essays

20/20 – Day 7: 20 ways to get the word count right

Word counts. Ah, yes. We’ve all been through it before.  You either get stuck after writing about 800 words of a 1,500 word essay, or you fly past the required number of words in the hope that triple the length is acceptable.

Below are 20 ways to help you achieve the word count you need.  Ten for when you’re struggling to write, ten for when you’ve rocketed past the limit.

When you can’t find the words

  1. Write the way you feel. Make it scholarly later. In other words, ignore your internal editor!
  2. Read more. There is always more to add and other avenues to explore.  Further reading should help uncover new areas that you haven’t discussed yet.
  3. Return to your notes. Has something been covered that could be included as part of your argument?  Did your tutor provide any broad topic areas that are relevant to your writing?
  4. Ignore the essay so far. Just list all the points/opinions/arguments you want to make. Anything currently missing from the essay can now be written up.
  5. Step away from the essay. Leave it for a while and return when your mind’s fresh.  Sometimes it’s the only way to wake your mind back up.
  6. Think prodding, not padding! Just adding text for the sake of making up numbers is pointless and it won’t get you any extra marks.  Question everything you read. Does a text agree with your argument? If so, how has the author moved the topic on?  If not, can you criticise that argument in order to back up yours?
  7. Ignore the word count. It starts you off with the wrong mindset altogether.  If you consider the number of words before you’ve written anything, you will automatically stop writing at points in fear that you’re writing too much.  In fact, you need to write more.  So return to any writing that you’ve already done and try expanding on what you’ve got without it turning to padding.
  8. Ask your tutor how the essay is shaping up.  Discuss what you can examine next, where to explore, and so on.
  9. Return to the question. What else could it mean or imply?  Rarely is an undergraduate essay a simple question with an unambiguous answer.
  10. Stop restricting yourself. If you do all the above and still can’t get near to the right number of words, you’re somehow blocking yourself.  Remember that there’s no right or wrong answer.  Critical engagement is so much more than that. If it’s proving that difficult to engage, look to staging a completely different argument.  Maybe you’re trying to give an opinion that isn’t really your opinion.

When you’re over the limit

  1. Cut, cut, cut!
  2. List points in order of importance. Cut the rest to brief points and references.
  3. Check for repetition.
  4. Check verbosity. Are you unnecessarily labouring a point? Be brutal.
  5. Consider depth. Have you given more detail than is expected of you?
  6. If a particular discussion or argument uses many more words than your other set pieces, cut from here.
  7. Take a reality check. “There’s no way I can cut this without cutting something crucial. I need to include everything.”  Seriously, you don’t.  Count yourself lucky that you’ve got the ideas. If it’s still tough, talk it through with your tutor. They will almost certainly suggest areas to chop.
  8. Don’t retell a story or explain from scratch. Introduce the point briefly and reference.
  9. Don’t panic if you’re slightly over.  0-5% is no big deal. 5-10% is worth being vigilant over.  Anything above 10% needs serious reduction.
  10. If you’re going to write so much, why not make it your dissertation subject? 😉
Title image: original by tiffa130 (cc)

20/20 – Day 1: 20 ways to engage with feedback

Over the next four weeks I’m treating you to a new series of posts, 20 Lists of 20 (or “20/20” for short).  Twenty posts on a variety of subjects, all as lists of twenty. I hope you find them useful.

Today’s topic is on engaging with feedback.

When you get your coursework back from your tutor, you hope the comments will be positive (as well as the grade).  But what about the constructive criticism and suggestions on where you could improve?  Even a well-received paper will have constructive comments, but a poorly marked essay is likely to go as far out of your sight as possible, not to be looked at again.  This is a mistake.

Your less pleasing essays probably have the best feedback to help you improve.  In Day One of my “20/20” series, here are some ways you can make the most of the feedback you’ve been given.

