Making an essay longer can be difficult and frustrating, especially if you have a desired word count that you’re nowhere near! For most people, even after doing more research, the word count remains unattainable. With the deadline staring back at you mockingly, you need a shortcut to making the essay longer!
Making an essay longer goes way beyond doing more research (although it is a part of it). It would help if you learned certain tips, hacks, tricks, words, and phrases. You don’t have to worry because you will discover them all here. If you want to learn how to make your essay longer, then read on!
Tips and Hacks to Make Your Essay Longer
The following tips and hacks are ways to make your essay longer.
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Double-check your prompt or rubric
Before starting your essay, your instructor gave you some guidelines; word count, keywords, sub-headings, questions to answer, etc. These guidelines are called essay prompts or rubrics.
This is a crucial stage as it forms the basis for knowing whether you need to make your essay longer or not. First, double-check your prompt to see if you followed all the instructions given. Depending on the purpose of the essay, a “final double-check” can make your essay grade higher in tests/exams, win the essay competition, and so on.
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Be sure to include all the necessary details
I once asked my teacher how to make my essay longer, and my teacher replied to me with a question, “Are you sure you have added all the details?”. Immediately, my mind flashed back to my teacher’s outline, and I remembered something I was yet to do!
Even after you’ve been given a prompt, you need an outline to write a good essay. While writing, it’s possible you omitted some important pieces of information. You should check your outline to add the omitted words.
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Utilize the Introduction section
If your introduction, especially the first sentence, does not lead your reader to the next sentence, you have failed with words. Your introduction should captivate your readers’ desires. Most times, the introduction you write at the beginning of your essay is not the actual introduction; it’s just a head start.
Most long essays you see have been rewritten and edited countless times. Therefore, you can expand and elaborate your introduction to make your readers understand better. For example, try starting your essay with a story, quote, statistics, or a case study.
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Give a friend to proofread your essay
Tell your friend to read and tell you if your essay is clear enough. A single input from “fresh eyes” can dramatically change the direction of your writing. You may find yourself wishing you could go above the stated word count!
Friends can serve as fresh eyes and help you proofread and expound more on confusing areas of the essay.
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Use Quotes
You can leverage quotes to make essay longer. Just make sure you give reference to the author to avoid plagiarism. Quotes are useful when you need them. Although you can strengthen and lengthen your essay with quotes, you can also remove the credibility if you use irrelevant quotes. Therefore, always make sure to use quotes relevant to the ideas in your essay.
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Add transition words
Transition words join sentences together. These words help you to construct complex and complex/compound sentences. And also, make your sentences and paragraphs connect.
Your instructors are not only looking for simple sentences; they are also checking your creativity in making sentences. Examples are: therefore, furthermore, as a result, etc. With words like these, you can make essay longer.
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Change pronouns to nouns
For example, instead of simply stating that “They went to the church.” You can express it better by stating that “Charles, Disney, Smith, Louis, and Justin went to the church.”
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Choose phrases over words
Instead of using ambiguous words, you can use phrases that explain the words better. Look for weak words and search for their alternatives; a thesaurus can help you with this.
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Remove contractions
Students use contractions to write words faster. But the goal here is to make the words longer, so you should remove contractions. For instance, “I won’t go to school” should be changed to “I will not go to school.” This is because it has increased your word count by one. If you do this for other sentences, your word count will increase considerably.
Secret Tips and Hacks for a Longer Essay
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Rest your brain
You may have stressed yourself and are tired physically and mentally. Take a siesta, eat small chops, call a friend, or drink tea. When you come back to your essay, you will think better and add more words to your essay.
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Get assistance from your instructors
You can take your draft to your instructor and ask for their opinion on it. Their opinion will help increase your word count.
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Gather many pieces of evidence and references
This is crucial for a persuasive essay. However, it is needed in other essays too. So don’t stop at one; gather evidence as much as possible and spin them in your essay.
