The Importance of the Word Limit Many pieces of academic writing specify a word limit and those which don’t always suggest a guideline figure. It is important that you stick to this word count for a number of reasons. The most important is that you are likely to be penalised if you exceed it. Equally, a finished piece of writing which comes in well under the word limit implies that you have not put enough work or research into the essay, or that your title wasn’t broad enough. Ideally, you should aim for the finished essay to be bang on the word count, although this isn’t always easy. Some Universities allow you to exceed or finish below the word limit by 10% before you are penalised, but it is VERY IMPORTANT that you check your University’s stance on this. Some Universities simply stop reading your work once they reach the word limit, making it unlikely that you will receive a high mark. Whether you are working on a short piece of writing or an 80,000 word thesis, it is a good idea to work out how many paragraphs or sections you will need to cover each topic or line of argument. You will then be able to work out roughly how many words there should be in each paragraph or section. Keeping an eye on how much you have written rather than continuing to write without regard to the word limit makes it less likely that you will have to go through the excruciating process of cutting words later! Some editing tips to help reduce your word count -Examine your use of articles such as ‘the’ and ‘an’. It’s surprising how many of us litter our writing with unnecessary extra words. -Cut down lists of adjectives. Don’t use three where one will do. -Be ruthless! Even if you love a turn of phrase you used or a clever bit of writing, if it’s irrelevant to your argument it has to go. -Research how you are allowed to reference. If you are referencing within the main body of your essay rather than in a footnote, or if footnotes are included in the word count at your University, you can sometimes abbreviate titles after their first mention. -Although it might be tempting to transform two words into one, contractions are rarely appropriate in academic writing. ‘Does not’ should not be shortened to ‘doesn’t’. Having worked hard to perfect your essay, it’s worth giving yourself the best chance of a good result by making sure you stick rigorously to the word limit. The post The Importance of the Word Limit appeared first on ProofreadMyEssays academic blog. ift.tt/1mXlwkW
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 11:08:52 +0000
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