Writing tips from a candidate who got band 7

Ravindran, who used our writing correction service and obtained band 7 in writing, shared the following tips for the benefit of our readers.

  1. Practice is the key. Most of us have stopped writing letters these days. Practice writing at least 1 letter and 1 essay a day.
  2. Free video lectures at www.ieltsliz.com helped me to devise the strategies to boost my score and save time while writing.
  3. I used an Android app called “Simple flash cards” to learn Idioms and uncommon words. Understanding their synonyms made paraphrasing easier.
  4. Devote at least 30 minutes to read newspapers. Pay special attention to uncommon words, synonyms and idioms.
  5. My sincere advice is to work with a teacher who can review your writing.

Common essay tips:

  1. Split the essay into 4 paragraphs,
  2. Introduction: It should contain the rephrased question, brief response to the question and justification with at least 2 ideas.  Don’t repeat the essay question as it is. Try your best to rephrase the question with synonyms.
  3. Body paragraph 1: Explain the idea and showcase your personal experience (if any). Whenever you repeat the main idea given in the prompt, use different words. Make sure that tenses remain consistent. Use a variety of words to express your ideas.
  4. Body paragraph 2: Present the other side of the argument here.
  5. Conclusion: answering the topic is essential. You also need to give your justification once again with different choice of words.
  6. Word count is very important, essay should be at least 250 words and letter should be at least 150 words

Tip: Have a rough idea about how many words you write per line (The average is 6 – 8 words per line). So, for example, if you write 7 words per line, try to write 40 lines (7 x 40 = 280) to be on the safe side. Even if words are deducted because of repetition, you will still have the required number of words in your essay.

Count the lines just before you start writing your conclusion (should come to 35). That is your last chance to add more words. The conclusion should be crisp.

Common Letter tips:

  1. Identify the letter type – Personal / Semi formal / Formal
  2. If it happens to be a personal letter don’t forget to include at least 3 to 4 sentences on “cherishing memories of your last meeting” or “family inquiries”

Manjusha Nambiar

Hi, I'm Manjusha. This is my blog where I give IELTS preparation tips.

Leave a Reply