IELTS Strategic Analysis: Writing

Hello readers, I hope your week was not as hectic as mine!!!

In my last article I discussed some pointers regarding the reading skills of IELTS. I have discussed that the development of reading skill and a substantial level of reading habit can not only be beneficial to reading in IELTS but also for many other tests such as GRE or GMAT. Now that was for reading, having a great skill of reading can also be very much beneficial for writing as well. Today in this article I am going to discuss some of the tricks and tips regarding the writing part which is also a bit synchronized with the reading part. Because the writing skill in English also develops from reading. Here-go, reading habit can also develop writing skills apart from developing scores in reading comprehension. Today I am going to make some strategic point-of-view regarding writing part of IELTS in a brief which would be very much helpful in the near future. Please know that today’s article is going to be brief, as we are going to discuss about writing part of IELTS in gory details in the near future.

What to expect in the exam-hall:

Let us notice the following list of topics which are usually visible on the test day as topics of two essays:

Opinion (Agree or Disagree)
Advantages and Disadvantages
Problem and Solution
Discussion (Discuss both views)
Two-part Question
Graphical Data Analysis (This part is only visible for academic module)

There will be two essays or essay-type questions. For both essays, only 60 minutes will be provided. The allocation of time has to be smart. For instance, the first essay has to be done within 20 minutes whereas the second essay has to be completed within 40 minutes. While we are writing the essay, we have to remember to follow that we write exactly what is wanted as well as what are we actually writing. It is very easy to be distracted and go out of the main track of the topic. Doing that would be committing suicide in more ways than one in IELTS.

Some Strategies to Increase Writing Skills:

We can follow some simple strategies regarding the development of writing skills:

Step: 01 – choose a topic to write about;
Step: 02 – Write about it, 15 to 20 sentences;
Step: 03 – Read it like a reader, not a writer. When you start reading your essay, just forget that you wrote it. Read it as if it was written by someone else and you are judging it from a neutral point of view.
Step: 04 – Make corrections to that essay over and over again, and after making several corrections, read it again. You will feel the differences.
Step: 05 – carrying it on for a month or two will completely change the way you write.

One thing we must remember, the writing pattern should be as good as the international sources such as NY-Times or The Guardians or The Economists or any others as such. When you write something, make as much sure as possible that the sentence structure and word selection is as good as those sources of writings. If that is not possible, make it as simple as you can.

In my previous article, I have mentioned some of the sources of reading materials. Those sources are also effective for writing as well. However, for IELTS, you should not torture much to yourself by going through all those materials like it has been suggested there. For IELTS, any normal source will do. Nevertheless, consistency is the key to all success, developing writing skills are no exception.

That’s it for today. A lot more gory details will be expressed in the later articles. But in my next article, we will learn some strategic views regarding speaking in IELTS.

Till then, happy reading!!!