Students are always dreading long writing assignments. They view it as an unnecessary evil that aims to make their lives harder. Well, we disagree. Long essays, such as 3000 words and more, have a lot of lessons to teach you as long as you are willing to learn. However, first, you need to make your mind on how to write a 3000-word essay. You need to learn how to start with it, how to plan and execute it. These are not easy lessons to master on your own or your first try. Fortunately, we are here to help. Here is a brief guide on how to write long essays.
How to Write Long Essays?
There is no one unique way you can approach long writing assignments. Overall, it all always comes to practice, experience, and dedication. Still, it’s best to know the order of things and have a plan that you should follow. For example, here are the stages you will have to compete to do your assignment:
- Carefully read the instructions;
- choose a topic;
- research;
- choose the scope of your work;
- make a few drafts;
- show your ideas to your instructor (optional);
- outline;
- schedule how long each section will take you to write;
- start writing;
- proofread and edit;
- check formatting and layout;
- submit the paper.
As you can see, there are a lot of steps to consider when working on your essay. Overall, you need to be very focused and work hard to meet your deadline on time. To do so, you need to get all your preparations done and be smart about your structure and outline.
Preparations
First and foremost, you must choose a topic that will give you enough to talk about. For example, if you pick a too narrow topic, you will end up running out of ideas or references pretty fast in the process. On the other hand, if you pick a topic that’s too broad, you’ll have issues with choosing a thesis statement. It will have too many things in it, and you will struggle to center your attention on anything particular.
Next, you need to do your research and find enough evidence, references, and citations that you can use in your paper. A large word count expects you to have at least one reference or citation in each paragraph. Considering that you will have at least around 10-20 paragraphs, you should have a lot of references at your disposal. Choose them wisely, though. Your references should support your main ideas and bring more clarity to the main topic of the discussion. Overall, you should not spam your text but add references only when they complement or elaborate on the topic.
At last, make time to write. As a student, you must have lots of other homework to do. So, you better try finding a few hours per day to work on your assignment.
Structure
When it comes to long papers, you must plan everything in advance. For instance, you should ask yourself, “How many pages is a 3000 word essay?” For the record, it’s about 10-11 pages if you write in double space, which you most likely do. Next, you should choose how many pages each section should take. Usually, your introduction doesn’t take more than a page. You can dedicate the same amount to your conclusions. Hence, you are left with 8-9 pages to work with. That’s already something!
Now you should see how many pages each argument should take. Some of them may need a bit more space where you explain and analyze them. Hence, your paragraphs won't be equal in size. That’s okay, but you should consider how much space each of them needs. For instance, if you want to provide background to the issue you discuss, you can. However, it takes up too much space. About a page should be more than enough as it is not the core element of your text.
Schedule
So, how long does it take to write a 3000 word essay? The answer depends on your level of writing skills and experience. Writing is definitely a skill that people take months and years to practice. Even then, they often reach only an average level after such a short period. So when you know you are up for a challenge, you better schedule your time ahead. Now, scheduling plays a huge role in the writing process, especially when it comes to long papers. These are not the types of assignments that you can finish in a day. Hence, you need to make some preparations.
First, you must be good with time management and not procrastinate. As long as you stick to the plan and follow the right steps, you should be fine. Secondly, you must learn how to prioritize. Prioritizing will definitely help you in the long run. For example, you need to look at all the stages you have to follow to complete your work and see what will make the most of your time and what stages are the hardest or most important for you. Usually, choosing a topic and doing research on it takes a lot of time. These are all the first stages in your work. Hence, you need to prioritize them over the rest.
Next, you need to set proper time management goals. Once you know your priorities and tasks at hand, you need to set clear deadlines for each of those stages. You also must follow these deadlines religiously if you don’t want to mess up your entire plan. See when you should start with your work. Choose the number of days you want to dedicate to choosing a topic. Think how long it takes for you to write a page. Make the calculations how long to write 3000 words will take you, and create a clear schedule where each stage has the right timing and place on a calendar.
At last, make sure that you have enough time before the deadline to proofread and edit your work. You can send it out to some friends to see their opinion. Also, some instructors can give you a piece of advice if you show your paper to them before the deadline. So you can use that window to improve your work.
Final Tips
In case you did everything right, but you still lack a few pages, there is a way to fix it. It’s okay if you have miscalculated and finished up your essay short on a page or two. There is always a way to extend your word count without hurting the work. See these three tips.
Quotations
A large number of pages can also mean you shouldn’t be too shy on quotations. Feel free to use them generously. Of course, don’t strive to fill in most space on your pages with quotations. Instead, you should look for the references and citations that will enrich your text, provide valuable insight and fit into your arguments perfectly. Overall, some instructors may even give you the ratio of quotations to the text that you may use in your work. Your goal is to avoid looking lazy with your paper but insert the chosen quotations efficiently and smartly. As long as you maintain the concept of quality over quantity, you will be fine.
Transitions
Whenever you write a short paper with a strictly limited word count, you strive to cut everything to the essence. However, in this case, you can be a bit more generous with your wording. Transitioning words and phrases, at last, can be your best friends in this assignment. Don’t be afraid to use transitional sentences at the beginning of your first lines. Just try to avoid being too wordy.
Also, you may try to include longer transitions between paragraphs and sections. You should always have a smooth transition between paragraphs. They are necessary to connect two different main ideas within a single narrative. However, in longer papers, you can expand those transitions to ensure a better connection between each of your main points. Just make sure that all of them make sense and are a good logical fit for your text.
Add Arguments
Last but not least, if you are short on a few pages, you can always throw in one more argument to the text. For example, if your initial outline foresees three main points to answer your thesis statement, see if you can add the fourth one to the plate. Will this argument help? Does it look natural in the discussion? Can it elaborate on what you have already described? If the answer to these questions is yes, feel free to expand your outline for one more additional section.
To Conclude
Writing a long essay can be quite a challenge to many. However, it doesn't have to be that way. Often, students just lack the understanding of how to organize and get ready for such extensive work. Once you have a plan for your future work, you should do the writing rather easily. Just keep your focus on the work. Don’t procrastinate, and stick to your schedule. Good luck!