"He who fails to plan is planning to fail." - Winston Churchill
Yes, I know that 60 minutes for two big pieces of writing is not a lot of time. But no solid house has ever been built without a good blueprint.
Even if you're a really confident writer, you're still a human being with limited processing capacity in your brain. And there is basically too much to think about - the structure, great vocab, correct grammar and the time limit. Having a solid plan will free some of your mental space so that you don't have to worry about everything at once.
My recipe for effective essay planning consists of 3 elements:
1: Analyse the question
2: Draft the structure
3: Fancy it up
1. Analyse the question
Analysing the question means making sure you understand what the actual essay question is, and avoiding falling into common traps. Read the question very carefully a couple of times and establish what kind of essay you are being asked to write. Is it asking you to suggest solutions to a problem? Or is it asking for your opinion? More about that in the last episode of this series.
2. Draft the structure
Here you need to decide how many paragraphs to write and what will be the purpose, or topic, of each of them.
The only really good options for the essay length are 4 or 5 paragraphs (more about that next time) and deciding how many you'll use at this stage is important. If you decide to go for 4, they should be a bit longer than if you decide to write 5. The number you choose should really depend on how many unique ideas you want to cover.
Now, what do you put in all those paragraphs? The first one is an introduction and the last one is a conclusion, so what you really need to focus on are the main body paragraphs. How you write that down depends on you (but do write your plan down!). Everyone has a different style, so it's up to you whether you prefer to use key words, bullets or maybe a full sentence per paragraph. Essentially, what your notes for each paragraph should contain is the essence of what the paragraph is going to cover.
For example, if the essay question is asking you to provide solutions to a problem, each main body paragraph should suggest a unique solution. Your plan is the place where you can do an initial brainstorm and decide what those solutions (roughly!) are.
3. Fancy it up: Add more details
This is optional. If you have enough time, you can add some more details to the notes for each main body paragraph. These can include some advanced words that you want to include in the essay, or maybe nice grammatical structures (can you fit that "if" clause anywhere?!).
It is more important to plan the structure of your main body paragraphs than it is to plan your intro and conclusion. If you decide to make notes on your introduction or conclusion, do it at the very end of your planning session. What you put in those should be directed by the heart of your essay - the main body paragraphs. Going the other way round brings the danger of fitting a square peg (your arguments) into a round hole (what you've outlined in your intro).
Here is my recommended template for an essay plan:
Introduction:
Main paragraph 1
Topic:
Explanation:
Extra:
Main paragraph 2
Topic:
Explanation:
Extra:
Conclusion:
Here is an example of this template being used to address the following essay prompt:
Children should never be educated at home by their parents. Do you agree or disagree?
Introduction: AGREE
Main paragraph 1
Topic: Children need to socialise
Explanation: They get better prepared to function with others
Extra: Vocab: society, interaction, to integrate, etc.
Main paragraph 2
Topic: Multiple teachers mean more open minds
Explanation: More teachers, more points of view, more styles, better and deeper knowledge
Extra: open-mindedness, perspective, tolerance etc.
Conclusion: Summarise main points
How can you become better at it?
Planning is not your thing? Or maybe it takes you too much time?
Planning an essay quickly is a skill that you need to learn, and unless you're inherently talented, you won't learn it overnight.
When you start practising your essays, write the first few spending as much time as you wish, with the aim to produce a perfect piece (time yourself though, to know how much you need to improve your pace!). This includes spending time on planning. Spend a good 10 minutes and write that plan. It's more about exercising the right thought process than being efficient with time at this stage. Gradually, try to decrease the time you spend on the plan.
Everyone is different and I've met students who spend 10 minutes making a solid plan and manage to finish on time. Others spend 3 minutes as they need more time for proofreading. You need to get to know yourself, your style and your needs, and the only way get there is, as usual, practice, practice, practice!
If you're looking for someone to practice with, you can find a professional IELTS guru here.
***
Read more:
IELTS Essay Top Tip 1/10: Don't Fall into Traps!
IELTS Essay Top Tip 2/10: Make a Solid Plan
IELTS Essay Top Tip 3/10: Write a Strong Introduction
IELTS Essay Top Tip 4/10: Most Common Mistakes in the Introduction
***
The author is an experienced English and IELTS teacher, and an Oxford University graduate. She had to take the IELTS to study there and she managed to get a 9.0.