When they assign you a text to write, they often also indicate the minimum number of pages or words that the finished product should contain. What to do when you have written everything you have to say and have no new ideas? You can learn how to write pages and pages of good content, non-trivial fillers, by developing a pre-writing routine based on brainstorming, making good quality proofs and correcting to get a long enough and well written text. Read on to learn more.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Pre-Writing
Step 1. Start writing whatever comes to your mind
If you want to write more, start by placing your pen on paper and following the flow of your thoughts. The first ideas will not make up the final text, so it can be useful to rearrange the chaos in your head to have an interesting main and starting point. Start with your opinions, even if the professor has forbidden to write in the first person (you certainly won't show him what you wrote down at this stage), and other general thoughts on the subject.
Write for a set amount of time, such as 10-15 minutes. Do not stop typing or typing on the keyboard until it expires. You can produce a lot in this time frame. Use what you get to identify the main points and what you will introduce in the article or essay
Step 2. Try a cluster or lattice diagram
Start with the main idea; place it in the center of the page and circle it. It could be generic, like "World War II" or "Zelda", or more specific, like "Gun Control in South America". The point of this exercise is to have a specific topic to be able to write more.
- Around the centered topic, write down the associated main ideas, which emerged during the free-writing phase. Try to have at least 3, but no more than 5-6.
- Around these main points, start writing the associated words and ideas that arise in your mind. Starting to notice connections between them, draw lines to complete the "lattice". This way you can begin to understand how to structure your argument and the relationship between the ideas you will explain in the text.
Step 3. Make a precise outline of the text
Organize the flow of thoughts into a series of unique and elaborate main ideas. One way to make sure you write more, or finish a long enough text, is to make an accurate and precise lineup. What information does the reader need to know from the first line? How can you best organize the main points to make an argument that proves the veracity of what you stand for?
Often you have nothing to say because you run straight to the points you want to make, without first introducing them or giving the reader the information they need to know to understand what you are talking about. Making a lineup will help you change
Step 4. Write your thesis
It is the main point that the essay will try to make. It should be open to debate, elaborate and specific. He must take a position on the issue or topic being discussed.
A good thesis should offer you a lot to write, because you will have so many points to prove. A bad thesis would go something like this: "Zelda is the best video game". According to whom? Because? Who cares? A good example of a thesis is the following: "Offering an exciting and complex world to explore, the game series called Zelda leverages players' sense of adventure, allowing them to experience heroic acts typical of Western culture." Think of everything you can write starting from such a premise
Part 2 of 3: First Drafts
Step 1. Organize the text into five parts
Some professors explain that essays should be divided into five paragraphs, but this information should be taken with a grain of salt (the division does not have to be this). However, it can be helpful to expand your argument and have enough concepts to write by targeting at least three different milestones used to support the main argument. Each essay should consist of at least the following paragraphs:
- Introduction: presentation of the topic, synthesis of the main ideas, conclusion to illustrate the thesis statement.
- First paragraph devoted to the main point, in which you make your first supporting argument and sustain it.
- Second paragraph dedicated to the main point, in which you make your second supporting argument and support it.
- Third paragraph dedicated to the main point, in which you make your third supporting argument and support it.
- Brief conclusion, summary of the main point, demonstration of what you have argued.
Step 2. Prove your thesis
If you have a good one, elaborate and full of unique ideas, writing a lot shouldn't be a problem. Do you find it difficult to fill the pages that have been requested of you or do not reach the minimum amount of words required? Review the thesis and create a more complex one.
Imagine your thesis as if it were the horizontal plane of a table: the point of the essay is to support it, otherwise you would have a bunch of useless wooden legs. The main points, evidence and sources are the legs that support the horizontal plane, i.e. the thesis, helping you to create a quality essay
Step 3. Indicate the context of the topic you are talking about
A useful and informative way to expand on an already good draft of yours and to start fleshing out it is to present the context of the issue and your point of view about it.
