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Introduction
Writing a good piece of work is one of the most difficult aspects of mastering a language. Being able to write properly
in another language is very important and requires ability and practice. When writing, it is important to use a variety
of vocabulary, structures, connectors, tenses, prepositions, adjectives and nouns. In this unit, we will explore all
the aspects required to have success in your writings.

There are many types of writings and each of them has different styles, vocabulary, transitions and structures.
However, no matter the type of text that you decide to write, there are some basic steps that you should follow to write
effective texts.

Six steps to writing success

In this unit, we will explore 6 steps every writer should implement. These steps will help you to organize your ideas and
to produce a clear and organized piece of work.

Step 1: brainstorming

Brainstorming is the first step you must take when planning any piece of writing. When brainstorming ideas, you
must think about the information you know and want to include. You must jot down every idea you have and look for
some information to support that idea. There are many different types of brainstorming such as note-taking, listing,
clustering, freewriting and outlining. These types of brainstorming are useful tools that have their own strengths and
uses. At this point is not necessary to write full sentences or coherent ideas. We are just stating and outlining the ideas
that come to your mind. Let your mind flow and try to think about all the knowledge you have. Some writers would use
one or the other one depending on the type of writing chosen.

Let’s see the following example:

Clustering: when you take ideas and show how they are connected to each other and the main topic.

Pollution affects
the quality of life.

Reduce, reuse, Global warming / Always present in Teach people to

Water/Air/Soil
recycle Globalization people’s life reduce pollution

Let’s practise
1. Brainstorm some ideas for the following topics using different types of brainstorming.

a) The Internet has changed people’s lives.

b) Animals should not be kept in zoos.
c) Smoking in public places should be banned.

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Step 2: Preparing to write

The next step in the writing process is to prepare to write. When creating your outline, all the ideas, information
and opinions you have should be organized into a structure. By devising the basic structure of your piece of writing,
you will decide the topics you want to cover, order the information into paragraphs and start thinking about your
introduction and conclusion.

Moreover, at this step, you will identify and decide which sources you are going to use. Some types of writing require
specific information or quotes from well-known authors or publishers. At this point, it is necessary to be familiar with
quotation rules and citations necessary for each style of writing.

In addition, it is important to decide the tone you are using in your work. Generally, academic writing requires a
formal tone, promotional pieces need an engaging and catching tone, but a letter may have an informal tone.

Tip

If you are not sure about the correct tone for your piece of writing, you may do some research on the
internet to find examples and to get familiarize yourself with the structure, phrases, vocabulary and
style you should include.

Outline

Let’s see an example of an outline. Keep in mind that not all outlines are similar; they should be useful for you to order
the information.

Introduction: Pollution: meaning and causes. It is bad for people and we should reduce it.

1st Paragraph: Types of pollution: Water (meaning and examples), air (meaning and examples) and soil (meaning and
examples).

2nd Paragraph: Ways of reducing pollution: reducing, reusing and recycling.

Conclusion: Pollution is bad for people because..., we should reduce it because...

Let’s practise
2. Prepare an outline for any of the topics in exercise 1. Order your information into paragraphs.

a) Introduction: ................................................................................... c) 2nd Paragraph: .................................................................................

................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................

b) 1st Paragraph: .................................................................................. d) Conclusion: ......................................................................................

................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................

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At this stage, you will also decide what sources you will cite such as webpages, academic articles, government
research, etc. For example, if you are writing about how pollution affects the quality of life, you may include sources
from companies that study pollution, government web pages and articles from universities around the world.

Besides, you will decide the tone of your writing. Stating the tone of your work is usually quite easy, but it is important
to check the context where you will present it. You will use a formal tone in an essay or academic writing but if you are
writing a letter your tone must be confident and informal.

Step 3: writing your first draft

Once you have your ideas organized and clear, it is time to start writing. You shouldn’t worry about having a perfect
piece of writing; you just need to put your ideas on the page without copying from the web. Your piece of writing
should be original and authentic.

Use your outline as a guide, so that you put your ideas in the correct place. You will write full sentences focusing on
how to express an idea clearly and coherently.

Tip

Relax and avoid wasting time at this point. You should not pay attention to the order in which your
ideas come to your mind. If you have enough ideas and know exactly what to say in the second
paragraph but you are not sure about the introduction, go ahead! Write your second paragraph first
and then come back to the other later.

