How to Plan Ideas
If you plan effectively, writing your Task 2 essay will be easier and quicker
because you know what you are going to write
Here are four steps to planning efficiently and just focusing on the ideas you
need.
- Relevant but personal ideas – focus on the question but use your experience.
- Simple main ideas – which you can easily support with explanation and examples.
- Focus on your essay structure – think of the order and linking of ideas.
- Do lots and lots of practice – so you see patterns and get quicker.
- Focus on the question but make it personal
Governments should spend money on railways rather than roads. To what extent do you
agree or disagree? (STATEMENT)
So for the question above, imagine you read in the news that your government is going
to spend more money on transport in your local area. Would you prefer them to spend
money on new roads or new trains? Would this make you happy? Why?
REPHRASE THE QUESTION IN MORE NORMAL LANGUAGE FOLLOW
5 WS WHAT , WHEN , WHY , WHERE & WHY …. HOW
- Simple is best
There are no extra marks for interesting or complicated ideas, or for ideas that follow
your real opinions. The best main ideas are ONLY those you can easily explain and
support, ideally with a clear example. Keep it simple and make it easy for yourself.
- Focus on your structure At this point it’s a good idea to put the supporting ideas
into a logical order and quickly make a note (on paper on in your head) of which linkers
would be suitable (these can change later).
- Practice is the key
The more you practice with different topics the more you will be able to generate good,
simple main ideas in seconds.