1200 Words Essay: How Many Pages, How to Write& It’s Structure
The essays you write in high school, college, or university have different word counts. While some are as short as 300 words, some require the student to write more than one page. The 1200-word essay is a good example.
With single spacing, it takes 2.5 pages to complete this type of essay in a normal 1-inch margin. Paragraph spacing, font size, margins, and spacing are some of the factors that determine the number of pages in a 1200-word essay.
People Also Read: How to Stop Failing in College: Tips Tricks And Hacks
Steps on How to Write a Good 1200 Words Essay
Even though it is a long essay, good planning, organization, and editing can make the task simple. Writing the essay is just a fraction of the entire task. Below are some of the steps you can follow to write a killer 1200 words essay:
1. Read the Assignment
This can sound like an obvious step but a student needs to put a lot of emphasis on understanding the assignment.
Understanding the assignment is one of the most important steps that will make you write this long essay correctly. One part that you don’t understand is enough to ruin the entire essay.
It is important to analyze and get clarity on all the instructions for the essay before you can begin to write. After reading the instructions several times, you can note down important phrases and words that can lead you when you are writing your essay.
2. Come Up With a Topic
If there is no specific topic from the tutor, it makes it easy for you to pick one that suits you. This is the time to search on the internet and in textbooks to come up with a topic/title that you are comfortable with.
This should be an interesting topic that you can easily discuss.
3. Collect Quality Information on the Topic
It is advisable to check whether there is quality information on the topic you have selected. Adequate information on a topic will make it easy to write. If you do proper research and there is not enough information, you can consider changing the topic.
4. Create an Outline
A 1200-word essay is long and writing it without a proper plan will jeopardize the outcome. Since it is normally an in-class academic assignment, you can write down an outline on a different piece of paper. This helps you to focus on the writing and have a good flow.
An outline helps to create a logical structure for the essay. With this structure, you can effectively progress your arguments in the essay effortlessly.
An outline usually acts as a brief plan for the essay. Ensure that you have a paragraph that has one idea so that the audience will find it easy to read.
Also, make the paragraphs to be of similar length for uniformity. You can put down the ideas you want to appear in each of the paragraphs you are going to have.
5. Write your Introduction Last
Students do know that starting an essay is very frustrating. To avoid this confusion that can end up wasting your time, write the introduction last. The purpose of the introduction is usually to set the tone and bring forth your prime arguments.
If you write the essay body first, you will have the main points at your fingertips. You will also be familiar with the essay’s tone. Rightly so, it will be easier to write your introduction.
6. Write Your Essay
Now that you have the topic, essay outline, and resources, it is time to start writing. You can begin by writing the body paragraphs first if creating the introduction poses a challenge. Lest you forget, essays do not have a specific stage to start. You can start writing any part to avoid time-wasting.
7. Ensure Your Story Flows
Without a doubt, essay flow is very crucial especially if it is as long as 1200 words. You can have good ideas but presenting them in a manner that does not flow changes the quality. With a clear analysis of all the questions and answers, present your arguments in a style that flows effortlessly.
Even more importantly, have proper transition words that connect ideas in your essays. Furthermore, you should reinforce the flow with the proper use of linking words. This helps to guide your audience through the words thus making the thoughts clear.
8. Final Polishing
Polishing your essay is simply proofreading. However, do not do it immediately after writing. Put the essay aside and take some refreshing time to clear your head.
Afterward, go through it several times and point out parts you feel are not good. You can then completely rewrite them.
Ensure grammar, punctuation, spelling, and sentence structure are correct. Above all, use reliable plagiarism checkers to check your texts and ensure that it is original and there is proper citation.
9. Consider the Use of Proofreading Apps
Your proofreading may not be enough to identify the mistakes. You can use apps such as Grammarly and Hemingway to reinforce your proofreading. Through them, you can easily find mistakes that you may have missed while proofreading.
To write a good 1200-word essay, plan your time well and be sure to start early. If you tackle your paper in smaller parts, it is going to be manageable. Also, stick to the correct word limit. If your final essay is way more than 1200 words, go through it and do away with unnecessary parts or words.
Another valuable tip for writing this type of long essay is the significance of notes. Write valuable notes when you are researching for information so that you do not forget when you start writing.
People Also Read: Test Taking Strategies For Students: A Comprehensive Guide
How to Structure a 1200-word Essay
The structure is a key part of essay writing. In a 1200-word essay, too many unnecessary words will dent the quality of your essay. The following structure will help you to write a good 1200-word essay:
Introduction (150-250 words)
A good introduction for your essay has to capture the attention of the audience. It is the part that explains the main ideas of the essay. As aforementioned, you can write it as the last part if you do not have the right words.
In your introduction, have the first part as a hook of your beginning. This is the attention grabber that will captivate your readers. Secondly, move on to include background information on the essay arguments. Lastly, ensure you have the thesis statement in your introduction.
Essay body (750-850 words)
A typical 1200 words essay will have the body paragraphs each with a count range of 200-300 words. Ensure that each of these paragraphs focuses on a specific idea for discussion.
This idea should flow properly so that the paragraph does not become boring. These three body paragraphs of your essay are the ones that will contain the evidence and good reasons that back up the thesis statement you provided in the introduction.
The body paragraphs should have a topic sentence, the main argument, evidence, and a concluding statement. To begin with, the topic sentence is the part that will present the paragraph’s main idea. After this, write the argument and then put the evidence afterward.
The purpose of your evidence is to provide validity for your arguments. In the concluding statement, give all the clarity as you explain the importance of the argument. This is the best way to arrange the three paragraphs of your 1200-word essay body part.
Conclusion (100-200 words)
This is the part that should have a comprehensive summarization of the main arguments of the essay. It simply means you have to tie the arguments together as you finish your paper. The conclusion presents you the chance to explain to the audience how body paragraphs back the thesis statement.
Ideally, a good conclusion should have a summary of the main points. While restating the thesis, give the reader a cursory explanation of the main ideas. Finally, the conclusion should have a good concluding statement.
People Also Read: Dissertation Length: Optimal Length in Words and Pages
How Many Pages Is a 1200-word Essay
Adhering to the correct number of pages is very significant. Many factors will determine the number of pages your essay is going to have. The format your professor provides will affect the number of pages. This includes the font, margins, citation style, and alignment.
For instance, a 1200-word essay will take two and a half pages when the Arial type of font applies and the size is 12 pt. This is when you use single spacing.
You will also get the same amount of pages if you use Calibri, double spacing, and 10 pt font size.
However, if you choose Times New Roman, double spacing, and 12 pt font size, the pages are likely to double.
Teachers usually give the students the word count for essay writing and not the number of pages. This is because they do not dictate the type of font to use. Each of the available fonts has different sizes of characters.
In addition to this, universities and colleges do not have the same requirements for word counts per page.
When not handling complex essays and academic writing tasks, Josh is busy advising students on how to pass assignments. In spare time, he loves playing football or walking with his dog around the park.