Massive word limit problem: 1500 words over :/

Hi, I'm writing my historical enquiry (for A-Level coursework) at the moment. Or rather, I've written it but have a big problem. My word limit is 3500 for the actual essay and 500 for my source evaluation.
Problem is my essay is currently 5179 words: 1679 words too many.
I've been through and got rid of odd sentences and words but clearly that isn't going to be enough.
Does anyone have any miracle cures for reducing words? Or even a couple of useful tips? I would be eternally grateful!
Thank you!

Reply 1

Puddles the Monkey

21

Original post by Buckbeaky

Hi, I'm writing my historical enquiry (for A-Level coursework) at the moment. Or rather, I've written it but have a big problem. My word limit is 3500 for the actual essay and 500 for my source evaluation.
Problem is my essay is currently 5179 words: 1679 words too many.
I've been through and got rid of odd sentences and words but clearly that isn't going to be enough.
Does anyone have any miracle cures for reducing words? Or even a couple of useful tips? I would be eternally grateful!
Thank you!

Hey - I always have the opposite problem when writing essays :biggrin:

It sounds like you're not being concise enough - is everything you've written directly relevant to the question? Are you being analytical the whole way through? Make sure none of your paragraphs are just describing events - you always need to be critical/analytical, and the theme of every paragraph should relate back to the question.

:smile:

Reply 2

Buckbeaky

OP

4

Original post by Puddles the Monkey

Hey - I always have the opposite problem when writing essays :biggrin:

It sounds like you're not being concise enough - is everything you've written directly relevant to the question? Are you being analytical the whole way through? Make sure none of your paragraphs are just describing events - you always need to be critical/analytical, and the theme of every paragraph should relate back to the question.

:smile:

Thanks for the advice, I'll have to try and read through it all and see if, like you said, there's any bits that are irrelevant or just descriptive. May have to have a cull on adjectives as well :redface:

Wow, I don't think I've ever had a problem not being able to reach the word count, good luck in all your future projects, I hope they so well :smile:

Reply 3

dragonkeeper999

17

I had a similar problem with my EPQ essay - 3000 words over the 5000 word limit...

I found a suprisingly good way of cutting out words is to go through every sentance and think how you could rephrase it to cut out a couple of words - it all adds up and you could lose probably around 500 words by doing this (depending on your writing style atm though) without removing any content.

Also, think 'is this 100% relevant' - imaging removing the sentence/ paragraph and does your argument change at all? If not, cut it.

Finally, ask someone else (e.g. Mum) to read through it and say where you are rambling on too much/ giving too much detail/ not really concisely stating a point etc. :smile:

Reply 4

Buckbeaky

OP

4

Original post by dragonkeeper999

I had a similar problem with my EPQ essay - 3000 words over the 5000 word limit...

I found a suprisingly good way of cutting out words is to go through every sentance and think how you could rephrase it to cut out a couple of words - it all adds up and you could lose probably around 500 words by doing this (depending on your writing style atm though) without removing any content.

Also, think 'is this 100% relevant' - imaging removing the sentence/ paragraph and does your argument change at all? If not, cut it.

Finally, ask someone else (e.g. Mum) to read through it and say where you are rambling on too much/ giving too much detail/ not really concisely stating a point etc. :smile:

That going through each sentence idea sounds like a good plan! Definitely going to give that a try! I have removed odd words here and there but that sounds like a good way to remove larger chunks without losing anything. I've also just sent it off to some friends so hopefully they'll be able to tell me where I ramble :tongue:

Thanks for the advice and good luck in any future studies x

Reply 5

bishopdon123

2

Original post by Buckbeaky

Hi, I'm writing my historical enquiry (for A-Level coursework) at the moment. Or rather, I've written it but have a big problem. My word limit is 3500 for the actual essay and 500 for my source evaluation.
Problem is my essay is currently 5179 words: 1679 words too many.
I've been through and got rid of odd sentences and words but clearly that isn't going to be enough.
Does anyone have any miracle cures for reducing words? Or even a couple of useful tips? I would be eternally grateful!
Thank you!