Step 4: editing and revising

Once you finish your first draft, it is time to edit. When editing, we refer to the idea of shaping the draft by adding
connectors, avoiding repetition and redundancies, and organizing the ideas, etc.

Once you write the first draft, it is a good idea to leave the piece of work away for some time before you begin with the
process of editing. This will give you a fresh view of what you have written allowing you to see the gaps and mistakes
you’ve made when doing the first draft.

First, scan your work by looking for inconsistencies as regards grammar and coherence. For example, you can check
the tone of the text, rewrite some sentences to expand or clarify an idea, use synonyms to avoid repetition of some
words and rewrite sentences or phrases that make your writing difficult to understand. The aim of editing your work is
to improve the first version so as to make it as clear, complete and powerful as possible.

Tip

If somebody can read your piece of work after editing, it would be great to have a fresh and different
point of view from the one you have written. If you do not have the chance to ask somebody for
feedback, you can use some online editors to help you during this step.

Step 5: writing your final draft

Once you finish your piece of writing you should be proofreading your work. This means
that you are going to re-read and scan your writing to find spelling and grammar
mistakes, such as unnecessary words, typos, fancy words, passive voice, repeated
words, long sentences, register, structures, tense shift, etc.

The main difference between this step and the previous one is that you should not
change the content of your work, but you must check that everything is grammatically
correct.

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Let’s practise
3. Identify the type of mistake in each sentence and provide the correct version.

a) Children are playing outside for three hours. d) Students is listening to the teacher speaking about the
WWII.
...................................................................................................................
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b) The man have given an interview on the radio.
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
e) I walk to the park and played there for some hours.
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
c) The puppy love playing in the park. The puppy likes
sleeping by the sun. The puppy misbehaves when there ...................................................................................................................
other puppies.
f) Maria says she didn’t do nothing during the weekend.
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
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...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................

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Step 6: publish your final work

Finally, once you finish your piece of work, you are ready to hand it in and share it. You can hand it to a teacher, to an
editor, or to a client, etc. The place where it will be published depends on the type of writing you have done. It could
be a blog, a newspaper, a journal, a novella book, etc. After doing this, the piece of writing will finally be ready.

Types of writing
There are plenty of types of writing. They vary according to the assignment, the context, the audience to whom it
will be addressed to, etc. We will explore some of the main types of writing, focusing on the most important aspects
of each of them. We will deal with essays, formal and informal letters and emails, reports, reviews and proposals.

Essay

An essay is a short piece of writing that deals with one single subject. It is typically written to persuade an audience by
presenting evidence and supporting information. A typical essay begins from a thesis statement that is the breaking
point for the whole piece of work. Through the essay, it is important that you support or refuse that thesis.

An essay is normally organized into three parts: the introduction, the body paragraphs and the conclusion. The
introduction presents some background or general information to introduce the topic and includes the thesis statement
that will guide our writing. The main purpose is to give the reader an idea of the topic and present the thesis statement.
The body consists of some paragraphs where the writer develops the topic in full. The number of paragraphs will vary
according to the information developed. The conclusion summarizes all the ideas in the body and the option of the
writer. It paraphrases the information in the conclusion, bringing back the topic sentence and the purpose of the essay.

There are four types of essays: narrative, descriptive, expository and persuasive.

• Narrative essay: in this type of essay, the writer tells a story using varied and colourful vocabulary where the narrator
tells a real-life experience, generally narrated in the first person.

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• Descriptive essay: it requires varied and sensory vocabulary, especially to describe a place, an object or a person.
• Expository essay: it presents facts in a balanced way by describing the topic, presenting statistics and true information.
This type of essay does not allow emotions and options coming from the writer.
• Persuasive essay:it tries to convince someone about something. The goal of this work is to persuade the reader to
accept others point of view.

Review

A review is a special type of article written for publication in a magazine, newspaper, blog to give a brief description
and opinion about a movie, book, play, etc. The main purpose of this piece of discourse is to describe and express a
personal opinion about something which the writer has experienced to persuade the reader to buy or to consider the
product you are describing. It must be organized into four paragraphs:

• Paragraph 1: it includes information about the product.

• Paragraph 2: it gives some detailed information including positive and negative aspects of it.
• Paragraph 3: it gives more detailed information and some critics.
• Paragraph 4: a summary of the product, opinions and recommendations about it.

