When a student receives an assignment’s brief, almost always they check the total word count. The size of the assignment in terms of word count can be unsettling to some as they might be worried if they can actually reach the word count or exceed it. 

This blog will offer you some advice on how to approach writing long assignments by outlining a certain technique you can use and replicate all your future assignments.

The outlined technique was formed based on a consensus of Send Us Your Projects writers that offered insights into how they approach their writing. 

The most important step in approaching any module’s assignment is understanding the material covered and what the module’s learning objectives are. Once those are comprehended, the brief can be easily assessed as it directly correlates to one or several learning objectives. 

As the content of the module is understood, you must then read the brief carefully. Regardless of the assignment and whether it is a report, literature review, or research paper, the contents of the brief outline what needs to be done to accomplish this assignment. Reading the grading rubric can be also helpful to underline certain criteria you need to meet. 

Once the brief is read and understood in terms of what needs to be done, you must read the details of the assessment in terms of word count, line spacing, fonts, font size, margins, cover page, page numbers, and whether an abstract/executive summary is needed. Our writers recommend that first, you need to open a blank word document and immediately write the module name, code, the title of the assignment, your name, student number, date of submission, and word count (left empty at the beginning). 

On the next page, and whether an abstract/executive summary is needed, you must allocate this space for the contents table. If there will be figures and tables in the document, then the allocation of the third page needs to be toward a list of tables and tables of figures. On the fourth page, create headings with specific styles so they can be included in the table of contents. This is where a true understanding what the assignment requirements come in handy. If an assignment for example asks you “In 3,000 words, utilize the business model canvas to outline a new idea that you think can add value to the country you are originally from.” 

Automatically creating headings simplifies the assignment from a large assignment, to a smaller and more manageable one. If you understand your material, you know that the business model canvas consists of 9 aspects. Thus, by creating the headings, you would have already defined the sections that need to be included, and subsections if necessary. A 3,000-word assignment becomes a smaller one through 9 manageable parts with one page (333 words) for each section you created. Apply this aspect to all your assignments and you would be able to manage each section alone. Create your reference list page and format it at the end as it is time-consuming to add and edit each reference while needing to get back to writing the text. Add it in whatever referencing format and upon finishing the main text, edit the reference list based on the required style. 

Make sure the assessment details (line spacing, font, etc.) are correct and add the word count which was first left empty at the beginning. Through segmenting the assignment into sections and the outline is clear, regardless of the assignment’s length, it will be more psychologically manageable as you would perceive it as not a 3,000-word assignment, but rather multiple smaller assignments combined in one.