Writing

Write better = Do better

Writing well is a difficult skill to master and takes most people well into their adult lives to achieve. Your English teacher is your best resource to improve your writing. Ask for tips and ideas each English class to help you improve.

Sentence Structure

Each sentence you write should achieve an objective. It needs to inform, persuade or continue a story. Good sentences use the least number of words possible to achieve their objective. A rough rule is that short punchy sentences are better than long waffling ones.

Paragraph Structure

Within a paragraph, sentences follow a set structure. To be considered a correctly structured paragraph it should have at least 3 sentences. Interestingly, this three sentence format is the same as your overall essay. The first sentence of a paragraph is the introductory sentence that details what you will say in that paragraph.

"After discussing the detrimental issues facing Australian farmers such as drought, salinity and erosion I believe that the situation is looking bright."

The subsequent sentences are your explanation sentences where you explain all of the items detailed in the introduction.

"Research is producing answers to salinity and erosion. The current drought is predicted to break and exciting new products and technologies are being introduced for Australian farmers."

The final sentence is the conclusion where you must summarise the paragraph.

"All these factors combined means that today we have a farming sector that can be confident about its ability to handle salinity, erosion and drought."

There are two final things that make for great use of paragraphs in your writing. One is relating every paragraph to the topic and two is linking paragraphs together. Every paragraph you write in an essay must be relevant to the topic by addressing a point brought up in your introduction. Look at each paragraph you write and ask yourself "does this relate to a topic mentioned in my introduction?"

Linking paragraphs is also very important. The last sentence of a paragraph must tie in to the first sentence of the next paragraph.

Example (follow the bolded words):

When choosing a farm dog you need to ensure it has natural sheep sense and can follow directions. Sheep sense means that the dog has a natural understanding of what sheep will do in response to its and the farmer's actions. The farmer is in charge and a good sheep dog needs to follow the farmer's directions precisely to ensure the sheep do what the farmer wants. An excellent choice as a sheep dog is the Kelpie.

The Kelpie makes for an excellent sheet dog because it is born with natural sheep sense and can follow a farmer's instructions as well as using its own initiative. Kelpie's know how sheep react to them. If the dog pushes left it knows the sheep will go right and vice versa. Kelpie's have a keen ear and can easily be trained to respond to a farmer's calls and whistles. In summary, Kelpie's make the best sheep dogs.