  1. Focus on what you’ve been asked to improve. You probably want to forget about the negative feedback, but that’s what you need to concentrate on.  Make a point of tackling those issues head on in your next piece of work.
  2. Don’t be complacent. Enjoy that shiny gold star and revel in the glory as your tutor suggests you publish your essay in the biggest scholarly journal out there. But don’t lose sight of the next essay. And the one after that. And the one after that.  You’re not looking for a one-off, you’re looking for consistency!
  3. Ask why.  Whatever feedback you receive, ask yourself why you think you got it. A few days after you get the marks, spend ten minutes taking it seriously and work out why you feel it happened the way it did.  It doesn’t always take more than a few moments to work out how to improve for next time.
  4. Get MORE feedback. Take some time with your tutor to chew over the pros and cons.  Always take the feedback seriously and seek out advice on improving your game via the people who know. After all, the tutors are grading you, so find out what will help them grade you higher.
  5. Re-read your work.  Are there any passages that make you cringe?  Do you yawn at the filler paragraph you added just to make the word count?  Could you have defined your argument more clearly?
  6. Read a study guide. When you’re given areas to improve upon, study guides are invaluable.  Something like “The Study Skills Handbook” or “Effective Study Skills” should help.
  7. Stop being defensive.  Criticism, no matter how constructive, sucks.  Big time.  But criticism is there for a reason.  Now is not the time to argue why the comment was uncalled for.  It’s time to address the issue and think about how you could change the coursework so you didn’t get criticised in the same way again.
  8. Don’t respond straight away.  Give yourself time to relax before returning to the piece.  No matter how well or badly you feel you did, you can’t focus on the feedback properly until it’s settled in your mind.
  9. Get creative. Some issues arise when you try too hard to conform to a particular way of writing or you don’t believe you can do better.  Get rid of these blocks and work to your own strengths.  Churn out great stuff in the most creative way you can and consider making it fit after that.
  10. Plan your next coursework in advance.  You can always use your time more productively.
  11. Play to your strengths and work on your weaknesses.  You know what you’re good at, so make sure you continue to shine there.  But don’t do that by neglecting your weak points.  Aim to turn those into strengths too.
  12. Don’t panic! A poor grade can be disheartening, but the whole point in engaging with feedback is so you can get a better grade.  Don’t worry about the feedback, embrace it and make good use of it!
  13. Read more around the subject. Ask about what research you have missed out on and go beyond the suggested reading list. Push yourself to find something new and unexpected.
  14. Give yourself feedback. Similarly to re-reading your work, why not be critical about your own work?  You know it’s not perfect, so where would you like to improve?  What aspects would you change if you could go back?
  15. Accept peer feedback in the same way you would from a tutor…at first.  You may not agree with the feedback and it may sound stupid. You’re more likely to discard comments from peers. What would they know?  But don’t be quick to ignore.  Take the comment seriously (unless completely stupid) and see what you can learn from it.
  16. Feel encouraged.  Feedback is designed to spur you on and help you improve.  The tutor isn’t laughing at you, they’re hoping you’ll take the advice on board and hand in a better piece of work next time.
  17. Focus on larger concerns.  We all make mistakes.  Don’t get bogged down with guilt over a spelling mistake and the odd formatting error.  Deal with the criticism regarding content.
  18. Spend time improving on key points.  Did the conclusion have nothing to do with the main text?  Were you lacking a solid introduction?  Analyse what’s missing so you don’t suffer the same way next time.
  19. Break it down. Negative feedback, especially lots of it, can be difficult to take in.  Take each point one at a time so you’re not overwhelmed by it.
  20. Make separate notes if you need.  What would you do different next time?  Engage with the feedback on a deeper level by noting problem areas, how you aim to improve, and go over what you could have included/changed in hindsight.  Taking the feedback further than reading the comments is important if you’re going to make the most of it.

One post down, nineteen to go. Tomorrow I look at how you can find your own voice. Hope you can join me then.

Photo credit: tiffa130 (cc)

26 Sharp Essay Tips

Essays.  You can’t get away from them.  And even if you’re up for the challenge, that doesn’t make the writing process less stressful.

Whatever happens in a single essay, don’t be distracted or downhearted.  I remember handing in an essay that I was proud of, yet it barely scraped a pass.  I was gutted.  In the same semester, I couldn’t get my head round a particular essay and handed in what I thought was mediocre work…but my tutor didn’t see it that way and gave me an amazing grade.

