If you write 600 words, you’ll end up with 2 and 2/3 pages double spaced.
Imagine this scenario. You’re taking a college course on geography. The professor assigns coursework, requiring ten short answers. He’s asked you to write at least 600 words per answer with double spacing. You’ll need to submit your responses through the class website as a Microsoft Word document. Here’s the question: How many pages do you need to write in total?
To know how many pages you’ll need, you’ll first have to select a font. We recommend using Arial font or Times New Roman in a 12-point font size. That’s a standard, easy-to-read option. Most readers prefer something classic. You could always test your limits with a more exotic font, such as Calibri or Verdana; however, think carefully before selecting anything too hard to read. You want your professor to pay attention to the content of your writing, not your formatting.
Since you’ve been given a word count, you know that each short answer will need to be at least 600 words. Using the chart below, you can see that the same number of words may result in a different page count, depending on the line spacing you select. With the assigned word count, each short answer would be approximately 2 and 2/3 pages double spaced. Had the professor assigned single spacing, you’d end up with 1 and 1/3 pages per short answer. In total, you’ll probably end up writing around 24-27 double spaced pages to complete the 6,000-word assignment.
Of course, you can imagine that the content of your answers can influence the page length. Let’s say you use lots of long words in your answers, like Constantinople and Mississippi. That 600-word short answer could end up being longer. By changing the type of font and deviating from standard one-inch margins, you might also be able to manipulate the page count. For that reason, we can’t give a definitive answer about how many pages you’ll end up writing.
Here’s the good news: Most word processors contain a word counter that allows you to check the word count and character count so that you can be precise. Also, if you’re writing for an assignment, it never hurts to ask for clarification. Ask the professor if he wants to see a certain number of pages or ask for a general guideline for formatting. As a good rule of thumb, use this chart to approximate the number of pages you’ll get for a particular amount of words.
If you’d like to know how to convert a speech from pages to minutes, check out this article.
