Writing assignments usually require a certain number of pages or a certain number of words required in the final result to be submitted. What to do when you've written down everything you can say, but haven't met the required amount? You can learn how to fill a page with solid content instead of blank information by developing a routine of reviewing ideas before writing, producing a solid first draft, and revising to produce a piece that's long enough and good enough to collect. See Step 1 for more information.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Before Writing
Step 1. Start with free writing
If you want to write more, start with pen to paper and free-write to come up with initial ideas. This won't be the final draft, so getting your thoughts out of the way will help you get to the more complex main points to start with. Start with your own opinion, even if the teacher forbids "I" statements (he wouldn't know!) and other initial thoughts on the topic.
Try to write within a certain time, say ten or fifteen minutes. Don't stop moving your pen or typing until the time is up. You can generate a lot of words in that time, and use what you generate to find the main points and possible titles of your paper or essay
Step 2. Try a grid or group diagram
Start with your main idea in the center and draw a circle around it. You can choose something general, like “World War II” or “Zelda” or more specific, like “Arms Control in South America”. The point of this exercise is to come up with more specific topics as a way to write more words.
- Around your central topic, write down some related main ideas that were in your earlier freewriting. Resolve to write down at least three ideas and no more than five or six.
- Around the main point, start with words and ideas related to the main point that come to mind. When you see the connection between all of them, start drawing lines to connect the “webs”. This way, you can begin to see how your arguments are created, and the relationships of ideas that you can begin to explain in writing.
Step 3. Describe your writing as specifically as possible
Organize your freewriting into a unique and complex set of main ideas. One way to make sure you write more, or write a draft that's long enough, is to outline these ideas specifically and thoroughly. What information do readers need to know first? What is the best way to structure the main points into arguments that will prove what you are saying is true?
Often times, short writing is the result of rushing through the points you want to make without preparing them beforehand or providing the kind of information the reader needs to know what you're saying. Creating parsing can help change that
Step 4. Write a thesis statement
The thesis statement is the main point your essay is trying to convey. The thesis statement should be debatable, complex, and specific. The thesis should “affirm” the issue or topic you are discussing.
A good thesis should have a lot to write about, because it will take a lot to prove it. A bad thesis is something like, “Zelda is the best video game ever.” According to whom? How did the game become the best? Who cares? A good example of a thesis statement is: "By presenting a complex and immersive world to explore, the Zelda series of games provokes the adventurous spirit of its fans, enabling them to realize the heroic fantasies embedded in western culture." Think how much that sentence gives you a lot to write about
Part 2 of 3: Drafting
Step 1. Arrange the text in a five-paragraph arrangement
Some teachers teach the so-called five-paragraph form of essays, although this should be taken with caution (there is no magic number). But it still helps to broaden and gives you a lot to write about, targeting at least three different supporting points to defend your main argument. All essays must contain at least the following paragraphs:
- Introduction, introduces the topic, summarizes the main idea, ends with a thesis statement
- The main point of paragraph 1, in which you structure and support your first supporting argument.
- The main point of paragraph 2, in which you structure and support your second supporting argument
- The main point of paragraph 3, in which you structure and support your last supporting argument
- A short conclusion, summarizing the main points, showing what you have proven
Step 2. Prove your thesis
If you have a good thesis, one with sufficient complications and a unique idea, writing lots of words is certainly not a problem. If you find it difficult to meet the target page or word requirements, try revising your thesis and making it more complex.
Think of your thesis as a tabletop: the point of the essay is to support the thesis, otherwise it is just a piece of board. Your main points, evidence, and references serve as the legs of the table holding the thesis, making it a useful piece of writing
Step 3. Provide context for the topic or theme
This is a useful and informative way to expand on an already good draft of an essay and start reinforcing it a bit to provide more context for your topic and perspective.
If you're writing about Zelda, you can jump right into your thesis and key points about the intricacies of the Ocarina of Time, or pause and give us context. What other games also came out when Zelda was released? What other games from that era are still in circulation? What do we need to know about video game culture in general?