No wonder the essay experience is a stressful one!

While I can’t take away that stress, I do have 26 tips below to reduce some of the uncertainty.  They’ll point you in the right direction when it comes to making the grade.  It’s not exhaustive, but when it comes to essays, nothing is!  If you have any killer tips that you can’t live without, let us know.  We like advice.  Advice is good!

(more…)

Make your work rock and get your creative juices flowing!

Whether you’ve got a few days or a few months to hand something in, there’s always enough time to get creative and produce quality work.

photo by h.koppdelaney

photo by h.koppdelaney

But it’s often so difficult to shine?  Life gets in the way, there’s so much other stuff to distract you, simply starting a project is a pain, the little perfectionist in you has niggling doubts, etc., etc.

Let’s check out some of the ways you can shove those distractions and problems out of the way:

  • Focus on the work in hand – It’s a willpower thing (or Inner Slacker thing).  There’s so much going on around you that it’s insanely difficult to ignore it.  But when you clear nearby distractions, get others out of the way, and isolate yourself from interruption and noise, it doesn’t take long before the work gets a lot easier to deal with. Honest! 🙂
  • Remember that the hardest part is the start – When it feels like hell even starting the work, you then wonder how horrible it’s going to be when you actually get on with it.  Rest assured, once you have the courage to get on with it, everything else comes naturally.  The first hurdle is the biggest one.  The rest of the way isn’t so bad.
  • Move on when you’re stuck – You’re bound to face difficulties in your study.  There are times when something doesn’t sound right, or you struggle to find a way of backing up a point.  Don’t let it hold you up!  When you face a block, make a note of it and come back to it later.  Much better to get everything else out of the way and work on the annoyances later.  You’ll be more focused on those aspects in isolation anyway.
  • Don’t let your Internal Editor get in the way – Another thing that holds us up is our wish to get it right FIRST TIME.  It’s like our brain hasn’t heard of ‘rough drafts’!  The editing process should come later, after you’ve got everything else out in the open.  The longer you agonise over a word or the structure of the coursework, the further away you get from getting the work done.  Edit later.  Piece everything together later.  Your Internal Editor can wait!
  • Don’t do it all in one session – Students who leave an essay to the last minute end up having to do everything in one go.  It’s one of the worst ways of working, but last-minute essay writing is common.  Start as soon as possible on your coursework and complete it over time.  Short sessions are less daunting and help you target specific areas of your work each time.  If you genuinely work better in much longer sessions, remember to take regular breaks from the study.  And do the work as soon as you can…don’t leave it until the day before, when it’s stressful and when you’re in danger of running out of time.
  • Mix it up! – Nobody else can tell you how to put your work together.  Do you like to write the Conclusion first?  If so, do it first!  Does the Introduction come naturally to you when it’s the last part of the creative process?  Is so, do it last!  Work to the order that works best for you.
  • If in doubt, get help – Don’t feel bad when you don’t understand what’s required.  If a question doesn’t make sense or if you can’t get your head around a concept, your tutors should be happy to help.  Make sure you know what you want to ask and what help you’re looking for and, armed with this information, ask away.
  • Your answer is not ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ – Move away from thinking about the ‘right’ answer.  What you’re trying to do is support an argument, explain a function, analyse a concept, and so on.  Critical thinking is not black or white.  It’s all about the shades of grey.
  • Stop fearing the worst – The work you do is private at first.  Nobody is looking over your shoulder.  Well, they shouldn’t be anyway.  So it doesn’t matter what you write down and it doesn’t need to be perfect.  There’s no need to panic about it; just get all your thoughts and quotes and ideas and workings and illustrations out in the open.  Even if loads of the output is rubbish, you’ll have all the good stuff sorted too.  Take the good stuff and shape it into something big.  You don’t have to tell anyone else about the other rubbish you put out.  That’s your own little secret.  It’s the quality stuff that makes you the hero…

These are just some ideas to get the creative juices flowing.  What do YOU do to get those ideas from your head to the page?

photo by SashaW

photo by SashaW