How to Improve Your English Writing - English Writing Lesson

Summary

This video lesson from Oxford Online English offers practical advice on improving your English writing skills. It emphasizes understanding your audience, planning your writing, organizing ideas into clear paragraphs, cutting unnecessary words, and using shorter sentences for clarity. The video highlights the importance of tailoring your writing to your reader's needs and goals, along with strategies for reducing wordiness and avoiding complex sentence structures unless necessary. Following these tips can help make your writing clearer, more concise, and more effective.

Takeaways

• ✍️ Understand your audience before writing: Who are you writing for and what do they want from your writing?
• 🎯 Know your purpose: Are you informing, convincing, entertaining, or achieving multiple goals?
• 🔍 Plan your writing: Proper planning prevents you from getting stuck and keeps your ideas organized.
• 🗂️ Organize your writing into clear paragraphs, with each paragraph focusing on one main idea.
• ✂️ Cut unnecessary words and sentences: Use as few words as possible for clarity and precision.
• 📏 Use shorter, simpler sentences: Aim for sentences under 20 words for better readability.
• ⛔ Avoid passive voice unless absolutely necessary; active voice keeps sentences direct and clearer.
• 🧠 Start sentences with the subject and avoid unnecessary conjunctions or relative clauses like 'who' and 'which'.
• 📉 Remove 'empty' phrases that add no real meaning or value to your writing, making it more concise.
• 📖 Constantly review and refine: Even experienced writers need to practice these principles for better writing.

Q & A

What is the first step to improving your English writing?

The first step is to understand your audience. You need to know who you're writing for and what you want to achieve.

Why is understanding the audience important in writing?

Understanding your audience helps you tailor your content to meet their expectations and needs, making your writing more effective.

How can planning improve your writing?

Planning ensures that you include important ideas and avoid unnecessary information, helping you stay organized and reach your writing goal.

What should each paragraph focus on?

Each paragraph should focus on one main idea to keep the writing clear and easy for the reader to follow.

Is there a minimum length for a paragraph?

No, paragraphs should be as long as they need to be to express a single idea. There is no minimum or maximum length.

What is the benefit of using fewer words in your writing?

Using fewer words makes your writing clearer and more concise, helping readers understand your point more easily.

What is a common mistake that can make sentences too long or complex?

Using the passive voice unnecessarily, or combining too many ideas into one sentence with conjunctions, can make sentences harder to read.

What length is recommended for a sentence?

A good sentence length is 10 to 20 words. Sentences longer than 20 words can become difficult to read and understand.

What is the final step to making your writing better?

The final step is to cut unnecessary words and sentences, focusing only on what adds value to your ideas.

Why should you avoid using words like 'very' or 'really'?

Words like 'very' or 'really' are often weak and unnecessary. It's better to use a stronger word, such as 'exhausted' instead of 'very tired.'