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Narrate as best as you can
Do you know you can make essay longer with descriptive words? For example, you can change “Everyone was surprised when they saw the beggar in new clothes” to “Everyone was astonished beyond description when they saw the beggar in a golden regalia clothed with a bright countenance.” The difference is evident. To do this better, use the five senses and fantastical elements.
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Read aloud
There are many benefits attached to reading aloud. As regards this, it makes you notice awkward sentences that need more details. And also, see grammatical and lexical errors.
By reading aloud, you can gain better insight and notice areas where you can fill in more details. In addition, doing this will increase the word count of your essay. -
Harness your conclusion
As you have checked your introduction, you should also examine your conclusion. Check for words that need more details and add them.
How to Make an Essay Look Longer
Here’s how to make your essay look longer. These hacks and tricks won’t increase your word count; they will only make your essay appear longer. However, they will increase the characters and can make 1,000 words essay look like 1,500 words.
- Change numbers to alphabets. For example, 8 becomes eight. But the rule does not apply to all. If the number is bigger than ten, it is best to write it in numbers.
- Increase the words of your title (don’t overdo this).
- Increase the spacing between your words: This way, your essay would seem longer.
- Increase the spacing between each character: Example is this: G O A T. Though not advisable, you can try it.
- The font of the title should be increased
- You can make an essay look longer by increasing the font size of each subtitle and word.
- You can also make the essay appear longer by changing your font style (however, teachers clearly state the desired font type and size).
- Enlarge your page margins
- Add a cover page
- Put a header (title) on all pages.
Phrases to Make Your Essay Longer
These phrases, when used, make essay longer. These phrases consist of Linking words, correlative and subordinate conjunction.
- In other words: This is used when you want to express another opinion of the same topic. To make your reader understand better. An example is: He is multilingual. In other words, he can speak and comprehend several languages.
- Moreover: It is used at the beginning of a sentence to give additional information. Example: He is a presidential candidate, so that he won’t be attacked. Moreover, he is a level 4 judo fighter; you have nothing to worry about.
- Furthermore: To give additional information and link words. For instance, Furthermore, we saw evidence that could implicate his act of…
- As well as: You can use this to replace “Also” and “And.” Donald Trump, as well as Joe Biden, believes in a general amnesty.
- What’s more: This can be used in place of moreover. Example: What’s more, he is good at reading
- Not only, but also: Example: Not only did he win the primary election, but he also won the national election.
- Not to mention: It adds extra information with emphasis. For example, the man has lots of cars, not to mention his large estates.
- However: Used to make a point that disagrees with the previous point. Example: Smith loves oranges. Samuel, however, dislikes oranges.
- Having said that: Can be used to replace but or on the other hand. Example: Dennis told them the history of verb phrases. Having said that, he went on to explain the benefits of verb phrases
- Despite this or in spite of this: This is something that stands out despite an unfavorable situation. Example: He failed Biology 2 times in a row. Despite this, he went on to write the third one, which he eventually passed.
- Provided that: Example: You can use the money, provided that you will return it next week.
- For instance: This phrase has appeared several times. It’s mainly used to show an example. It can also be used within sentences. Check this out: There are a lot of courses you can study in college depending on your interests. Accounting, for instance, should be studied by aspiring accountants.
- Above all: This is used to refer to the most important thing. Example: Above all, he won everything because of…
- In conclusion: This is used to conclude your essay. Example: In conclusion, he finished the tournament with five gold medals.
Conclusion
With these tips and hacks, you can make your essay longer. However, never make your essay long at the expense of its message and flow. Instead, aim to make it not only lengthier but better.
In conclusion, while it can be tempting to resort to various tactics to make an essay longer, it is important to remember that quality should always take precedence over quantity. Instead of focusing solely on lengthening your essay, consider enhancing the content, structure, and arguments within your piece. If you find yourself struggling with meeting the required word count or crafting a compelling marketing essay, don’t hesitate to seek professional marketing essay help. Expert assistance can provide valuable insights, guidance, and resources to help you produce a well-written and comprehensive essay that meets both the length requirements and the academic standards. Remember, it’s not just about making an essay longer; it’s about making it better.