“The reason why is that,” “owing to the fact that,” “therefore, it can be concluded that” —every college student knows that these are go-to phrases when your paper doesn’t meet the minimum word count. At 11:55 on due dates, desperately, I too would add these phrases to my essays. Every time, I cringed and thought of my high school English teacher. I could almost hear her say, “Strunk and White rule 17: omit needless words!” She was referring to The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, which is a book of writing style rules she required us to read. Rule 17 condemned using unnecessary words in sentences and instead advised writers to be concise with their language.
As much as I hate agreeing with a book first published in 1918, Strunk and White had a point. Go-to-filler words like the ones above may increase your word count, but they draw attention away from your argument and disrupt your essay’s flow. It’s bad writing.
But how do you meet your word count goal and replace “the reason why is that” with “because?” Well, look no further, these are a few tips and tricks I use in my essays to solve that problem.
Find a new example
One of the best ways to beef up your word count (and improve your essay) is to add more information. Find an argument point in your essay that could be strengthened by an example. For instance, if you’re writing an essay on how Covid-19 disproportionately affected communities of color, you can add interviews and first-person accounts of people in these communities. Even if you already have examples in your paper, it never hurts to add more. Just make sure the examples you choose contribute information to your argument and do not simply rephrase what was already said. Additionally, adding a quote from an expert or interview will increase your word count.
Split a point into two paragraphs
Generally, the body of an essay should be a series of points that support and prove your thesis. Every new piece of information should further convince the reader of what you are arguing about. Breaking one of your points into two or more separate paragraphs can help increase your word count. It’s another win-win because it also helps the organization of your essay and makes it more digestible for the reader. Every time you start a new paragraph in an essay, you should begin with a topic sentence that conveys the main idea of the paragraph. If you do it right, more paragraphs mean more topic sentences which mean more words.
Focus on your conclusion
If you’re anything like me, you never have any ideas for what to write for conclusions. Most of the time, you restate your thesis and a couple of your main points and call it a day. But believe it or not, your conclusion is a great tool for increasing your word count. Conclusions exist to sum up your paper, but they also exist to reinforce why your topic matters. Why should the reader care that they just read an eight-page essay about the history of guerilla warfare or urban planning in the 1950s? The conclusion is there to call them to action and make them care. Taking full advantage of it is a great way to get more words.
What you shouldn’t do
Here is a couple of things to avoid when trying to increase your word count: over-explaining and needless words. Unnecessary details and points that are over-explained will quickly become redundant for your reader. It’s better to just stick to the point. The more clearly and concisely you can write, the more impactful it will be on your reader. Needless words also make your writing more difficult to follow; they waste time that the reader could be focusing on your argument instead. For instance, try removing unnecessary “that”s from your paper.
Okay… but why should I care anyway?
Sometimes you can meet your word count using filler words. Sometimes that works just fine. But another thing is also true: better writing equals better grades. The better you can convey information to your reader (your professor or TA); the more likely you are to check off boxes on the rubric and get the grade you want. It won’t hurt you in the long run either. If you practice these tactics now, they will eventually become habits. You’ll never have to worry about reaching the word count again.