Writing a 1000 Words Essay
Sunday, April 11th, 2010How to say a lot with short 1000 words essays
It sounds like a lot, since we tend to associate the number one thousand with a big amount. But actually, a 1000 words essay is something quite short if you think about it. If you are typing it on Word, with a Times New Roman 12 font, it will only take a couple of pages. In fact, the real challenge is using that amount of words to say something truly significant and with some kind of academic value.
At first, one tends to believe that short essays are easier to prepare than long ones, when in fact the opposite is true. When the student is only allowed to write a certain number of words, they may find themselves restricted and bounded. What can you do in order to write the best possible essay with no more than 1000 words? And why is it fundamental to constrain yourself to that precise extension after all?
Why shall we respect the requested extension?
First of all, because respecting the extension requested by teachers or examiners is part of the task. When you are completing such a work, you always need to follow the requirements of your examiner. So if you have been asked to write a certain number of words, in this case 1000, you should not extend yourself more than that. You shouldn’t write less either, since we have already established that the essay is already quite short.
Besides, an essay is not only a way to get admitted into college. Written works can be eventually published in academic publications, books or even newspapers and magazines. In those cases the paper only gets a certain amount of columns or lines you need to respect. You may also need to read your essay in a congress, and there you will only have a limited amount of time.
Anyway, the point is that great ideas should be explainable in few words.
Do a previous sketch
A proper organization, as in every essay writing, is essential. You should always write a sketch of your essay before actually start working on the final version. In 1000 words essays, this rough draft should be brief and clear: introduction, hypothesis, two or three paragraphs for development and a conclusion. This synthesis should be around a quarter of the extension of the final version, so try not to write more than 250 words while sketching.
Go straight to the point
Long introductions are for extended essays. In 1000 words essays, instead, you must go straight to the main hypothesis. Be clear in what you say and prove you don’t have any gaps to fill. The point is to show the reader you could have written a longer paper, but you can express the main idea in fewer words as well. Also, limit the quotes in your essay. Even when quoting is very important in any written assignment, when writing a 1000 words essay you should keep literal quotes to a minimum.
