MORE RELATED ONLINE EXERCISES HERE:
Showing posts with label WRITING TIPS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WRITING TIPS. Show all posts
Monday, 29 April 2019
Tuesday, 26 March 2019
Sunday, 24 February 2019
Monday, 5 February 2018
Thursday, 25 January 2018
FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WRITING ARTICLES AND THREE USEFUL SAMPLES TO FOLLOW
Five Things You Need to Know about Writing
Articles
In Cambridge First or Cambridge Advanced,
you might be asked to write an article. But do you know what makes an article
different from other types of writing?
1. The reader is identified
An article is like a direct conversation
with the reader. The exam question might tell you who your readers are. For
example, the students at a school, or the people living in a town or people who
are interested in sports. Everything you write must speak to that reader and
engage their interest right from the first sentence.
2. It has to get attention
If you're anywhere on the internet these
days, you'll be bombarded with articles with headlines that pull the reader in.
It's called "click baiting" and all the writer is trying to do is
make you open the page to read their article. You need to think like a
journalist when you're writing your article.
Look at the heading and the first line of
this article. How did I get your attention?*
3. It has to be interesting
For an article to work, it has to be
engaging enough to read all the way through. Remember how bored the examiner
must be after reading fifty exam papers. Make it easier for them to get a good
impression about your writing by entertaining them. Add humour, real life or
made up examples, or make up quotes.
4. It has to be easy to read
Use subheadings to break up the text and
make clear paragraphs. Write in a semi-informal, conversational style.
And make sure there is organisation to your ideas. The planning stage is vital
for this. Spend 5-10 minutes brainstorming ideas and choose the best
three or four. Think what your subheadings might be and then write a short
introduction that lets the reader know what to expect.
Keep in mind that you want the reader to
keep reading, so don't tell them exactly what they will read. This is not an
essay! In an essay you usually restate the question, explain how you will
answer it and maybe say why it's important. In an article, that will kill the
reader's interest.
Look back at this paragraph. What sentence
style have I used that makes it semi-informal and speak directly to the
reader?**
5. Write a good ending
In an essay you sum up the points that
have gone before and draw a conclusion from that. But in an article, it's
better to give the reader something to think about, perhaps by asking them
another question or giving them a call to action. Often, the best endings link
back to the starting point in some way.
Here are two endings I could use for this
article:
Look at your internet browsing history
from the last day. Which articles got your attention? Can you see how they did
it?
So, now you know how to write an article,
why don't you write one giving advice on something you know about?
Common mistakes students make in articles:
The language is too formal and more suited
to essays. Avoid words like: to sum up, some people say, nevertheless, on one
hand etc.
They don't use quotes or examples.
They either use not enough, or too many,
questions. The questions, called rhetorical questions because they don't
require an answer, shouldn't be more than one per paragraph. Good examples are:
Have you ever ……..?
What do you think about ……..?
Are you one of those people who thinks
that ……?
What would life be like if ……?
Will the future bring us ….. ?
* A title which makes the subject
immediately clear. For some reason, people like reading lists! And a direct,
rhetorical question in the first paragraph to make readers want to find out the
answer.
** I've used the imperative to give
instructions. E.g. Think… Keep in mind… Write… Spend…
SOURCE: www.examenglish.com
Tuesday, 23 May 2017
A FOR AND AGAINST ESSAY: AN EXAMPLE WITH TOP TIPS AND PRACTICE
ENCONTRADO EN: learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO PRACTICE WITH ONLINE EXERCISES ON THIS EXAMPLE ABOVE:
WRITING A LETTER OF COMPLAINT
The different ways of
complaining are:
•
Face to face
•
By phone
•
By email
•
By letter
Let’s first take a look at the
advantages and disadvantages of each before concluding which is the most
effective.
Picture this scenario: you have
bought a faulty item from a shop and you take it back to complain. You go
directly to the shop assistant and tell them your problem. They say they cannot
help you, which makes you angrier, to the point perhaps where you start insulting
the poor shop assistant. RESULT: This will do you no favours, like getting any
compensation, or even a refund. If you go directly to the first person you see
within the organisation you are complaining about, you may be wasting your time
as they may be powerless to take any action or provide you with a solution. So
the important lesson to be learnt is to make sure firstly that you are speaking
to the relevant person, the one who has the authority to make decisions.
