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

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