Essay writing, in general, is difficult. And, when you are asked to cramp a 1500-word article into a 500-word one, it becomes even trickier for you to execute it.
However, it can be done if you are following some specific tips that we are going to proffer in this blog. So, without making any further ado, let’s get started with it.
Tip 1: Pick a Topic and Start Researching.
When it comes to writing an essay, you will be given quite a few different topics. Hence, it’ll be important for you to choose the right one amongst them. Here’s how you can do it –
- Always go for something that you are already aware of or knowledgeable about.
- Check the prompt and underline the independent words properly.
- Do some research on each essay and compare the amount of data you’re getting.
Once you are done with all these, make sure to choose a topic that suits your purpose the best. Make sure to not choose an essay where you have to cover a lot of ground. After all, you will not get many words to share your thoughts. And writing too much can affect the quality.
Tip – 2: Find the Arguable Point in Your Essay.
It’s not possible to talk about more than one point in a short essay. So, before you begin with it, it might be best to look for something that coheres around a single, central topic.
Here are some examples of what you need to look for –
- If the essay is being written for an application, it might be best to tailor your write-up in accordance to the given topic. Try to brainstorm an idea or two – for example, if the essay is for college entrance – you can focus on the positive points about yourself.
- Another example would be a topic like – depression in Literature. Instead of writing it, you can narrow it down into something like – depression in Death of a Salesman. It’ll be much more specific and make the limitation of word count a little advantageous.
When it comes to writing an essay, you must always try to find something where you can use a quotation or two. It has to be made by someone popular. For instance, if you are working on an essay on The Great Gatsby – try to find some quotations of F. Scott Fitzerald where he may have talked about his mental state while writing the novel. It’ll feel much more authentic.
Tip – 3: Use References from Reliable Sources.
As stated before, it’s impossible for anyone to write about something entirely from their own perspective. No matter how much you know about the topic, it’s always important to acquire a bit of information from somewhere else too. This will only make your essay more informative and collectively better to read. Here are some sources that you can use for your purpose –
- If you’re working on a journalism-related event, you may always go for a website like CNN or BBC. These are quite prominent in the News industry and, thus, can provide a lot of correct information on the topic you’ve chosen.
- Avoid opting for a blog, even if it shares the same background as your topic. These, in general, offer information from the viewpoint of the writer. Therefore, here, you might find more of an opinionated answer rather than something logical or the truth.
- If you are writing the essay in a literary format, it might be better for you to choose an authentic, research-oriented option like Jstor. The MLA Bibliography and LION might be some of the other amazing alternatives for you too.
Tip – 4: Compose the Essay Perfectly.
The structure of an essay must contain three portions – the introduction, the body, and finally, the conclusion. Here’s how you need to write each of them –
- The introduction should offer a concise yet vague idea on what you are going to write. If your word count is 500, it should not cross the limit of 100 at all.
- The body of the essay should answer the question that’s been asked in the essay. It will be broad, elaborate, and extensive. You can write around 300-350 words here.
- Finally, the conclusion should wrap up the article by pointing out the main arguments. It should contain around 50 to 100 words as a whole.
When it comes to writing the essay, you may start it with a thesis. Here’s an example of a nice one and the one that you definitely shouldn’t write.
Bad Thesis: Death of a Sales offers a narrative on the difficulty of living in the World War II stricken USA.
Good Thesis: Dramatist Arthur Miller uses his drama, Death of a Salesman, to showcase how impractical and materialistic the American Dream is.
Tip – 5: Revise the Entire Draft.
Writing an essay might not take too much of your time. However, revising the draft may take some time to complete. So, you should try your best to do it as carefully as you can.
You must always start checking from the beginning of your draft and do edits. Generally, the basic mistakes, such as grammatical or spelling errors, will be found at this stage.
So, make sure to take care of them first and, then, go through the article again. This time, you will find issues related to your sentence format, writing style, or something related to it.
If you have read it for the second time, then you can provide the same to another person. They will find a few more mistakes. So, fix them and then submit your essay to the college.
The Bottom Line
So, there you go.
Now, you hopefully have an idea about how you should start writing a short essay. Make sure to follow these tips as much as you can and ensure that it’s grammatically impeccable.
After all, your grades will hugely depend on the article quality and authenticity. So, it may be better to go through the same till the end and check it as many times as you can.
Good luck!