Tips for writing Aim: This study guide gives you some general ideas on improving your own writing skills.

Tips for writing Do not expect to write everything correctly first time, always produce at least one draft. Review it and rewrite it as often as necessary. Even native speakers do this.

Tips for writing Try and learn from previous mistakes and any tutor's corrections and comments. Look up grammar points that have caused trouble. Check for careless mistakes. How many careless mistakes did you make in your last piece of writing?

Tips for writing It is not usually a good idea to look up every word you do not know right at the beginning. This is very time-consuming. Write down your ideas in a first draft, using if necessary the odd word or phrase in your own language, then look up any necessary words of phrases.

Tips for writing Do not write the whole piece in your own language and then translate. Word for word translations are rarely successful. Try to THINK in English from the start, even if you do feel frustrated at not being able to express yourself as you wish. This is only to be expected.

Tips for writing Take every opportunity to write. Prepare yourself for writing by thinking about what language functions are used in any piece of writing. Such functions might be: describing, classifying, comparing and contrasting, writing conclusions. See, for example, Academic Writing Course by R.R. Jordan for further help and exercises.

Tips for writing Take a text which interests you. Read it for general information and then summarise its main points (see section on summary writing for further help).

Tips for writing Select a useful unit from a general course book and work through the exercises or select a text-book appropriate to your subject (an LSP book) and work through useful sections.

Tips for writing Most important be a CRITICAL READER. -Notice how writers achieve a certain effect. -Notice the style (formal or informal) and the form of the piece of writing. -Can you identify the introduction and conclusion, the main ideas? Can you see how the argument is developed? -Collect useful vocabulary and phrases when you read. -Use a highlighter pen to underline them, note them down in a note book for future use.

Tips for writing Finally it can be very useful exercise to get together with a colleague or two and review each other's work.

Tips for writing There are no universal recipes for successful writing. Everybody has different needs. There are certain procedures however, which can prove to be useful. The writing process normally falls into three distinct stages:

Tips for writing Stage 1: The planning stage If possible talk about the writing topic with other people. Think about the purpose for which it will be written: to describe; to report on something; to persuade; to entertain? Think about the style. Is it to be formal, informal, academic? What are you being asked to do?

Tips for writing Do not try to organise ideas at this stage. Think of further questions which your ideas give rise to. Think of the information you now have in relation to these 3 topics: What do I know about this topic? What does my reader already know about the topic? What does my reader need or wait to know about the topic? Carry out further research if you need to answer some of the questions you have raised.

Tips for writing Stage 2: The rough draft Step 1 Write a first draft. Concentrate on ideas, not on expression. Don't worry about grammar and vocabulary at this stage. Step 2 Try to read your draft from you reader's view point. Do you need to add more information? Have you begun with information which you and the reader share in common, before introducing new information? If necessary re-organise your draft by changing the order of ideas, paragraphs or sections. Look at the organisation of ideas. Do not copy, acknowledge.

Tips for writing Step 3 Focus on expression and accuracy. Translate any words and phrases. Find alternative words or phrases. A learner's dictionary or thesaurus (for example Roget's Thesaurus) could be useful. Step 4 Write your second draft, incorporating improvements and corrections. If possible exchange with a colleague. Discuss drafts and suggest improvements:

Tips for writing a. Make your introduction more useful/interesting b. Change the order of ideas/paragraphs c. Add further information to make things clear to your readers d. Provide examples and details of general points e. Combine ideas into a more economical form f. Provide a clearer and more forceful conclusion

Tips for writing Stage 3: The final version Incubation Time DON'T be shy of asking colleagues to discuss a point with you DON'T be afraid to ask for advice on how to improve your writing DON'T thing you are a poor writer if you write something several times. Most things we read are the final product of much rewriting DON'T give up. Writing really does improve with practice.

Tips for writing The control idea (Hamp-Lyons and Heasley (1987) situation  problem  solution  evaluation Situation 'What are we talking about?‘ Problem 'Why are we talking about this?' and 'What is the problem?‘ Solution 'What is to be/has been done?‘ Evaluation 'How good is the solution?'