Unit tasks and word count

SexyGreyFox

SexyGreyFox

SexyGreyFox

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I'm an adult learner and only started going back to College last year and haven't come across this Word Count with school work before.
My task -
T1 Review your role, responsibilities and boundaries would be as a teacher in terms of the teaching/ training cycle 500-700 words

So this morning I'm a little bit daunted at how I'm going to write 500 words on the subject (let alone 700) while also using Harvard referencing which doesn't count.
After about an hour I finish and then highlight all the task minus the referencing and I've done 1368 words :eek:
It then took 30 mins to get it below 770 (somebody told me + or - 10%).
I'm sure the majority of you on here have had this problem.

Any useful tips so I don't waste all that time again?
 
With size 12 font, its roughly 500 words per page. So 700 words is like 1 1/3 pages.
 
I try and organise my notes into vague 'sections' and think about how many words I have for each section - that way you don't write loads on one section and have to cram the rest of the task into 100 words.

Then I usually end up going back through and cutting out 500 words anyway :p

PwnDirect said:
Waffle is a life saver not a killer thats all reports an essays are.
Click to expand...

Do you post anything other than rubbish?
 
Thanks for the advice - cutting up sounds the way.
In the above task it would be cut up into 8 parts so around 96 words each (+/- 10%).
 
Not really a legitimate tip, but I can't remember the last time I stated the *real* word count at the end of a piece of work... Helps if you're handing in a hard copy and a couple hundred over maybe
 
sr4470 said:
Divide it up into sections and don't waffle. Stick to relevant points.
Click to expand...

Do this :)

To the OP, I have also gone back to uni as a mature (ha!) student, and just handed in my first 500 word essay.

I started with a plan: Dividing the topic into sections, making rough notes first of all, getting it down on straight away is essential.

Once everything was in order I put an intro and a conclusion at either end. It came in at over 540 words, so spent another 1/2 hour editing and tightening the text.

Proof-read for grammer and spelling and then submitted. That's my method for the time being, not looking forward to a 10,000 word dissertation from this end though :eek:

edit: "Waffle is a life saver not a killer thats all reports an essays are." This is nonsense and should be disregarded :)
 
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To be honest there isn't a way to keep below the word limit. I've just finished an essay based degree, and have always been complemented on my concise way of writing; I simply can't waffle, I don't seem to have that ability. However, I still consistently go over the word limits, and tend to spend hours cutting it down.

In my opinion, though, this is the best way to do things. Only by doing this will you go over and over your essay again and again, cutting out all that is even slightly irrelevant. If your essay is under the word limit without revision, then you haven't worked hard enough on it.
 
With something that small its worth going over the word-count to just write what you think the answer is then condensing it down. For larger projects start with a strong plan with particular word counts for each section then check each as you go. In word 2007 it permanently displays the word-count at the bottom so that's a help, but in older versions I had the word-count attached to the bottom bar (just right click on it and choose word-count) and got in the habit of hammering the button every time I wasn't sure what to write next.

@Mr Clark - that really is rubbish. A 'yes' or 'no' is meaningless without evidence to back it up and further explanation of what you mean by yes - usually it's a qualified yes or no rather than an absolute one. If you can't demonstrate that it's a yes or no based on the evidence around you then you shouldn't even trust your own yes or no.
 
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