Especially with papers that deal with abstract or layered topics. I once wrote a piece on social theory where just setting the context took me like 500 words, and the conclusion needed more space too because of all the opposing views I had to tie together. That’s when I realized the 10% rule isn’t always the best fit. For anyone curious, there’s a really helpful breakdown here — https://www.customwriting...should-research-paper-be/ — that goes into how flexible word counts should be depending on your subject and structure. That article kind of reassured me that it’s okay to adjust the usual “rules” based on the flow and depth of the paper.