Checklist for Writing

 
The task

✓ Have you answered the whole question?

✓ Have you got a thesis statement?

✓ Is all the necessary information present?

✓ Is there any irrelevant information you should delete?

► Tick off the key points you highlighted in the question to check you haven't forgotten anything. 

Purpose and target audience

✓ Have you put your message across clearly and effectively?

✓ Is the register and tone appropriate for your readers?

► Put yourself in the reader's position. Would you understand what the writer wants to say? Would you feel put off or offended by the tone? 

Layout and organisation

✓ Is the layout appropriate for the task type?

✓ Is the information organised into coherent paragraphs?

✓ Does each paragraph begin with a clear statement of the topic and deal with one main idea?

✓ Is the sequence of ideas from one paragraph to the next logical and easy to follow?

✓ Are linking expressions and paragraph transitions used to tie sentences and paragraphs together? 

Variety

✓ Is there a range of vocabulary? Have you used precise and interesting words rather than vague, dull ones?

✓ Have you used a variety of sentence patterns and not just a series of short, simple sentences?

✓ Have you avoided unnecessarily complicated sentences? 

Accuracy

✓ Is the grammar correct? Check for correct use of

• articles and determiners

• subject and verb agreement

• verb forms and tenses

• prepositions and particles

• pronouns and pronoun reference

• structures after verbs (gerunds, infinitives, noun clauses)

✓ Is the punctuation correct? Check for correct use of

• capital letters and full stops

• commas

• apostrophes

• quotation marks 
✓ Is the spelling correct? Check for typical errors.