English Writing Tips

Student: June Lin

April 2023

Writing tips (1)

You can rewrite or combine your sentences, without changing the meaning, to make
your writing more interesting and varied.

Example 1

He went to bed very late. He did not set his alarm clock.

He went to bed very late without setting his alarm clock.

Example 2

He was riding to schoolHe got a puncture in his front tyre.

While he was riding to school, he got a puncture in his front tyre.

Writing tips (2)

You can make your story more interesting by using adjectives. Adjectives give details
about people, places and things.

Example 1

They watched a group of naughty little monkeys playing in the tree.

Example 2

Jane did not like the slithering (滑行) snakes.

Example 3

There were two elephants in a large, open compound with a big, tall tree to give
shade
Writing tips (3)

When you write, it is necessary to look carefully at the details provided

i.e. the first three pictures. You also need to consider other aspects which are not
shown in the pictures:

• What happened at the beginning? (setting a context (背景))

• Why are the people doing what they are doing? (cause and effect)

• What is likely to happen next? (predicting the end)

It is more interesting if we know the following: Why were A and B going to do?

• Did they know if there are any special things happened?

• If so, what were their reactions and why did they do this?

• What is likely to happen to sth/someone?

• How will A and B React to the consequences?

Writing tips (4)

When you write, it is important to give your story a good and interesting ending. In a
story, it shows a man deciding to donate blood at a hospital. They show the
procedure for registering and collecting blood. Therefore, it could show a number of
different endings:
Perhaps the man finished donating blood, went for a cup of tea and then went home
to sleep. That is quite possible but not very interesting.

Perhaps the man left the hospital and had an accident himself and needed his own
blood later that day.

Perhaps someone, who had a rare blood type, needed a blood transfusion and was
able to receive the man's blood.

Writing tips (5)

You can make your story more interesting by using direct speech. This tells the
readers what the people in the story are saying, and it makes the characters more
real.

Example 1

'These are exactly what Joe would like,' said Mrs Lim.

Example 2

'Yes,' her husband replied. 'You're right. Let's buy them. We'll need a tank to keep
them in, too.'