You are busy working on a paper for school, a report for your work or perhaps your thesis. After hours, days or weeks of work, the time has come, you are almost done. You check how many pages you have, you count the number of words and ?? was it really that little? Perhaps there is a requirement and you need more words, or a text may simply look more professional when it is more elaborate. Maybe you want to post a text online, longer articles give a higher google ranking.
Why do you want the text longer?
Are there any requirements for the report? Always look at all other requirements first. If you have too few words, you probably miss one or more substantive points. This adaptation may already yield all the necessary words. Do you hope to obtain a higher google ranking with more words? Then it is important to add content. Don’t make texts for the internet too long, this scares more readers than it does well. Do you want to add words because it looks nicer? Then take your audience into account. In many cases people would rather read short articles, adding words is not recommended.
A text can be made longer if the substantive requirements have been met but even more words are desired.
More explanation
This is a good way to not only make the text longer, but also make it easier to understand. Provide definitions of difficult terms or even add difficult terms and explanations. This is one of the best ways to get more words, but as with all adding words, it must be handled with care. Too much explanation can be perceived as disturbing and put off readers, as can too many terms.
Shorter sentences
Use short sentences. This way you have more sentences. Each sentence has a subject and a personal pronoun. You can use extra connecting words. Avoid commas, which shorten the text. Keep in mind that there is enough variation between the length of the sentences, otherwise the text will read like a children’s book and the reader will not feel taken seriously.
To repeat
Repeat what you have said before in a subtle way. This can be done, for example, by summarizing the story again at the end of a chapter or by repeating the purpose of the writing. Do not repeat sentences, even by rewriting them. This stands out to almost every reader and is distracting.
Enumerations
Enumerations can make texts both longer and shorter. They can be added to a text without modifying the rest to expand a text. Simply write down the main points again, preferably in a list of bullit points or numbering. This is more convenient than making a list in the text.
Subheadings
Subheadings add not only the few words to the heading, but more than that. They provide an overview and improve the quality of the text. If you want more pages, subheadings are also ideal, since each heading takes up one or two lines with any blank lines. In addition, subheadings help to stimulate people and make the text faster and easier to read. More lingers. Do not add subheadings to short paragraphs, because then the text will no longer be read.
Subheadings can also be used for a group of paragraphs. For the optimal effect you have 2 to 4 headings per page, but let it depend on the content of the text. A subheading must cover one topic.
Insert pictures
Images have a clarifying effect and take up space. In addition, a caption can be added to each image, which adds a few sentences. Don’t just think of photos and drawings, but especially cartoons, graphs and tables.
Expand content of text
The above ways yield small gains in word count and document length. Do you need more? Then you really have to go back to work. In such a case, the text must be substantively expanded. An extra chapter or perhaps even a more extensively defined topic are better solutions in such a case. Add an extra in-depth layer to the text or a discussion in which you denounce your own results. This provides a substantive addition and ?? if handled properly ?? strengthens your own results.
In short, there are plenty of ways to expand a text. It is important to take into account the purpose of the text and be critical of the reason for its enlargement. If it is necessary to expand a text, this can be done by adding additional explanations and definitions, shorter sentences, repeating and enumerating, but also by placing subheadings, figures and tables. Is this not enough for you? Then you have to get to work substantively and add more content. Success with it!