**UPDATE** As of July 26, 2023 Writing Task #2 will now be an Academic Discussion Writing Task. Therefore, the following advice will not apply to TOEFL. You can find out more at ets.org or click here and scroll to "New Writing Task."
The following advice does apply if you are planning to continue academic education in English and want to improve as a writer.
How many words does my Writing Task #2 have to be?
I hear this question a lot. If you truly want to make your writing effective, it's about developing your examples. Get specific. Show how the examples work to support your opinion. This way you'll never have to worry about word count. Your fully developed essay will have a word count that goes beyond the suggested minimum. (By the way it's 300 words, but who's counting?) Find out how to develop your examples in this video.