Perhaps you don’t have time to
actually go and see the relevant authority in person so you decide to make a
phone call. The problem with complaining by phone is that you may be passed
around from department to department, making you more and more angry until you
finally give up. Either that or the phone is hung up on you, which leaves you
fuming even more. Furthermore, any contact can be denied.
The same applies to emails too,
which can additionally be deleted, or even manipulated.
This leaves us with the
traditional letter. When we first make a complaint the usual response is a
request to write a letter: “Can you put that down in writing please?”
The advantages of writing a
letter of complaint are that:
• Written records are
still very important, e.g. in legal matters as opposed to a fax or email.
• You have complete
control over what is being said, and you can present evidence.
• You can be prepared, and
plan your letter carefully.
• You are able to keep
copies of anything sent in writing.
• You have time to reflect
and/or consult as opposed to complaining on the spot.
So here are some useful points
to consider when writing your letter:
• State what went wrong exactly.
You need to provide concrete evidence, with documentation, for example a
receipt, where possible. Make sure you keep copies of all correspondence,
including relevant documentation. You also need to state where, when, who was
involved, what was said or done. Photographic or video evidence boosts your
case.
• What do you expect from your complaint? If you are complaining about a situation at work, focus on taking action to improve situations rather than spending your time complaining.
• State a time limit for
when you expect a reply.
• Be assertive, and stay
calm.
• Make sure you address
the complaint to the relevant person.
This will be more likely to
ensure that you will achieve a satisfactory outcome from your complaint. Good
luck!
FUENTES: learnenglish.britishcouncil.org / islcollective.com
Sunday, 30 April 2017
Thursday, 16 March 2017
TIPS FOR WRITING A FILM REVIEW: AN EXAMPLE
ENCONTRADO EN: learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org
FOR MORE PRACTICE AND EXERCISES ON THIS EXAMPLE CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW:
Thursday, 16 February 2017
WRITING MYSTERY STORIES: 10 MYSTERY STORY IDEAS TO FOSTER YOUR IMAGINATION
CREATED BY VALANGLIA
STORY 1:
Wealthy, unmarried Anne Lamont is murdered, and she
leaves her entire fortune to a man she met two weeks before, putting suspicion
squarely on him. Detective Arnold thinks the man is innocent. He has a week to
make his case before this goes before a jury. But when he digs into Anne’s
background, he finds the sweet old matron wasn’t at all what she seemed. (To be continued by you).
STORY 2:
A headless corpse is found in a freshly-dug grave in Arkansas.
The local police chief, Arley Socket, has never had to deal with more than
missing gas cans and treed cats. His exploration of this weird murder digs up a
mystery older than the 100-year-old town of Jericho that harkens all the way
back to a European blood-feud. (To
be continued by you).
STORY 3:
Someone is murdering homeless people in Phoenix,
Arizona. Detective Sally Fortnight is determined to get to the bottom of it…
but what she uncovers may be more deadly than she could ever guess. (To be continued by you).
STORY 4:
It is the Cold War era. Private Eye Charles Nick
searches for a missing cryptanalyst, all the while dodging an obsessed FBI
agent who thinks Nick is a communist spy. The cryptanalyst, by the way, went
missing for a good reason: he might have cracked the latest Russian spy code,
and he’s running for his life. (To
be continued by you).
STORY 5:
1850’s England: elderly Doris and her six young wards
are caught in a storm and forced to ask for shelter at an enormous manor deep
in the English countryside. But all is not well in this home, and before
long, Doris faces a bizarre problem: the manor’s lord, Sir Geoffrey, claims his
estranged wife Alice is going to murder him that evening. Alice, meanwhile,
claims that Geoffrey is going to murder her. After dinner, both are
found dead, in the library, seated as if having a rational discussion, but dead
as mice. There is no obvious murder weapon, and quite possibly, the murderer is
loose in the manor. Doris is no detective, but she might as well figure this
out. Given that storm, help won’t be coming until it’s too late. (To be continued by you).
STORY 6:
Twelve-year-old Alexandra is a leader. She
runs her school’s newspaper, manages three after-school clubs (the book club,
the fencing club, and the junior stamp-collector club), and doesn’t have time
for nonsense. Which is why when she sees a man dressed all in black carrying a
manilla folder as he climbs out of her principal’s window, her determination to
get to the bottom of it knows no bounds. Look out, data-thief. Here comes
Alexandra! (To be continued by
you).
