Tips for band 8 essay writing

2. Think and plan before writing:

As soon as you finish reading don’t just start writing. Think think think!

How can you answer it using your language, knowledge and experience?  

Very often there will be more than 1 part to the question; sometimes even 3 or 4 parts.When you produce your answer you must answer all the different parts of the question.

Some good study guides provide set plans, then make the process much easier, with these guides you just have to drop your ideas into the plan. Part of the point is that you should treat each different chapter as a mini essay.

- Borrow structures/ideas/language from essays you have written in the past, but you make certain they apply to the question in front of you.

That means thinking: thinking not just about what to include but what not to include. Your ideas must link together to form a whole – that requires more thought. If you start writing and then half way through realise your essay doesn’t make sense – it’s too late to start over. SO MAKE SURE YOU THINK BEFORE STARTING.