IELTS writing can often be the trickiest part of the test and that is because, from my experience, a lot of students ignore the writing until it's very close to the exam, and frankly it’s too late. Therefore, I want you to encourage you to start with writing when you first start your IELTS practice.
In fact, you should be doing everything - reading, writing, speaking and listening together, because they all work together and if you miss one out, you're losing an opportunity to enhance all parts of the exam. The main problem about leaving the writing too late is that generally it takes longer than the other parts of the exam to develop, and reach a high band which is why it needs more time.
What tends to happen in many cases, is that students use their reading and listening scores as an indication of their IELTS level. Actually, this is not a good indication of your overall level as it's only half of the IELTS. The other two parts, the speaking and the writing, are the productive skills which are the ones that quite often cause students to fall below the band that they want. This is because they are the two parts which are almost impossible to do alone and without feedback.
Students often tell me that they struggle with timing of the writing. Achieving this is only important when you get close to your exam. Before that time, it doesn’t really matter how long you spend on the writing. What is important is to develop your writing skills to the band you want, so just focus on actually writing. Just worry about writing at band 7 or 8 or about how to produce a good letter or a good line graph summary or a plausible argument. To be honest, the time is always going to cause you problems if you are not able to write well. Rome wasn't built in a day! Take your time.
Be patient. Spend time to develop your skills, to know how to write complex sentences, to learn how to use good linking devices, not just words like therefore, furthermore etc. there are other devices that you can use as well, like participles, or certain types of clauses that will ensure you get a high band if used correctly. Good writing needs time to develop and time to become natural in your writing. And it takes time to actually do all this to a high band level. If you are looking for Band 7 or Band 8, which seems to be a growing trend, be aware that this is very difficult and it will take some time and practice to achieve.
Here are the steps that you need to go through to produce a great piece of writing.
Step One - Analyse the question.
Task 1 Academic:
Identify the type of question – data, process etc.
Decide what tense you have to use,
How many steps you need.
How to group the information
Task 1 GT
Formal, semi-formal or informal
Who will be the recipient
What is the topic
What kind of language
What kind of response do I want to get – write to get this
Task 2
Start at the end of the question - discussion, advantages/disadvantages, problem/solution?
Check this first - if you don't get this right, you will lose a lot of marks
What do I have to do with this?
Now read the first part of the question and think about the topic.
Step Two - Brainstorm
Task 1 academic
Check what is significant
What things go together
What are the patterns
Task 1 GT
What do I want the reply to this letter to be (we would not write a letter to somebody without expecting a certain reply from them).
The reply will help you decide what to include
What are the main points
Any words or phrases you need to use
Task 2
What ideas have I got about this topic?
What is my evidence?
Why do I believe that? Why do I think that?
Why is that a problem?
Why is that a good solution?
Is there a good example to illustrate?
Ask yourself questions to explore the topic
Step 3 - Planning
Put all the ideas from the brainstorm into a usable outline that you can follow in your actual writing. A whole mishmash of ideas in your head or even scribbled on a piece of paper is not going to translate logically into cohesive writing.
Organise these brainstorming thoughts into some bullet points.
What points are in your introduction
(Your overall comment in T1)
Your first paragraph,
Your second paragraph
Your conclusion
Jot down any words or phrases you want to use beside your plan so you don’t forget them
Make your plan sequential, logical and balanced. If you do this then when you write, you can follow the points, expand them and write it in a way that flows and is cohesive.
Step 4 - Write the task.
Follow your outline (DO NOT abandon it!)
Think about sentence structures (how can I express this idea well)
Think about vocabulary – what word can I use here
Focus on language, on HOW not WHAT
How can I express this idea in my very best language?
How can I link this idea with the one before it?
How can I put in an example so that it really supports my idea?
These are the kind of questions that you should have in your head as you are writing. If you have done steps 1 to 3 well then step 4 will not take too much time.
Step 5 – Check your work
Don’t hand mistakes to the examiner
Have a mental checklist – these are the mistakes you know you make often – you can eliminate these easily – check them first
Now read quickly through your task out loud (in the exam, in your head) – how does it flow? Are there any points which don’t make sense (this often signals a mistake)
Only check your work, don’t start rewriting, you'll get into a mess. If you've done good planning, you don't need to rewrite, you just need to check for mistakes. More time on your planning, brainstorming, analysis of the question, a little bit of time to check any errors that you might have made will go a long way to making the actual writing quicker and easier!
This timing should work out.
- 5 -10 minutes preparation
- 10 – 25 minutes writing
- 5 minutes checking
If you don't do it, you're not going to achieve 7.5 or 8.
Remember, follow this process in all your IELTS writing practice otherwise it will not become second nature. Don't worry about timing it in the beginning. Don't start worrying about timing until you get close to your actual exam. If you can follow this process well, you’ll find the timing sorts itself out.
And remember, take your time, be patient. Rome wasn't built in a day.
For more help, check out this Free IETS Writing Training: