IELTSNetwork.com

I scored an 8.0 on my recent Writing test and here are some strategies which I used -
1. Spent the first five minutes jotting down my points
2. Attempted the Task 2 first - (about 35 mins.)
3. For Task 2, I drew a quadrant
View | CounterView
_____________________________________
| Points for | Points for |
|______________________________________
| Points against | Points against |
|______________________________________
Drawing this quadrant helped me put my thoughts together.
The topic was something like " Some people say that you should have just enough money, while some people think that you should have more money. What is your view?"

4. The structure of my essay was as follows -
a. Topic introduction (about 40 words)
b. View with Points for and against - added examples to elaborate the point (about 100 words)
c. Counterview with Points for and against - added examples to elaborate the point (about 80 words)
d. Conclusion - this stated my opinion and the reasons for it (about 40 words)

If your problem has been not knowing what to write, then this method will certainly help. (My kid tried it for her class essay and while she normally found it difficult to go beyond 100 words, she ended up with 300 words after using this idea )

imrahul wrote:I scored an 8.0 on my recent Writing test and here are some strategies which I used -
1. Spent the first five minutes jotting down my points
2. Attempted the Task 2 first - (about 35 mins.)
3. For Task 2, I drew a quadrant
View CounterView
_____________________________________
| Points for | Points for |
|______________________________________
| Points against | Points against |
|______________________________________
Drawing this quadrant helped me put my thoughts together.
The topic was something like " Some people say that you should have just enough money, while some people think that you should have more money. What is your view?"

4. The structure of my essay was as follows -
a. Topic introduction (about 40 words)
b. View with Points for and against - added examples to elaborate the point (about 100 words)
c. Counterview with Points for and against - added examples to elaborate the point (about 80 words)
d. Conclusion - this stated my opinion and the reasons for it (about 40 words)

If your problem has been not knowing what to write, then this method will certainly help. (My kid tried it for her class essay and while she normally found it difficult to go beyond 100 words, she ended up with 300 words after using this idea )

Wow, that's an impressive score. Do you have any of your writings you could post in here? I want to have the same score as yours but my max score is 7.5, just couldn't get higher. Do you have other tips for essay writing?

Well, these were the things that I tried this time for the writing test (last attempt I had a 7.0), and they worked

I wrote a couple of practice essays (but that was more to get some practice to write fast). But for a few more topics, I just wrote down the points in the quadrant format that I mentioned earlier. This gave me the practice to jot down my points quickly before starting any essay.

imrahul wrote:Well, these were the things that I tried this time for the writing test (last attempt I had a 7.0), and they worked

I wrote a couple of practice essays (but that was more to get some practice to write fast). But for a few more topics, I just wrote down the points in the quadrant format that I mentioned earlier. This gave me the practice to jot down my points quickly before starting any essay.

So I'd assume you've already have good grammar and essay structure. What you need were just some ideas. Did you have to learn a lot of vocabulary and phrases? And how complex can you write?

I regularly read articles on British & US news sites, besides HBR.org. My need, therefore, was to refresh the phrases and vocabulary that I had read earlier. Sitting with a dictionary to understand meanings and its correct usage helped.

Rather than writing complex, I prefer to write in a way that the reader can quickly understand the point. Of course, as suggested by Ryan and some of the other members in the network, you need to demonstrate your ability to link ideas through appropriate use of connectors.

imrahul wrote:I regularly read articles on British & US news sites, besides HBR.org. My need, therefore, was to refresh the phrases and vocabulary that I had read earlier. Sitting with a dictionary to understand meanings and its correct usage helped.

Rather than writing complex, I prefer to write in a way that the reader can quickly understand the point. Of course, as suggested by Ryan and some of the other members in the network, you need to demonstrate your ability to link ideas through appropriate use of connectors.

Thanks for the sharing. Once again, congrats on your result. Really impressive.