Ever since the beginning of Freshman year, the extended essay has seemed like a daunting and annoying task that's going to add to the stress of Junior year. After all, 4000 words is a lot. But, as a Junior who just submitted her EE last week, I’m here to tell you that this paper is really not as bad as it seems. Due dates for different sections of the paper are split up into the Intro/Rationale, AA1, AA2, AA3, and the Conclusion. There is always at least a month between due dates and the longest sections that you’ll have to turn in are the AA’s, which they’re only three paragraphs long. As long as you follow the following tips, writing the extended essay will be one of the easier parts of all of the things you have to do for your junior year as an IB student.
Meet all of the deadlines: Just because the paper isn’t due until the end of the year doesn’t mean that you should wait until the end of the year to write the paper. The paper is due right in the middle of testing season and you don’t want to have to worry about pulling an all-nighter because you missed a deadline for the first section of the paper in December. The deadlines are reasonable and there’s plenty of time between them to simply write three paragraphs.
Give yourself time between the deadlines: Don’t write sections of the EE right before the deadline and definitely don’t wait till right before your meeting with your supervisor. Although the sections are not that long, writer's block is a serious problem and you don’t want to be stressed to figure out what to say two hours before you have to submit the paper. Start early so that you have the time to break up your writing into multiple sections and you’ll have time to go back and edit it before the deadline.
Don’t go over the word count: The EE has a maximum of 4000 words and for some, that might not seem like enough words to get in everything you have to say. However, it is in your best interest to stay within this word count because the alternative is worse. When I had finished my paper, I was 577 words over and I spent about three hours trying to figure out ways to cut down on so many words without losing the important things I wanted to say. So do yourself a favor and make sure that each of your AA's don't exceed 1000 words.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help: Writing the EE is going to be challenging and having someone to discuss ideas was one of the most helpful aspects of this experience. I was lucky to have Mrs. Marmol as my supervisor and she had read both of the novels I was writing my EE on. Between her and my aunt, who is an English teacher, I had plenty of resources to figure out what I wanted to say and how. For those who don’t have these resources, I suggest either asking a friend or Mrs. Kreiger, because it can be hard to come up with ideas until you verbalize them.