Six hundred and fifty words is plenty
By Ryan Jaffe ·
Nobody has ever needed more room. They have needed to want less from the essay.
What comes out first is setup — the paragraph explaining how we arrived at the moment. Then the adjectives doing work the verbs should do. Then the second example, which is almost always weaker than the first and there for insurance. Then the closing lines that restate the point.
What that leaves is short, and short reads as confident. A reader who finishes early and remembers you is a better outcome than a reader who finishes on time and remembers nothing.
If cutting a third feels impossible, that is usually a sign the essay is covering a season instead of a scene.