Is Your 500-Word Essay Typed or Handwritten?
A handwritten essay piece produces more pages than a typed piece in Google Docs or Word. This is because handwriting is larger than typed wording, approximately twice the size. Of course, this varies depending on the average writer.
What Size is Your Handwriting?
You might handwrite college essays and other essay types but everyone has different size handwriting! It also depends on how many words you write on a line versus how many words you type on a line and whether you use lined paper or blank paper. Lined paper is easier to write on and keep an eye on the number of words per line, whereas blank paper is harder to write on neatly.
There’s more too. It depends on your overall line spacing (double spacing or single spacing element), your paragraph spacing, whether you indent or not, the size of your margins and the size and type of font you use.
The General Rule
Generally though, a Google Docs' 500-word essay in Arial 12-point (the point or pt refers to the size of the font) produces one page of copy, single-spaced. If the copy is double-spaced, expect a 500-word piece to produce two pages of text. Based on handwriting being twice the size of typed copy, expect one, 500-word handwritten piece to produce approximately two pages of copy.
Bear in mind that the above information depends on the size of page you use as well. An A4 page in portrait layout is different to landscape. However, you wouldn’t usually type or write an essay on an A4 in landscape layout!
For college essay guidance, you may find this article useful.
What Factors Change the Number of Pages 500 Words Produces?
While one 500-word academic essay in Arial 12-pt (Google Docs or Word) produces one page of text, there are certain critical factors that change the number of pages, as follows:
If you choose a larger font size, for example Arial 14-pt, your page count will change to approximately one and a quarter pages. The larger the font, the more pages you’ll end up with. The smaller the font and you will end up with a piece that’s ¾ or half a page of A4.
The general preference is to use a 12-point size and the most uniform accepted font is Arial or 12-point Times New Roman font. Let’s move onto standard Font Type.
As mentioned above, stick with Arial if you’re unsure what’s required for SEO articles and other essay types. Other perfectly acceptable fonts are Times New Roman and Calibri. Times New Roman in 12-pt produces one page of typed copy on A4. Calibri produces slightly more words on one page of A4 as it’s a little smaller.
However, if you’re looking to create more pages out of 500 words, consider using Verdana as it’s a larger font that is perfectly readable and usually, widely accepted. Do check the font requirements, especially for college assignments or a thesis statement as you should always follow the specified brief.
You can read up on different fonts and when to use them (and when not to) by clicking here.
Line spacing makes a huge difference! Most blog articles (even with internal links) are single-spaced (producing one page of A4 containing 500-words). As soon as you double-space a piece, you get double the amount of pages. So a 500-word piece with double-spaced pages produces 2 pages of A4 text. Extra space means extra pages!
- Inserting Images and Videos
If you’re writing a 500-word blog piece or an academic writing piece, then inserting images and videos makes a difference to your overall page quantity.
Your margin size makes difference too. Standard 1-inch margins of 12-point Arial font single-spaced produces one page of 500 words A4. If you use narrower margins, you’ll get more text on one single page and if you use wider margins, you’ll end up with a just over one page of typed text. The same rule applies to handwritten pieces. It's best to use standard margins, especially for blogs, articles and writing essays.
Normal 1-inch margins are best for a 500-word document.
Some writers like to indent their paragraphs (especially the introductory paragraph), and this makes a difference to the overall page quantity. If you indent every paragraph, a 500-word document in 12-point font will produce a little over one page of typed text. Paragraph spacing settings therefore make a difference to the end result, whether you use standard paragraph spacing or other.
- Word Spacing After a Full Stop (or Period)
If you only use a single space after a full stop or period, you will end up with more text on one page consisting of 500-words. If you double space after a full stop or period, you’ll end up with slightly less text on one single page.
- Bullet Points and Numbered Lists
Inserting bullet points and numbered lists elongates a page of 500-words.
Blog posts require headers to break-up the text and for SEO best practices. If you use multiple headers, the end result will change and one, 500-word article will equate to more than one page. Again, font family and size of font will also impact the number of pages used.
So you see there are lots of factors that impact the overall number of pages you end up with when writing one 500-word article.
The Number of Sentences One 500-Word Piece Produces
A 500-word essay produces approximately 30 sentences. A sentence normally consists of approximately 18 words. Expect around 5-6 sentences per paragraph, depending on the topic sentence.
The Time it Takes to Read One, 500-Word Essay
This depends on your reading speed but generally, 500-words of text takes approximately 1 minute to read 100-200 words, 2 minutes to read based on reading 250 words per minute.
The Time it Takes to Write One, 500-Word Essay
Again, like the point above this depends on the writer. If you know your topic well, then expect it to take approximately half-an-hour but if your piece involves in-depth research, it might take significantly longer. It also depends on your typing speed and handwriting speed if your piece is handwritten.
What About Character Count?
Some people find using an online word counter tool useful when producing 500-words to analyse count calculations. Many online tools also calculate the number of characters in 500-words and the best and most reputable is Originality AI which calculates word count, character count and additionally, detects plagiarism and AI-generated content.
Final Words on How Many Pages One 500 Word Piece Produces
If you type up a piece in Google Docs using Arial font in 12-point size, single-spaced without multiple headers, images, videos, bullet/numbered lists then expect to produce one page of A4. The end result varies depending on the font chose, the size of the font, document line spacing, margin size, headers, indentations and whether or not you handwrite or type your text.
The perfect 500-word essay in Arial 12-point, single-spacing with 1-inch margins equates to 1 page of A4. Remember, you can always use a count calculator online to determine content word count for your writing projects.
