in 2019 after it was rediscovered in the Royal Astronomical Society’s archives.

Telescopic Vision

For scientists and astronomers, eclipses provide an opportunity not only to view the moon’s umbra and gaze at the sun’s corona, but also to make observations that further their studies. Many observatories, or friendly neighbors with a telescope, also make their instruments available to the public during eclipses.

Fredrik Hjalmar Johansen, Fridtjof Nansen and Sigurd Scott Hansen observing a solar eclipse while on a polar expedition in 1894 .

Women from Wellesley College in Massachusetts and their professor tested out equipment ahead of their eclipse trip (to “catch old Sol in the act,” as the original New York Times article phrased it) to New London, Conn., in 1922.

A group from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania traveled to Yerbaniz, Mexico, in 1923, with telescopes and a 65-foot camera to observe the sun’s corona .

Dr. J.J. Nassau, director of the Warner and Swasey Observatory at Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, prepared to head to Douglas Hill, Maine, to study an eclipse in 1932. An entire freight car was required to transport the institution’s equipment.

Visitors viewed a solar eclipse at an observatory in Berlin in the mid-1930s.

A family set up two telescopes in Bar Harbor, Maine, in 1963. The two children placed stones on the base to help steady them.

An astronomer examined equipment for an eclipse in a desert in Mauritania in June 1973. We credit the hot climate for his choice in outfit.

Indirect Light

If you see people on Monday sprinting to your local park clutching pieces of paper, or with a cardboard box of their head, they are probably planning to reflect or project images of the solar eclipse onto a surface.

Cynthia Goulakos demonstrated a safe way to view a solar eclipse , with two pieces of cardboard to create a reflection of the shadowed sun, in Lowell, Mass., in 1970.

Another popular option is to create a pinhole camera. This woman did so in Central Park in 1963 by using a paper cup with a small hole in the bottom and a twin-lens reflex camera.

Amateur astronomers viewed a partial eclipse, projected from a telescope onto a screen, from atop the Empire State Building in 1967 .

Back in Central Park, in 1970, Irving Schwartz and his wife reflected an eclipse onto a piece of paper by holding binoculars on the edge of a garbage basket.

Children in Denver in 1979 used cardboard viewing boxes and pieces of paper with small pinholes to view projections of a partial eclipse.

A crowd gathered around a basin of water dyed with dark ink, waiting for the reflection of a solar eclipse to appear, in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 1995.

Staring at the Sun (or, How Not to Burn Your Retinas)

Eclipse-gazers have used different methods to protect their eyes throughout the years, some safer than others .

In 1927, women gathered at a window in a building in London to watch a total eclipse through smoked glass. This was popularized in France in the 1700s , but fell out of favor when physicians began writing papers on children whose vision was damaged.

Another trend was to use a strip of exposed photographic film, as seen below in Sydney, Australia, in 1948 and in Turkana, Kenya, in 1963. This method, which was even suggested by The Times in 1979 , has since been declared unsafe.

Solar eclipse glasses are a popular and safe way to view the event ( if you use models compliant with international safety standards ). Over the years there have been various styles, including these large hand-held options found in West Palm Beach, Fla., in 1979.

Parents and children watched a partial eclipse through their eclipse glasses in Tokyo in 1981.

Slimmer, more colorful options were used in Nabusimake, Colombia, in 1998.

In France in 1999.

And in Iran and England in 1999.

And the best way to see the eclipse? With family and friends at a watch party, like this one in Isalo National Park in Madagascar in 2001.