What really annoys when it comes to academic work is the word limit. For most people, it’s trying to figure what the hell to write. (shouldn’t have been on Facebook in lectures, eh?). Then when you’re finished writing your essay, you realize, you’re no way near the word limit set. So then you wonder what to write to fill it all up so your essay looks more substantive.
So what the hell do you do when you go over the word limit?! More specifically, what the hell do you cut out when you feel that everything is relevant and feel could add a bit more brownie points for marks?
You would be absolutely right in thinking that I’m writing this post because I’ve come to that very problem. I am currently writing a Statement of Purpose for my LLM. The character limit (that is, even SPACES count as a character) is 4,000. I’ve gone nearly over a 1,000 T.T So what the hell do I cut out? And when I do, do I have to change edit the Statement again accordingly?
The painstaking nature of it all is that you can spend hours trying to cut things down and then realizing you’ve changed very little. You try to figure out how to shorten sentences without changing it’s meaning, you wonder what to delete and what to keep. URGH!
I guess admittedly they are needed. God knows what the markers and admission tutor must be going through when they have to siff through hundred and thousands of them. But maybe students should give them a bit of suffering. After all, we spend hours on them and even stay up all night to do them and it causes us anxiety and stres.
Anyone else out there with the same problem? Any tips on how to cope with this stress?! How many words did you go over your word limit?
Kritt Normsaskul 
Sometimes stepping away from it for a bit brings better clarity and when there’s a word limit you can try creating an outline to help keep focus from the start. Also, I’ve learned not to fall in love with my words so the break up is easier when it’s time to cut them.
Cheers for the tip! :D