Improve your spelling, grammar and punctuation

yawn who need's speling n punctuasion anyway u may as well txt spk lol ;)

No, not really. Reading a piece of writing is like meeting someone for the first time - if they have food in their teeth or are wearing old clothes you will probably make a snap judgement about what they are like, whether this is a true judgement or not. Mr Examiner will have misgivings about about your work as soon as they see mistakes in your spelling, grammar and punctuation.

Having said that, there is no great mystery about improving your writing skills. It's all about getting into good habits.

As a tutor, I generally get people to write for five to ten minutes then check over their work. Either they can write about a subject they are interested in or just describe what they have done that day. If they are a younger pupil or have dyslexia, or simply aren't a very advanced writer, I will usually see problems with the sentences -

I went to the shops I bought a couple things a newspaper something for lunch and I went home.

The sentence above is easy to improve. After the word 'shops' you either need the word 'and' or a full-stop. If the pupil is a bit more advanced, I encourage them to use a colon and break up their sentences with semicolons as well as commas.

Here is a basic sentence -

The boy kicks the ball.

Here is a more complex sentence featuring a list -

The boy kicks the ball: he runs; he shoots; he scores!

At the very least, make sure your sentences stop in the right place.


Improve your writing - checklist

1. Read decent prose - books, newspapers, magazines and some websites.
   
2. Write in Word or another word processor for a while - it will show up red lines for spelling errors and green for grammar.
3. Check your work over after you've finished; do this in your exam if you get time at the end.
4. Make a list of the words you misspell and keep these in one place, such as on a sheet of paper on your bedroom wall.
5. Go for short, sharp sentences rather than long awkward ones.
6. If you're a parent, check over your child's work and give them advice on what they could do better.
   

If you have any examples of work on the computer, email them to me and I can give you some advice.

I just love correcting people's spelling and punctuation; I'm funny like that.