Hey, how have you done your source evaluation, any tips? I'm really struggling with it

Reply 6

Buckbeaky

OP

4

Original post by bishopdon123

Hey, how have you done your source evaluation, any tips? I'm really struggling with it

Yeah I've just finished my source evaluation :smile:

My teacher said to remember three words when evaluating sources: utility (how easy they were to use, and how relevant they were for you), credibility (how trustworthy the source is so like, were there spelling or grammar mistake that make you doubt the other information's credibility, and was all the information referenced and argued correctly) and reliability (so like, was the information corroborated by other historians, is it accepted information or has the writer just made up facts and argument; on the other hand, just because their arguments are supported doesn't mean they're wrong: that's where your judgement comes in and you have to decide which you believe to be most reliable)

It's also important to link the sources to how they improved and developed your argument.

He also said you shouldn't be afraid to say that a source WASN'T useful.

You don't have to limit yourself to the sources you footnoted in your essay, you may have used something for reference but not quoted anything from it and you can still evaluate it in the source evaluation.

Sorry if any of this sounds patronising :/ I was just spewing out everything I remembered

Hope this helps and GOOD LUCK :smile:

Reply 7

bishopdon123

2

Original post by Buckbeaky

Yeah I've just finished my source evaluation :smile:

My teacher said to remember three words when evaluating sources: utility (how easy they were to use, and how relevant they were for you), credibility (how trustworthy the source is so like, were there spelling or grammar mistake that make you doubt the other information's credibility, and was all the information referenced and argued correctly) and reliability (so like, was the information corroborated by other historians, is it accepted information or has the writer just made up facts and argument; on the other hand, just because their arguments are supported doesn't mean they're wrong: that's where your judgement comes in and you have to decide which you believe to be most reliable)

It's also important to link the sources to how they improved and developed your argument.

He also said you shouldn't be afraid to say that a source WASN'T useful.

You don't have to limit yourself to the sources you footnoted in your essay, you may have used something for reference but not quoted anything from it and you can still evaluate it in the source evaluation.

Sorry if any of this sounds patronising :/ I was just spewing out everything I remembered

Hope this helps and GOOD LUCK :smile:

Thank you for your help! My final question (sorry for bugging you) is did you evaluate every single source used? I've quoted from so many different sources would I need to evaluate every single one.

Thanks again!

Reply 8

ThePhoenixLament

18

I don't know how the structure of History essays go, but for my English Lit coursework I managed to cut out 1,200 words by colour coordinating my paragraphs according to their strength. I had the mark scheme and highlighted in green my best paragraphs that included almost all the assessment objectives, then yellow for the meh ones, then red for the ones where I only hit one or mainly rambled on. I then had to be brutal and cut out the red ones. Or summarise my point from that paragraph in one sentence and put it on the end of the last paragraph so as to keep the flow of the essay going.
As said before, giving your essay to another person to be honest with really does help!
Good luck- and be brutal with it! :tongue:

Reply 9

Buckbeaky

OP

4

Original post by bishopdon123

Thank you for your help! My final question (sorry for bugging you) is did you evaluate every single source used? I've quoted from so many different sources would I need to evaluate every single one.

Thanks again!

no, you're not bugging me :smile:

and no, you don't need to mention every source

I think I used over 40 sources and I'm certainly not going to fit them into a 500 word source evaluation :tongue:

My teacher said 4-5 is probably best, but three if you're writing a lot about each

Hope this helps :smile:

Reply 10

Buckbeaky

OP

4

Original post by ThePhoenixLament

I don't know how the structure of History essays go, but for my English Lit coursework I managed to cut out 1,200 words by colour coordinating my paragraphs according to their strength. I had the mark scheme and highlighted in green my best paragraphs that included almost all the assessment objectives, then yellow for the meh ones, then red for the ones where I only hit one or mainly rambled on. I then had to be brutal and cut out the red ones. Or summarise my point from that paragraph in one sentence and put it on the end of the last paragraph so as to keep the flow of the essay going.
As said before, giving your essay to another person to be honest with really does help!
Good luck- and be brutal with it! :tongue:

Thanks so much! xD This really helped, I handed my essay in today and I was fine with the word limit. Because all my paragraphs included such a range of things, I did as you suggested but with the sentences instead. This helped to get rid of the less important or wow-ish sentences and yeah! Thanks so much!
Brutal really was the only answer :redface:

Good luck with your future too :smile:

Massive word limit problem: 1500 words over :/

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