All About Writing a 250-Word Essay That Rocks

By: Max Malak

8 min

1

10.04.2022

All About Writing a 250-Word Essay That Rocks

There is a huge variety of academic assignments. For example, you could be asked to write:

  • a quantitative or analytical research paper;
  • an entertainment review;
  • a full-blown scientific dissertation;
  • Or any other types of essays depending on your field of specialization.

The list is endless! More often than not, you may have to restrict your essay between 200 and 300 words. Let's walk through this step-by-step guide to become familiar with how an ideal 250-word essay should look like.

Page-length Of a 250-Word Essay?

If you were wondering how a 250-word essay looks like and how many pages 250-words takes up, then the answer is 'approximately half a page when single-spaced', or one page of double spaced text. This is one of the most frequently searched queries among writers. Of course, each of the following has an impact on the space that your essay may occupy:

  • The font size;
  • Spacing;
  • Page margins;
  • Spaces between paragraphs (before/after).

As a rule of thumb, stick to as follows:

  • Font: Times New Roman or Arial;
  • Font Size: 12;
  • Double-spaced;
  • No spacing before or after paragraphs;
  • Each paragraph indented.

Should I Write More Or Less Than 250-Words?

Try not to fall below or exceed the 250-word limit by a considerable margin (a slight deviation is fine!). Don't forget that this is where going the extra mile, may push your grades back. Save your energy for lengthier essays that you may stumble across in the future.

Most Frequent 250-Word Essay Topics:

The objectives and requirements for short 250-word essays differ from longer ones. As you plan, stick to the relatively simpler topics. Complex topics require longer pieces of writing to be handled effectively. Examples of popular topics for these kinds of essays include:

Conflict; Scholarship; Yale law; Respect; Leadership; Who am I; Friendship; Global warming; Visit a zoo; My ambition in life; Importance of sports; Education; Corruption; Wonders of science; Life experience; Failure; We should all be feminists.

Formulating The Thesis Statement

Your essay's entirety will link back to the thesis statement, which is a general statement about what you are going to prove or the point around which your discussion revolves.

Do's

  • Containing fillers;
  • Confused with the purpose statement;
  • Too broad;
  • Having no connection with the argument.

Don'ts

  • Placed at the end of the introductory paragraph;
  • Arising out of the main argument;
  • Setting tone for the rest of the essay;
  • Encompassing all components of your main argument.

Write An Introduction

An introduction should ideally include:

  • A hook: grabbing the readers' attention;
  • Background: setting the context;
  • Thesis claim: the point that you are going to make.

Body Paragraph

Body paragraphs should be knit together in a logical flow. Make sure each paragraph contains:

  • An introductory statement;
  • Evidence or explanation of your argument;
  • Concluding remark that links back to your thesis statement;
  • Transitions to avoid confusion.

Write A Conclusion

The concluding paragraph gives an overview of any ideas which have been expressed during the essay. Your conclusion must re-echo the thesis statement besides summarizing the key findings. Let's round up the best practices for writing a convincing conclusion:

What to Include

  • Summary of the main points of your report;
  • Synopsis of key findings;
  • Synthesis with a thesis statement;
  • Conclusive remarks or verdict;
  • Future directions of research (if any).

What to Avoid

  • Setting forth a new idea;
  • Lack of link with text in the body;
  • Details (as you have already achieved the same in the body).

Formatting The Essay

Most of the college essays follow a standard style or pattern termed as writing style. Four widely-prevalent writing styles include:

  • APA;
  • MLA;
  • Harvard;
  • Chicago.

Besides these conventions, you should have an eye for specific instructions, such as:

  • Spacing;
  • Tolerance-level (the degree to which you may exceed or fall below 250 words - typically set at 10%);
  • Writing processes.

