hi! i was just wondering what your tips are for writing large essays/research papers? particularly tips on how to articulate your words into very clear points and still make the word count. so if you have any advice/resources i would LOVE to hear them (:
Hi there lovely ♥ I’ll be honest, writing essays is one of my favourite things about university, but I do know that they’re an arduous task! I’ve already collected my Top 5 Thesis Tips here and my Essay Resources here, so here are some of my favourite tips to go about writing large essays:
Requirements. My first tip would be to gather all the requirements for your essay in one place. Any information about what sources you have to include; the required word count; the required citation system; any example essays your teacher might have uploaded, etc. Consolidate and copy these facts onto a sheet of paper.
Decide on a thesis/research question. I wouldn’t advise jumping into an essay blindly, without any idea of where you’re going. You first need to have some sort of idea what you’re going to write about. I’ve always found this guide by @healthyeyes on how to narrow down a research question to be incredibly clear and easy to follow.
Draw up an outline. At its very core, every essay consists of three basic elements: (1) an introduction; (2) a body; and (3) a conclusion. True to its name, your introduction is for introducing your subject and your research question. Your body is where you will present your arguments that will validate your thesis question. Finally, the conclusion is for reiterating your main arguments and commenting on the relevance of your essay within your field of study. I prefer drawing up an outline on a separate sheet of paper and throwing down any idea that comes to mind.
Plan your essay. Larger essays can be terrifying because you’re usually very focused on their length. My favourite way to tackle this is to take my research question, my sources, and my outline and split them into neat little divisions. An 8,000-word-essay, for example, can be split as follows: 1,000 words for the introduction; 6,000 words for the body; 1,000 words for the conclusion. It’s important to note that this split is arbitrary; you may end up having a 5,000 word body, for example, but it’s a good starting point. Now that you’ve split your larger essay into more manageable parts, it’s time to get to the planning stage. List two or three important points you want to bring up in your introduction. List the main arguments you will use to prove the validity of your thesis question in the body of your essay. Finally, name two or three points you will want to bring up in your conclusion.
Write, write, write. With all that planning out of the way, it’s time to write. The way you go about this is personal; some prefer to carefully word each paragraph, some just blurt everything out on paper and polish every paragraph to perfection later. I definitely fall in the latter camp; I find it easier to get everything out of my head and then remove the unnecessary gibberish later. A good way to neaten your paragraphs is the PCCL concept: Present your evidence, Confirm its relation to the thesis and confirm the validity of your thesis, Conclude by briefly summarising your evidence, and then Lead into the next paragraph.
If you’re short on words, here are two tips: (1) look back at your essay plans and see if there is an argument you haven’t made yet or, alternatively, see if there is a side argument you didn’t think would fit in the essay, but you have room for now; (2) use connectives. Seriously, starting your paragraphs with words like “firstly”, “secondly”, “thirdly” not only gives structure to your essay, it also increases your word count, so it’s a win-win situation.
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