How to write a shorter essay?

 

How to write a shorter essay?

Do you also find not explaining everything you have just read about your essay topic difficult?

Basically, writing within a word limit can be a very daunting task. It is very counter-intuitive at first, writing only 400 to 500 words can sound great. But when it comes to articulating the essay in a way that conveys the meaning perfectly, it is a skill that needs to be polished. The skill of writing short and concise texts is known as copywriting. Copywriting is the act of writing for marketing or advertising purposes, while writing a short essay is not about marketing but it certainly resembles the essence of copywriting or writing for the web! Short and to the point.

There are steps to creating a very sharp essay that is short and pierces right through the theme of the essay. Here is a list of steps that need to be followed to successfully write a short essay.

Pick a topic you cannot argue about

If you have to choose the topic of your essay you should focus on a topic that possesses a solid ground to write on. The topics that are very debatable and argumentative can be quite challenging to write in a short essay format. Because a debatable topic has many layers that can create 0loopholes in your writing. It makes your essay look unprofessional and not well-read.

Conduct research on your part

When your teacher assigns you a shorter essay, the research part plays a huge role in it. The shorter the essay format, the more research you will have to conduct. To write a concise copy, you must understand the topic very well. In a long essay, there is enough blabbering involved to make sure you get your point across. You first have to familiarize yourself well with the topic. Given enough time to understand the topic before you even start constructing it. Research everything about the topic and make notes of the most important points on which the topic is standing.

Paint a clear picture of the theme

You cannot succeed at writing a short essay without having a clear idea of what you are writing about. Because you have to pertain to a word limit, you must have a very clear understanding of how the theme of the essay unfolds. It means that you should be clear about the starting and the ending argument of the essay. To convey the essay as shortly as possible, you have to have the idea of the essay in brief. You should be able to explain the idea in a minute or two.

The Introduction

The introduction of any essay should be short, informative, and attention-grabbing. The introduction of your short essay should be about 50 to 60 words. The introduction should introduce the topic very briefly and persuade the reader to look ahead at the essay’s main body. You have to introduce the reader to the topic in a way it becomes interesting and urgent to read ahead.

The thesis

The purpose of a thesis is to give the audience the main argument of an essay in a brief manner, for which the solution lies in the next 450 words. The thesis is the argumentative statement of the essay that you plan on proving by your persuasive writing. The thesis should be very clear and should be able to communicate your idea. The thesis is generally written as the last line of the first paragraph; introduction.

The main body of your short essay

The main body of a short essay should be around three paragraphs, each containing a separate theme. The main body is the part where you can explain the argument very well supported by facts and numbers (If available). Each paragraph should start by forming an argument and then the supporting evidence and illustration to prove it.

The conclusion

The conclusion involves a cohesive end to your essay. The conclusion should read how the main body of the essay proves and supports the main argument; The Thesis statement. The conclusion should end the topic giving complete satisfaction to the reader and not leaving any loopholes. The conclusion should not be more than 5 to 6 sentences. And also, the conclusion is not the place to initiate new ideas or even initiating a different approach to looking at the problem.

Edit the text of the short essay

After you have written your essay, you must edit and proofread your essay before submitting it. Re-read the essay to understand if any sentence doesn't convey or sound good. The ideas in a short essay format should be put from the most important to the least important for them to flow effortlessly to the reader’s mind.

Check your short essay with grammar checkers and plagiarism checkers to ensure proper formatting. Proofread your text and ensure that your ideas don’t look confusing because of the short essay format.

If you have crossed the word limit, this is the time to remove any redundancy from your short essay. If you are still up by a few words in your short essay, you can try removing extra words or rephrasing the sentences to be shorter.

For example, to rewrite the below sentence you can remove phrases like “in a way” and “being able to.”

“The art of writing a short essay is about being able to express one’s opinions in a way that is clear.”

This sentence can be rewritten as,

“The art of writing a short essay is about expressing one’s opinions clearly.”

The edited sentence is much crisper and conveys the same meaning without any compromise.

You can learn here to reduce the word count of your short essay without reducing the content.

Writing a short essay is not too difficult when you give it enough time; to research, write, and edit. You can also get help from experts to write the perfect short essay that is sharp, salty, and crisp.