You can use some engaging phrases to write a review. Let’s see some examples:

Paragraph 1

The film I would like to review is...

The film/book/play/etc. is set in…and it is based on a true story.
The main theme of the film is…
The story of a woman who moves to a new city in search of adventures. There she meets a cowboy who...

Paragraphs 2 & 3

Positive Negative

brilliant - dramatic - exceptional - fast-moving -

confusing - disappointing - dreadful - dull -
hilarious/informative - gripping - memorable-
poor - predictable
moving - realistic - stunning

Paragraph 4

Recommendations
Positive recommendations Negative recommendations
with reservations

Although I enjoyed it, I would not

I’d recommend it to… recommend it for…
Don’t bother…-ing
I strongly advise you to… I enjoyed it on the whole.
I certainly wouldn’t
It’s one of the best (movies) I’ve However,…
recommend it…
ever seen It’s perfect/ideal for …but for
people who…

Report

A report is a type of writing that analyses a past event or experience. It is written to offer ways of improving this event.
It offers a detailed explanation of the topic, focusing on those aspects that were good and on those that need to be
improved. Besides, it offers suggestions on how to improve the service.

It is a formal piece of discourse because it is aimed at a teacher, an editor, a boss, etc. This means that we should
not use contractions or informal vocabulary and phrases. We cannot include our point of view so we should avoid
phrases like “in my opinion” or “from my point of view”.

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We should organize the report in the following way:

• The title should be neutral and describe the content of the review.
• The introduction must have a brief description of the topic that is being analysed.
• To develop our analysis we include positive and negative aspects of it.
• In the conclusion, we can include recommendations and a summary of the topic developed.

Proposal

A proposal is a piece of writing that is used to persuade the reader to implement a proposed plan or approve a course
of action. It may be written for a peer group (such as colleagues or club members) or for a supervisor (such as a boss
or a college principal).

Proposals are often structured in a similar way to reports and should be clearly organised under headings. The main
difference between a report and a proposal is that in the latter we have to give recommendations on improving the
situation. Let’s see the structure of a proposal:

• Introduction
The aims of this proposal are to…
• Subheading (1)
Describe the current situation.
• Subheading (2)
Say how you think it could be better.
• Final Recommendations
Make your recommendations.

Email and letter

The formats of a letter or e-mail are similar, but it is important to be very careful with the register used in each case.
Letters and e-mails can be formal or informal depending on the addressee. The main aspects to consider are its
elements: greetings, opening sentences, purposes and reasons for writing, closing ideas, farewell sentences and the
signature.

Here are some phrases that will very useful to write a letter or an email:

Formal Informal

Dear sir/madam Dear (name)

Dear mr/mrs (surname) Hi/Hello

Beginnings

- Thank you for your letter/email reading. - It was nice to hear from you.
- I am writing on behalf... - It’s been ages since I heard from you.
- I am writing to draw your attention to… - How are? Hope you’re fine.

Making a request

- I would appreciate it if you… - Can you do me a favour?

- I was wondering if you… - Would you mind…?
- I would be very pleased if you… - Can I ask you to…?

Apologising

- Please accept our sincere apologies. - Sorry for the problems I could cause.
- We deeply regret it. - We are very sorry.

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Complaining

- I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with… - I’m fed up with with…

- I’d like to complain about… - I’m annoyed with with…

Endings

- I look forward to hearing from you.

- Hope to hear from you soon.
- Please feel free to contact me if you have any
- Give my love to to…
further questions.

Signing off

- Yours sincerely (name). - Lots of love.

- Yours faithfully (dear sir/madam). - Best wishes.

Let’s practise
4. Read and identify these pieces of writing.

a) This work aims to analyse the introduction of games in d) Dear Mrs Smith,
the classroom. In doing so, this document will focus on I am writing on behalf of my mother Susan. Please accept
the popularity of certain games in the classroom and the our sincere apologies for not answering you before. We
effect they have on children culture and how they could would like to thank you for taking care of our cat Tomtom
be improved by using them all the time. while he was lost. He is fine now.
Please feel free to contact me if there are any charges we
................................................................................................................... need to pay you.
Yours sincerely - Fiona.
b) This work aims to suggest typical a local restaurant
which I believe is worthy of the city’s tradition. The place I ...................................................................................................................
have chosen is Moody’s broom. This place is open to the
public since 1976.
e) Mar del Plata has many restaurants that present food
................................................................................................................... from different countries; the newest is “the octopus”. This
restaurant serves local seafood like crabs, shrimps, fish
c) When preparing for an exam, teachers establish a set and cornalitos. It is located in the centre of town, near
of goals to evaluate the students. When correcting tests, the beach.
teachers only pay attention to what students write or
say but they do not take into account other aspects like ...................................................................................................................
individual abilities or aspects of the context that may
affect academic performance. Studies have shown that
test scores are not the best way to evaluate students’
competency because many external factors affect their
concentration during an exam.

