Tip 29 - Read, read, read and read some more

For English you have to be able to analyse texts and produce a piece of your own writing. Getting exposure to different types of writing will allow you to notice common themes and replicate them in your own work. You’ll also be familiarised with structure and common devices used, allowing you to look deeper into the texts and feel more familiar with the extract in the exams. Reading as a whole will also benefit other subjects as it can increase memory (if you’re interested in the science of this, look into stories as a use of memorisation) and help give you ideas to write about. Don’t forget to also look at non fiction texts and speeches as these could appear in your exam too. Regular pieces of exposure will help to prepare you, if you are able to spend some time practicing writing in different styles this will also help too. (For the original piece of writing question, it’s recommended to not write a full story. It’s hard to do a good short story in such a small time frame.) Practice other types of writing such as descriptive or persuasive and go over mark schemes to make sure you include a range of devices and structure it accordingly. You can use the extracts in Section A to help inspire your writing, if needed :)