Five mistakes that weaken your writing
Find incomplete answers, unclear positions, unsupported lists, tone problems, and repetition.
Work through each lesson and mark the module complete when you finish practising.
Identify the main communication problem
Five common problems are: listing reasons without development, hiding your survey choice, leaving a requested point unanswered, using an unsuitable tone, and repeating ideas without adding information.
Fix the most important problem first. An unanswered requirement matters more than replacing a common adjective. If the survey choice is unclear, add a direct position statement before polishing transitions. If the tone is aggressive, replace blame with a factual explanation and a reasonable request.
Use a prompt-to-draft check
Write the requested points beside your draft and mark where each is answered. A sentence that mentions a topic may still fail to answer the question. “There was a problem” does not explain what happened or how it affected you.
Highlight repeated ideas. Keep the strongest version and replace the others with explanation, evidence, or a consequence. Read the draft as the intended recipient: can you understand the situation and the action being requested?
Practice: revise one paragraph in this order: complete the answer, clarify the reasoning, adjust the tone, and remove repetition.
Mini-test
Check your understanding
A complaint describes a delay but never requests a solution. What should you fix first?
Put this lesson into practice
Apply what you learned in a timed Writing exercise, then review one specific area to improve.