If you are writing about Zelda, you could immediately jump to the thesis and the first points talking about the Ocarina of Time, or you could take a short break to enlighten the readers on the context. What other games were popular when Zelda was released? What other games from those years are still popular? What is there to say, in general, about video game culture?
Step 4. Use appropriate citations and references
Include other items in your essay, both to support your points, by pointing to credible sources, and to give you the opportunity to have more to explore and prove. Mention essential reference materials and discuss the importance of the point you are making, to lengthen the content and write more.
Add opposing points of view and take the time (and space) to prove their mistakes in the essay
Step 5. Ask yourself questions the teacher might ask
Often, when a professor corrects an essay, he could put many questions in the margins, mostly they will be questions that will start with "why" or "how". You don't have to be Stephen King or Shakespeare to figure out what he will look for and what he will ask of you, as a result you can learn to predict it.
Learn to have questions about your points. Review each sentence and ask why and wherefore, depending on what you wrote. Does the rest of the paragraph answer your question? Could you do better to clarify the matter to a less informed reader than you, the expert, about Zelda? If the answer is no, you will have more to write about
Step 6. Don't write everything in one go
Words are more likely to flow abundantly if you divide the task into several sessions. It is really difficult to write 1000 words in one sitting, without taking restorative breaks for the mind. Start working on the essay in advance to give yourself time and do everything right.
- Start on time and try to write 250-300 words (about one page) per day. Plan the assignment, so that you have written enough before correcting the text and make sure that its length and quality are ideal before the due date.
- Try to work for a specific amount of time. Do this for 45 minutes before taking a 15 minute break to have a snack, watch TV, or play video games (if it's a video game you're talking about in the essay, you can say you're "doing a search").
Part 3 of 3: Review
Step 1. Use multiple quotes and explain them
If you have completed the text but have not reached the minimum number of words and have nothing else to say, you could call on other experts. Do a search for reliable sources and post more citations. Did you only include fragments? Add more substantial quotes and lengthen the broth by explaining them.
- After each quote, you need to explain why you included it. You could start writing “In other words” to process the point and reconnect it to the main one. Teachers often notice immediately the quotes left to themselves, inserted just to write more. However, if you link them to your argument for a reason, they will make sense.
- Don't abuse the quotes. In general, for longer essays, there should be no more than 2-3 citations per page. In the shorter ones, no more than one per page.
Step 2. Don't neglect the transition sentences and paragraphs
Sometimes your brain moves faster than a reader's, and your dots will seem disconnected. Identify the parts where you go from one point to another and try to understand if you can summarize the concept just concluded and introduce the next. This way you will write more and the reader will feel guided, so the text will be easier to understand.
Step 3. Clarify your points
Look for the longer or more complicated ones in the essay and rewrite them in simpler, more specific language. Use phrases like “In other words” or “Basically” to start a new sentence and explain the most difficult points in the text.
Avoid doing this for simple sentences and obvious points, or else it will seem like you are trying to lengthen the broth at all costs. Unless you want to be reprimanded by your professor, don't write “In the early 1990s, Zelda's popularity was unmatched. In other words, there were no more popular video games around 1992 and 1993. Zelda was the most famous one."
Step 4. Add content, not fillers
Professors do not arbitrarily choose a certain number of pages or words. If you're having trouble writing enough, it's because your topic or point of view isn't specific enough and you're not doing much to illustrate it in the text. So if you're trying to write more, you need to choose solid content to insert and demonstrate, not babbling about pointless and meaningless topics. Avoid the following:
- Use two or three words when one is enough.
- Overdoing adverbs and adjectives.
- Use the vocabulary of synonyms and antonyms to seem more cultured.
- Repeat points.
- Bold attempts to make humor or sound high-sounding.
Step 5. Don't be afraid to over-explain
Faced with the "Why?" and the "How?" of the professor, many students respond discouraged by arguing that those points about which the teacher asks questions are actually obvious and that they have not investigated them because they did not want to pound the water in a mortar. Again, if what you say is true, it means that the thesis is not elaborate enough, and that you have to work hard to think about a topic that is. A good topic will never run the risk of being deepened too much.