...................................................................................................................

Linkers and connectors

Linkers and connectors are key elements of any piece of writing to make it more complex and complete. Besides, it
will make the transitions between one sentence to another clearer and more coherent.

On the one hand, connectors are conjunctions that join two words together. On the other hand, linkers are words
or a group of words that connect phrases or ideas. They are usually in the same sentence. Their main aim is to give
the sentence a logical connection and to help the reader to order the ideas. Let’s see some examples to see their
differences:

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Connector:

The movie was very long but interesting too.

Linker:

Despite the cough, I will go to the party.

Linkers

The following chart shows a list of the most common linkers used in English.

Linker Meaning Example

Link two contrasting ideas. It is Despite loving that book, I

Despite
followed by a noun phrase. hated the movie.

Introduce a new idea that It is pointless to pack so soon.

However contrasts with the previous However, Marcus is doing it
one. It is followed by a comma. now.

Introduce a new idea that I’m quite busy on Monday.

Nevertheless contrasts with the previous
one. It is a formal linker.
Contrast
Links two contrasting ideas
Whereas
without using commas.
Nevertheless, I’ll have lunch
with you.
My brother loves Barcelona.
Whereas, I love New York.

Although there are no more

Links to ideas and is followed
Although tickets for the movie, we will go
by a sentence.
out.

On the one hand, I have a new

On the one hand/ Links two contrasting ideas or
jacket. On the other hand, I
On the other hand paragraphs.
cannot use it, it is too small.

Explains the reason why

Because of the weather, we
Because of something happens. It is
can’t take a picnic.
introduced by a noun phrase.

Explains the cause for Due to Greta’s behaviour, we

Due to
something. were thrown out of the pub.
Reason and cause
I can’t go to Florida in January
Introduces the cause of
Because because my boss will be on
something.
holiday at that time.

As the match didn’t go well,

It is used to introduce an
As the coach Is making a lot of
explanation of the problem.
changes.

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It is used to explain the In order to go to the party,

In order to
purpose of something. Sam must take a bath.

It is used to explain the

Ron is sleeping so that he can
So that purpose of something. It
play tomorrow.
introduces a sentence.
Purpose
Explains the consequences of Kevin didn’t go to the party as
As a result
something. a result of his detention.

Ana was caught cheating on

Explains the consequences of
Therefore an exam; therefore she was
something. It is more formal.
expelled from school.

It is used to introduce Moreover, Sam is not handing

Moreover
information strongly. in all his homework.

Besides It is used to add information. Besides, she always arrives late.

Addition Fred is misbehaving in

It is used to add one or more
As well as class as well as bothering
pieces of extra information.
his classmates.

In addition to this appliance,

To add information to the
In addition you should hand in your
sentences.
ID card.

Let’s practise

5. Join the following clauses using the linker given.

a) The weather was dreadful. We had a beautiful day at d) The machine does not read the credit card. The light
the beach. (Although) has gone. (Moreover)

................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................

b) Jack’s dog escapes from the house. The gate is broken. e) Bella goes to Erik’s party. She does not go to the cinema
(Because) with Anna. (In spite of)

................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................

c) Harry cannot walk well. He had a car accident. (As a

result)

...................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................

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Connectors

Let’s see some of the main connectors used in English.

Connector Meaning Example

Indicate contrast between I’m going to Emilia’s party but

But
two ideas. I’m leaving early.

While Sam is studying for

States that two actions are
While the test, George is playing
Contrast happening at the same time.
computer games.

Molly visits her grandparents

It is used to indicate contrast
Even though every Sunday, even though
giving the idea of surprise.
they live far away.

First of all, you should add the

First of all It is used to begin an action.
eggs and the sugar.

It is used to introduce a second

Succession Secondly Secondly, add the flour.
activity.

Indicates an action that After that, add the butter and

After that
happens after a previous one. mix all the ingredients.