STORY 7:
David is a senior software engineer for a major tech
company, and he spends most days knee-deep in other people’s databases, trying
to figure out what they did wrong. One day, he happens across a piece of
malicious code designed to steal financial information. He reports it and
deletes it, but he comes across that same code again—in the database of a
completely different company. He finds it again; and again. And the fifth time
around, his manager drops a hint that the higher-ups think he’s the
best person to figure out who’s planting it. Undercover, they send him to each
of the company’s data centers: one in London, one in Boston, one in Dallas, and
one in Seattle. It’s going to be his job—socially anxious as he is—to interview
everyone and find out who’s planting that code and why. (To be continued by you).
STORY 8:
General March hires Detective Thomas to try to find
the person who’s been blackmailing March for the past twenty years. Thomas
tracks the miscreant down, but finds that the man behind the threats has been
dead for the past ten years. So who’s carrying on the blackmailing? And is the
secret that’s held March prisoner this long something that should stay a secret? (To be continued by you).
STORY 9:
Defense attorney Bob Larson enjoys his job. He likes
justice; he likes being right. Usually, he thinks right and wrong are really
easy to spot. Then he ends up representing a young Navy Seal who shot and
killed an elderly woman—and claims it was in self-defense. Who’s really
the bad guy?
STORY 10:
Sandra is a mystery-lover. She sees mysteries and
hidden conspiracies everywhere they aren’t, and her sister Carrie
laughs this off as a silly quirk… until Carrie is framed for the murder of the
man in the next apartment. Carrie’s DNA is somehow all over the place, though
she swears she’s never even been in that apartment before. No one thinks Carrie
is innocent but Sandra… and she has a limited amount of time to prove her
sister is innocent. (To be continued by you).
Wednesday, 15 February 2017
Friday, 27 January 2017
Thursday, 8 December 2016
WRITING A MAGAZINE ARTICLE: AN EXAMPLE AND SOME GENERAL TIPS
ENCONTRADO EN: learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW FOR ITS RELATED ONLINE EXERCISES:
OTHER GENERAL TIPS ON WRITING A MAGAZINE
ARTICLE (EXTENSION):
STEP 1: SELECT YOUR TOPIC.
Choose a topic that interests you enough to focus on it for at least a week or two. If your topic is broad, narrow it. Instead of writing about how to decorate your home, try covering how to decorate your home in country style on a shoestring budget. That’s more specific and, as such, easier to tackle.
Choose a topic that interests you enough to focus on it for at least a week or two. If your topic is broad, narrow it. Instead of writing about how to decorate your home, try covering how to decorate your home in country style on a shoestring budget. That’s more specific and, as such, easier to tackle.
Then write a rough, rough draft, including
everything you can think of. Stay loose, avoid getting analytical, and enjoy
the process of sharing what you know. When you’re done, you’ll have the bare
bones of an article that only you could write. Then put it aside for a while.
STEP 2: ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCE’S NEEDS.
Now, come back to your piece. Switch gears and imagine you’re the reader of this article. Pick three words to describe the audience you want to address (e.g., professionals, single men). As this reader, what questions would you like answered? You might not know the answers yet, but list the questions anyway; you’ll find answers in the next step.
Now, come back to your piece. Switch gears and imagine you’re the reader of this article. Pick three words to describe the audience you want to address (e.g., professionals, single men). As this reader, what questions would you like answered? You might not know the answers yet, but list the questions anyway; you’ll find answers in the next step.
STEP 3: RESEARCH.
Research will ground your article in fact. Good details to include with your how-to are:
Research will ground your article in fact. Good details to include with your how-to are:
- Statistics
- Quotes by well-known
people
- Definitions
- Anecdotes (short, illustrative stories about yourself or someone else)
- Quotes and examples from people like the reader or from popular books
on the subject
- References to other media (film, television, radio)
- Helpful tools, resources or products (if many, consider creating a
sidebar)
- References to local venues or events (if for a regional/local
publication).
