PLANNING AN ESSAY - SOME TIPS

You have 80 minutes to write two pieces in the exam, which means allocating 40 minutes to each.  The first one is an essay, and a rough idea of how to plan your time for it is as follows:

* Planning - 5 minutes
* Writing - 30 minutes
* Checking - 5 minutes

Some students give themselves 10 minutes to plan, and 25 minutes to write, which is fine.  The important thing is that you do some planning, for it will lead to fewer problems during the writing stage of the essay.  Without the planning stage, the finished essay is normally not as good as it could have been.

Think about what you want to write, and how you want to write it.  Think about the vocabulary and phrases you can use throughout the essay and jot them down as part of your plan.  It is much easier to write with the structure already prepared.

Let's look at this essay topic:

An online friendship is no substitute for real friends.  What's your opinion?  
Write about: "Technology", "Friends and Family", "Your own idea."
(Write your essay in 140-190 words).

In the planning stage you should jot down the Advantages of Online Friendships and the Disadvantages of Online Friendships.  Even if you only talk about one side of the argument in the essay, writing down points for both sides in your plan can be extremely helpful.

Once you've made some quick notes, then think of how you will complete these sentences:

Personally, I believe that...
On the one hand, having an online friendship...but on the other hand...
As far as I'm concerned...

Completing these sentences will give you a much clearer idea of what you want to say, and the direction your essay will take.

You will have three main paragraphs between the introduction and conclusion, each of which will focus on one of the three points mentioned in the essay question.

Planning what you are going to write about will give you direction.  It's an extremely important part of the essay writing process, and the more you practise this skill, the easier it will become.