How to Fluff an Essay

Writing an essay to full length can be daunting, especially when dealing with unfamiliar topics. However, your essays don’t have to be short and boring.

One great way to give your writing more depth and appeal is to add ‘fluff.’ Adding fluff to an essay makes your writing more interesting, descriptive, and captivating. This helps to liven up otherwise dull content.

This post will teach you what fluff is and how to fluff an essay without losing its meaning.

What is Fluff in an Essay

Fluff in an essay is excessive words, phrases, or pointless information you add to your essay to increase its length while adding little value to the reader. While fluff is meant to make your essay more interesting, it can sometimes prevent you from articulating your main points effectively.

How do you add fluff to a paragraph?

To add fluff to a paragraph, use adjectives to describe nouns and adverbs to describe verbs. These descriptive words can help the reader better understand what you’re trying to express in the paragraph. You can add examples, quotes, and figurative language like similes, metaphors, and allusions.

How do you make an essay longer without adding words?

To make your college paper longer without adding words, cite research studies or articles that support your points. This will bolster your argument and increase your word count without adding more text yourself.

You can also break up longer paragraphs into shorter ones and combine shorter sentences using conjunctions like “and” and “but” or prepositions like “in addition to” or “furthermore.”

If you want to add fluff to your essays, always do so in a way that doesn’t prevent you from conveying your main message to the reader. Here are 13 clever tricks to apply the next time you want to fluff your essay.

Add lots of details

One effective way to add fluff to your essay is to include details. Though you may want to go straight to the point, adding lots of details will give your readers more information than they would get from just the main points.

When writing, think about any extra information that would be relevant and helpful to the reader. For instance, when describing a person, you can add extra details such as their clothing and their walking style. This will give an extra layer of depth and make your essay more interesting.

Repeat points

Though repetition is usually discouraged in essays, it can help emphasize important points in your essay. Repetition is an excellent way to fluff an essay since it draws the reader’s attention toward the main point.

For instance, if you want readers to focus on the importance of customer service in retail stores, repeating that customer service is essential throughout the essay will help remind readers why customer service matters so much.

Use descriptive phrases

Another effective tool you can use to fluff your essays is descriptive language. This type of language allows you to use words to paint a vivid picture in the reader’s mind. To give your essay more depth, use adjectives and other parts of speech to describe an object, a person, a place, or a situation in detail.

For instance, instead of saying, “The weather was hot,” you can say, “The sun beat down on us with oppressive heat” – this kind of language will make your writing come alive!

Use flowery language

In addition to descriptive language, you can add flowery language to make your essay longer and more enjoyable. Flowery language involves poetic and literary devices such as similes, metaphors, and allusions. These words often evoke strong images in the reader's mind.

When done right, flowery language has the power to create powerful imagery while emphasizing key points— something which can make any essay stand out from the crowd!

How can I make my writing more flowery?

To make your writing flowery, avoid settling for plain language. Instead, think of how to express specific phrases in more exciting ways using metaphors or similes. For example, if you're talking about something that went "fast," try saying it "zoomed away faster than lightning." Adding such flourishes will make your writing more expressive and enjoyable to read.

Add more clarifications

Clarifications improve clarity and make your readers grasp your point more effortlessly. 

When stating your points, provide brief explanations for information that may seem complex to the reader.

For instance, you can provide the meaning of complex words in parentheses. You can also include references where necessary.

Though it may look fluffy and unnecessary, clarifications will make your essay easier to read and understand.

Include several examples

Providing examples throughout your essay is another great way to add fluff and engage your readers further. Depending on the subject, you can provide examples from personal experiences or historical references when writing your essays.

Aside from increasing the length of your essay, examples provide context for arguments so readers can fully understand what you’re discussing.

Add different perspectives

To make your essays lengthy and more interesting, you can add different perspectives on the topic you’re discussing. You can add your perspective or that of an expert on the topic.

For instance, when writing about racial discrimination, you can add your perspective plus that of politicians, social enthusiasts, economists, and religious leaders.

You can provide a clearer picture of what’s going on from different perspectives. This will make your argument stronger and add length to your paper.

Use words of emphasis

Using emphasis words like ‘very,’ ‘really,’ ‘actually,’ and ‘totally’ can help you fluff your essay without sounding irrelevant. You can use such words to emphasize specific points that may go unnoticed.

Words of emphasis can also help you highlight a call to action or to draw the reader’s attention. However, be careful not to overuse them as they may get annoying to your readers.

Choose longer phrases over single words

Instead of using single-word nouns or verbs, opt for longer phrases whenever possible, e.g., ‘sprinted towards’ instead of ‘run.’ Longer phrases will make your essay more descriptive while still conveying your intended message.

They also expand your readers' knowledge and enhance your paper's content without making it cliché’. Additionally, you can use extra words to add more meaning to your essay.

For instance, instead of saying “many,” you could say “an abundance” or “a considerable amount,” which adds more detail to your writing.

Add counterarguments

Counterarguments are other thoughtful yet interesting ways to add fluff to your essays. They are statements that contradict or oppose the main arguments of your essay.

When writing your essay, demonstrate a deeper understanding of your topic by addressing contradictions. Use counterarguments to show the reader that you thought critically and understood both sides of your topic.

For instance, if your main argument is that students should have access to free education, a counterargument could be that schools do not have enough resources to provide free education for all students.

Use more transition words and phrases

Transition words and phrases give your essay fluidity and help readers understand how one thought relates to another.

When you use transition words strategically, they help fill out an essay and make it longer without sacrificing quality. Examples of transition words to use in your essays include:

• However
• In addition
• Furthermore
• Additionally
• In conclusion

Use these words throughout your essay but be careful not to pepper them in every sentence or paragraph.

Avoid contractions and abbreviations

Even though contractions and abbreviations save time, they will only do a little to increase the length of your essay. To add fluff to your essay, make sure you write them all out in full.

For instance, say ‘do not’ instead of ‘don’t,’ ‘will not’ instead of won’t’ United Kingdom instead of UK, and ‘University of Vermont’ instead of UVM. This is a simple yet effective way to add extra length without sacrificing quality or clarity in your writing.

Use quotes to back up arguments

Finally, remember to add quotes to your essay. To make it lengthier and more interesting, add quotes from experts with extensive knowledge of the topic.

Such quotes can provide powerful support for your arguments and make them more convincing. Quotes also inject personality into paragraphs that would otherwise be dry and lifeless. As usual, know how to balance and be careful not to add too much of them.

Key takeaway

Even though you’re advised to write essays that are concise and straight to the point, it can often get boring. Adding some fluff can spice things up by making your writing more exciting and captivating without losing its meaning.

Fluff is not just about adding meaningless words to achieve an arbitrary word count. Next time you want to fluff an essay, use the tricks in this article to do so effectively. With good practice, you can create a well-rounded essay that provides interesting details and leaves your readers wanting more!

If you’re struggling to meet your word count and need help, our professional paper writers can provide you with exactly what you need. From writing from scratch to rewriting and editing, we can deliver a high-quality paper while meeting your specific guidelines and word count requirements.