Collect everything you have gathered and put it in a folder, an electronic document, a notebook or whatever you like. Don’t forget to keep track of sources in case you are later asked by an editor to verify them. You may want to sift through your research at a separate sitting from gathering it. Or just go ahead and sprinkle your research in right when you find it. It’s a lot like cooking—play around until you feel you have it “just right.”
STEP 4: TIGHTEN YOUR DRAFT.
Keeping your audience in mind, write a tighter draft incorporating the new supporting information you’ve collected. Sometimes what you’ve learned in Steps 2 and 3 may compel you to start over with a completely fresh draft. Or you may just want to revise what you have as you proceed, retaining a nice conversational tone by directly addressing your audience.
Keeping your audience in mind, write a tighter draft incorporating the new supporting information you’ve collected. Sometimes what you’ve learned in Steps 2 and 3 may compel you to start over with a completely fresh draft. Or you may just want to revise what you have as you proceed, retaining a nice conversational tone by directly addressing your audience.
This time when you read your draft, ask
yourself: Is it working? Is it too general, too lightweight, uninteresting,
unclear or choppy? If so, comb some of your favorite publications for how-to
articles. What techniques are those writers using that you might employ?
STEP 5: MAKE IT SPECIFIC.
Double-check to see that you’ve included every pertinent step in the process. How-to articles have to be thorough. You want your reader to walk away knowing exactly how to make that Thanksgiving dinner on a shoestring budget, execute that rugby tackle or locate great accommodations.
Double-check to see that you’ve included every pertinent step in the process. How-to articles have to be thorough. You want your reader to walk away knowing exactly how to make that Thanksgiving dinner on a shoestring budget, execute that rugby tackle or locate great accommodations.
If your narrative goes on and on, or off in too
many directions, break it down into key points indicated with subheads (as in
this article). Synthesizing complicated information and breaking it down into
steps is especially crucial for online writing, and is also a trend in print.
STEP 6: READ, REVISE, REPEAT.
Read the draft of your how-to article out loud to a supportive friend. Then, ask her a series of questions: Does she now understand the process? Are there any steps missing? Is there anything else she would like to know about the subject? Could she do the task herself? With your friend’s suggestions in mind, use your best judgment in deciding what changes, if any, need to be made.
Read the draft of your how-to article out loud to a supportive friend. Then, ask her a series of questions: Does she now understand the process? Are there any steps missing? Is there anything else she would like to know about the subject? Could she do the task herself? With your friend’s suggestions in mind, use your best judgment in deciding what changes, if any, need to be made.
Here’s a quick list to help you catch errors or
omissions:
- Did you adequately describe the ingredients/supplies needed in order
for the reader to complete the task?
- Did you include all the important steps?
- Is the order logical?
- Did you use words that indicate sequence: first, next, then?
- Did you warn readers of possible pitfalls?
Rewrite, read aloud, rewrite, read aloud, rewrite, find a proofreader and, only when you’re satisfied you’ve written an effective how-to article, submit your piece to an appropriate publication with a short cover letter.
ENCONTRADO EN: www.writersdigest.com
Saturday, 7 May 2016
WRITING A POSTCARD AND A BLOG POST: TWO EXAMPLES
WRITING A POSTCARD: AN EXAMPLE + ONLINE EXERCISES
FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR ONLINE EXERCISES ON THIS:
WRITING A BLOG POST: AN EXAMPLE + ONLINE EXERCISES
FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR ONLINE EXERCISES ON THIS:
FUENTE COMÚN: learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org
Thursday, 14 April 2016
TIPS FOR WRITING BIOGRAPHIES
ENCONTRADO EN: www.youtube.com/mrsgehres
Tuesday, 23 February 2016
Tuesday, 16 February 2016
WRITING A LETTER OR EMAIL (FORMAL AND INFORMAL)
ENCONTRADO EN: es.pinterest.com/keyeyti/teaching-english
Monday, 18 January 2016
WRITING AN INFORMAL EMAIL: AN EXERCISE
ENCONTRADO EN: learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org
MORE RELATED ONLINE EXERCISES HERE:
Friday, 27 November 2015
Saturday, 21 November 2015
WRITING A PERSONAL PROFILE FOR A DATING SITE: 8 TIPS
SOME IMPORTANT TIPS ABOUT WRITING A PERSONAL PROFILE ONLINE
CREATED BY VALANGLIA
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