B1 Preliminary Writing: planning and paragraphs

• Whether you can turn a task into three or four notes before you start writing.
• Whether your writing divides into paragraphs a reader can see on the page.
• Control of linkers that join sentences: and, but, so, because, although.
• Control of linkers that join paragraphs: also, anyway, on the other hand, in the end.
• Whether you write to length rather than discovering the limit halfway through.
• Whether the opening sentence does work rather than announcing the topic.
• Whether each middle paragraph has one job and finishes it.
• Time management across two tasks in the time allowed.
• Whether the last sentence closes the piece rather than stopping it.

1. Step 1: 1

   Read the task twice and underline

   First read for what kind of text it is; second read to underline the points you must cover. Two readings of a short task take thirty seconds and prevent the most expensive mistake in the paper.

2. Step 2: 2

   Write three or four notes, not sentences

   ‘1 yes come / 2 Sat better / 3 bring cake / 4 ask time’. Notes in your own language are fine — this is a memory aid, not a draft.

3. Step 3: 3

   Choose the shape before you write

   Opening line, two middle paragraphs, closing line. Decide which note goes in which paragraph now, so you never stop mid-sentence to decide.

4. Step 4: 4

   Budget your words

   Roughly 15 for the opening, 35 each for the two middles, 15 to close. Knowing the budget stops a first paragraph from swallowing half the piece.

5. Step 5: 5

   Start each middle paragraph with its point

   Put the main idea in the first sentence and support it in the second. A paragraph that reaches its point in the last line reads as unplanned.

6. Step 6: 6

   Link inside sentences before you link between them

   ‘I’d love to come, but I finish work at seven’ shows more control than two short sentences plus ‘However’. Use the big paragraph linkers sparingly.

7. Step 7: 7

   Keep an eye on the clock, not the word count

   Give each task its half of the time and stop when the time is up. Candidates who write until they feel finished always run out of minutes on the second task.

8. Step 8: 8

   Leave the last two minutes alone

   Plan to finish early. Two minutes of checking on a piece you have finished is worth more than two extra sentences on a piece you have not.

• Not thisOne block of 100 words with no paragraph breaks.

  ThisFour short blocks: opening, point one, point two, close.

  Organisation is marked directly, and paragraph breaks are the visible evidence of it.

• Not thisFirstly, I would like to say that this is an interesting topic.

  ThisCooking at home saves more money than people expect.

  An opening that describes the task instead of doing it spends the most valuable fifteen words of the piece.

• Not thisI started writing and thought about the structure as I went.

  ThisI wrote four notes first, then wrote without stopping.

  Thinking and writing at the same time produces the long first paragraph and the rushed ending that examiners see constantly.

• Not thisMoreover, furthermore, in addition, additionally.

  ThisAlso, and, but, so.

  Heavy academic linkers in a 100-word informal text sound memorised and often appear in the wrong position.

• Not thisAlthough I like swimming. I prefer running.

  ThisAlthough I like swimming, I prefer running.

  ‘Although’ opens a subordinate clause that must join the main clause with a comma, not a full stop.

• Not thisI wrote 190 words and ran out of time for the second task.

  ThisI wrote about 110 and had eight minutes left for the second task.

  Length is not rewarded. Time spent on extra words in task one is taken directly from task two, where marks are still available.

• Not thisIn conclusion, that is my opinion about this subject.

  ThisGive it a try for a month — I doubt you’ll go back.

  A conclusion that only announces that the piece has ended adds nothing; a closing line that recommends or asks something does.

also

Adds a point; usually mid-sentence or after the subject.

as well

Adds a point at the end of a sentence.

although

Joins a contrast inside one sentence, with a comma.

even though

Stronger version of ‘although’.

so

Introduces a result: ‘It was raining, so we stayed in.’

because

Introduces a reason; followed by a clause, not a noun.

because of

Introduces a reason; followed by a noun phrase.

on the other hand

Introduces the opposite view, usually starting a new sentence.

first of all

Marks the first point, informally.

to start with

Another informal way of marking a first point.

in the end

Marks the final outcome.

anyway

Moves the text on, often towards the closing line.

for instance

Introduces an example; interchangeable with ‘for example’.

in fact

Introduces a stronger or more surprising version of the point.

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