Writing to Length

Most essays have a word limit which are designed to make you think carefully about how to organise and illustrate your answer. Check with your institution whether references, footnotes and/or bibliography are included in the word count.

In law assignments, word limits are often restrictive so that you develop concise writing skills and omit any irrelevant material – every sentence counts and you will need to sustain a sharp focus on the question and limiting any tangential discussion.

To keep within the word limit, you will need to:

• Limit yourself only to the relevant issues and ideas
  
  
• Select and use only relevant material, authority and examples, using only one source for each point made (unless you have an unlimited word count for references)
  
  
• Reword concepts from source material very concisely, making the relevance of each source very clear