It is used to introduce the result As a result of the accident,

As a result of
of an action. Greta had to go to the hospital.
Result
It is used to introduce the Consequently, the boys must
Consequently
consequences of an action. go to jail.

It is used to introduce the To start with the class, we will

To start with
first action. watch a video about the topic.

It is used to introduce the Secondly, we will listen to

Order Secondly
second or middle actions. a song.

It is used to introduce the Finally, we will do an activity to

Lastly
last action. revise the topic.

The budget is one thousand.

It is used to introduce more
What’s more What’s more, we would have
information to the one given.
extra benefits in this project.

It is used to add more

Apart from Sam, who else
Apart from information to the one
Add information is coming?
presented.

I’m really angry at Jack. He

It is used to add more
is always lying and on top
On top of that information to the one
of that, he does not answer
presented unpleasantly.
the phone.

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It is used to say that a piece of

All the same between Ana and
All the same information is the same or that
Fiona. They argue all day long.
action has not changed at all.
Contrast
On the contrary, Emilia works
On the contrary It is used to indicate contrast.
very well.

Owing the fact that Hanna

Owing to the fact It is used to justify why
is a teacher, she is very good
that something happens.
at maths.
Reason
Kevin loves working with
For this/ It is used to giving the reasons
children. For this reason, he
that reason why something happens.
wants to be a doctor.

It is used to express a fact, Arthur never does anything

As a matter of fact especially when it is necessary with us. As a matter of fact, he
to clarify some information. never comes to the parties.
Expressing facts
Martin really likes meeting
Really It is used to express a fact.
new people.

From my point It is used to express From my point of view, she

of view one’s opinion. must leave him.

Expressing a It is used to give It is true that, Greta cooks well

It is true that
personal opinion true information. but she hates it.

It is used to introduce In my opinion, children must

In my opinion
one’s opinion. play outside every day.

It is used to introduce an I’m very good at cooking.

For example example. It is followed by For example, my chocolate
a comma. cake is great.

They are misbehaving all the

It is used to introduce a
For instance time. For instance, they break
Exemplifying specific example.
a window and a door.

It is used to introduce an
example. It can go in the I like vising places such as
Such as
middle of the sentence and museums or galleries.
follow by a noun.

All in all the children have

It used to include all the
All in all improved their performances
information given before.
at school.

It is used to summarize all the

To sum up, we should travel
Summarizing To sum up information presented along
by plane.
with the piece of work.

It is used to least all the

In conclusion, the thief
In conclusion information presented along
was punished.
with the piece of work.

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Let’s practise
6. Complete the sentences using the words in the box.

Even though - After that - Apart from - On top of that - Owing to the fact that -
It is true that - Such as - In conclusion

a) .................................... arguing with Tom, Lucy goes to work. e) .................................... your boyfriend, who else is coming

b) I like reading magazines .................................... to my party?

Cosmopolitan or Vanity Fair. f) .................................... a deer comes to my park to

c) Jack is still going out with Meghan, .................................... drink water.

she cheated on him. g) ...................................., the government does not finish the

d) Harry brings his rabbit, .................................... Karen is school during the summer.

scared of it. h) ...................................., Karen invites her to my party. I

hate her.

7. Choose one of the following topics and write an essay about it. Remember to use the appropriate structure,
style, vocabulary and conjunctions.

• Why tourist should visit the Statue of Liberty?

• Why should we take care of bees?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of the lockdown?

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Answers
3. a) Children have been playing outside for three hours. | b) The man has given an interview on the radio. | c) The
puppy love playing in the park. It likes sleeping by the sun and misbehaving when there are other puppies. |d) Students
are listening to the teacher speaking about WWII. | e) I walked to the park and played there for some hours. | f) Maria
says she did do nothing during the weekend.
4. a) Report | b) proposal | c)Essay | d) formal letter | e) review
5. a) Although the weather was dreadful, we had a beautiful day at the beach. | b) Jack’s dog escapes from the house
because the gate is broken. | c) Harry cannot walk well. As a result of a car accident. | d) The machine does not read
the credit card. Moreover, the light has gone. | e) In spite of going to the cinema with Anna, Bella goes to Erik’s party. |
6. a) After | b) such as | c) owing the fact that | d) even though | e) Apart from | f) It is true that | g) In conclusion | h)
On top of that.
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