Step 4. Use appropriate citations and references
Give another voice in your writing, both to support the point, provide credible references and also give you more material to explore and debate. Cite the essential material and discuss the importance of the point being made to give your point more content and word count.
Add opposing viewpoints and devote the time (and space) to proving in your writing that point of view is wrong
Step 5. Ask yourself open-ended questions that your teacher might ask
Often, when your writing is returned complete with corrections, usually many questions are written on the edge of the paper, generally the question will start with "Why?" or how?". You don't have to be Stephen King or Shakespeare to guess that the teacher will look for loopholes to ask that question, and you can learn to ask it yourself.
Learn to interrogate your points. Pay attention to each sentence and ask “Why?” or “How” depending on the point being made. Do all the following paragraphs answer your question? Can this description do much to clarify this question for readers whose knowledge of Zelda is less than yours who is an expert? If the answer is no, you have a lot to write about
Step 6. Break up your writing into smaller tasks
It's easier to write a lot of content if you write a little on many different occasions. It's hard to write a thousand words at a time without giving your brain a chance to rest. Start working on your writing early so you have the time it takes to get it right.
- Start early and try to write 250 or 300 words (about one page) every day. Plan ahead so that you have enough material to write before revision and make sure your writing is long and good enough to be submitted before the deadline.
- Start setting time to work on your writing. Write for 45 minutes and then give yourself 15 minutes to break for a snack, watch TV, or play a video. If what you're playing with is Zelda, consider it "research".
Part 3 of 3: Revising
Step 1. Use more quotes and elaborate
If you've put together all the drafts but you still have a little bit of writing, and you can't rack your brains to figure out what else to write, consider adding more expert citations. Look for reliable sources and take longer citations. If you only take a snippet of their words, insert a longer quote and give it a description explaining what we just read.
- After each quote, you need to explain why you included it. You may want to start by writing “In other words” to elaborate on the point and connect it to your main point. Teachers usually look for “left out” quotes, which students use to make their pages longer, but if for some reason you link them with main point, the quote you put in will be of value.
- Don't overuse quotes. For longer essays, there should generally be no more than a few citation sentences per page. In shorter essays, there may be no more than one citation per page.
Step 2. Improve sentence and paragraph transitions
Sometimes your brain moves faster than the reader's brain, and your point will be blurred. Look for transitions from one point to another and see if it is possible to summarize the points made and review the points that follow, this gives you more words and guidance for the reader.
Step 3. Clarify your point
Look for the long bullet points you just wrote, or complex descriptions in your essay and rearrange your phrases in simpler, more specific language. Use phrases like, “In other words” or “Basically” to start a new sentence that follows this part of the text.
Avoid this method for simple sentences and obvious points, otherwise it will sound like you are adding to the short essay. Unless you want to get rejected by a teacher, you don't need to write, "Zelda's popularity in the early '90s was unmatched. In other words, no video game was more popular than Zelda from '92-'93. Basically, Zelda is the most popular game.”
Step 4. Add filling, not filler
Word and page counts aren't the fads that teachers choose to be mean to you. If you're having a hard time writing enough, it's because your topic and point of view aren't specific enough and you're not trying enough to illustrate it in your writing. So if you're trying to write more, you need to find solid content to add and prove the point, rather than filling the page with empty and unimportant words. This pointless filler is like:
- Using two or three words when one word is enough
- Excessive use of adjectives and adverbs
- Using a thesaurus to “sound smarter”
- Repeating points
- Shows an attempt to be funny, or nag
Step 5. Don't be afraid to “overexplain”
Many student writers will frustratedly argue that the answers to the teacher's “Why” and “How” are “obvious” or that they don't want to waste effort when there's no chance of winning. Again, if this is the case, it means that your thesis is not complex enough, and that there is a lot of work to be done to bring up a more complex topic. A good topic is never too much to explain.