Proofread The Essay

Simply writing the essay should not be the end of your process, as you must proofread it once you have finished composing. It would help if you directed your attention to the essay's structure, how easy it is to understand, the order of the ideas, and whether this is logical and, of course, grammar, spelling, and format. It is not very likely that the exact word count will be reached, and it is OK to stray from this slightly. It would help if you aimed to go no more than 5 to 10 words above or below the desired 250.

Bonus Tips For Essay Writing

We are now going to look at some useful tips that will help you write an excellent 250-word essay.

When writing the first draft, do so in one go and do not take any breaks. This is because the more fluid language will be achieved, and any edits can be made later.

It is important not to edit too much and take a break between editing sessions so that the essay can be viewed with a fresh pair of eyes each time. Don't focus too much on the word count. If you train yourself to write paragraphs containing 3 to 5 sentences, the end word count will become more obtainable naturally.

Avoid adding filler words or phrases. A professional viewing your work will easily pick up on this. Rather than doing this, try to form an extra sentence that contributes and supports the rest of the paragraph.

There may be times where no more information is needed, but the word count has not been reached. If this is the case and you are confident that the work is sufficient, you may be OK to hand the work in with the lower word count. Professors would rather a shorter quality piece than a longer one that did not answer the question.

Practice makes perfect, and the more you write a 250-word essay, the more easily you will be able to do so. An excellent way to practice is to use one of the many free essay prompts that can be found on the internet, which will condition your brain into this type of writing. It won't take long before you can throw out a 250-word essay without even thinking about how many words you have written.

If you think writing an essay is not your cup of tea, you may consult a writing service as your ultimate rescuer.

Sample Essay

Now let's take a look at a 250-word essay example:

"Fortunate was I to have born with a silver spoon in mouth. I always ridiculed the arguments tending to attach greater weight to moral values than to wealth. I went on dismissing all this stuff as 'platitudinous fare, never looking at any moral story as a wake-up call. It all changed with a sudden shock when my dearest friend got into an accident and succumbed to his injuries.

To me, life was very simple. I remember when I was at odds with spirituality, describing it as a "self-created mirage." To me, everything that we can buy was "something," and everything else is just "nothing" (self-contradictory, as it may sound). Often with my father, I used to argue that money was at the heart of how much we can get out of our life. He always disproved my idea, saying, "There are things money cannot buy!" Without bothering to ask him to show examples, I would just shy away wincing and ridiculing. It continued like this until the day when I lost my friend in an accident. He took his last breath in the most expensive hospital in the city, showing me the peak of man's helplessness in the face of reality.

It served as an eye-opener though I wish it had been something less-painful (that I don't think might have done any damage to my adamancy). Standing beside my friend's grave, I trampled my myopia and headed to the church with my eyes drenched in tears to seek God's pardon. Money (eh)!"

Warnings

When writing a short essay with 250-words, being concise and to the point is what matters. There does not need to be a whole host of additional information. Also, make sure that you adopt the best practices to steer clear of plagiarism.

Checklist: How to Write an Essay

  • The beginning part of the essay should contain a hook that instantly gets the reader's attention and makes them want to read on.
  • Include your thesis statement within the introduction and ensure that it clearly shows a focus, as well as clarifies your position.
  • Use headings to structure the essay and paragraphs to maintain the flow.
  • Make sure that within a paragraph, you only discuss one point or idea.
  • You can use a topic sentence to ensure that the transition between each paragraph is smooth.
  • In conclusion, a connection between the included arguments should be shown besides summing up the entire piece.
  • The conclusion should refer back to and be in line with the thesis statement.
  • Do not incorporate any new ideas in conclusion.

User ratings:

User ratings is 4.5 stars.

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Max Malak

Product Manager

Here at Studybay, I work as a Head of Affiliates in the marketing department. I studied Liberal Arts and took related classes at Tokyo Sophia University. I believe that challenges are what make my job fun and exciting. That's why I like completing complex, complicated, and even weird tasks and then sharing my experience with colleagues.

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