Writing’s a good way to let off steam. I been keeping a journal so I can get some things off my chest when I get outta work. Sometimes, I just wanna write how I wanna write, like not care about good grammar and spelling and all that. But I know that if I do that, it’ll effect my regular writing too. It’s all about how you practice. If you practice writin’ bad, then when it comes time for the GED, you’re just gonna write bad. You can even know all the rules and stuff, but it’s how you write everyday that makes the difference.

I been gettin’ some comments on my blog that are a good example. Like, people will say, “hey liz can u help me wit riting?” and the first thing I have to say is that they need to practice good writing all the time! Even when they’re just commenting on an internet blog, or forum, or a youtube post or something. It really matters. Make sure to capitalize, use periods and commas, and spell words correctly. Then when it comes time for the GED test, you won’t end up missing anything simply ’cause you’re in the habit of writing slang, or not worrying about caps and periods.

im going to go take my GED test again tomorrow, i only have to do the writting part and social studies. When i write any kind of paper, i write as if i was talking to the person face to face. i dont mean to but i guess a cant grasp that i have to make it sound “pro.”

Sounding like a pro can be hard, especially if you spend a lot of time reading stuff on the internet. There’s so many blogs and journal posts out there, and they’re all written pretty informally. Most of the time, when I’m writing something myself, it’s a letter to my kids or a journal entry that’s meant for my friends or something. I don’t think too much about sounding formal. So, just like with math, it’s difficult to do something you’re not practicing all the time.

First of all, why should you sound professional when writing an essay? Is it just ’cause the GED judges are snobs? I don’t think so. It’s more about making sure people can understand you. I mean, that’s what writing and talking is about in the first place, letting people know what you think, right? Sounding professional just means getting your ideas across in the best possible way by using a straight version of English that everyone can understand.

Here’s my list of a few things to avoid in order to make your writing sound a little better:

Avoid Slang

You shouldn’t use slang when writing a formal essay. Even words like, cool or lame are slang.

“I think that snowboards are sick ’cause you can tear up the mountain like a maniac.”

This could be something you’d say to your friends, but is it going to make sense to everyone? Maybe you could write more like this.

“I think that snowboards are great because you can slide down mountains at neck-breaking speeds.”

Keep to Traditional Contractions

The internet has created a lot of new contractions that seem normal, but might not be appropriate for an essay. Words like gonna, ’cause, I’mma, and shoulda don’t seem wrong ’cause you see them online a lot. In fact, the first three words in that list didn’t even come up as “wrong” in my spell check! But they might not be the best choice for an essay. Stick with traditional contractions like it’s, you’re, don’t, and I’ll. If you’re not certain what’s “official” and what’s not, just don’t use the contraction. You’re not gonna be docked points for saying “I will” instead of “I’ll.”

Leave out Filler Words

When you talk, you use a lot of filler words. You say things like so, like, well, and anyway. These words just fill an essay up with fluff and can usually be left out all together. If you want to join two thoughts together, it’s ok to put words like, “however” or “therefor” when the ideas connect to each other. However, saying, “anyway” is more like you got off the topic and are trying to get back to it, which doesn’t make for a very well constructed essay in the first place.

Write with Certainty!

Writing prompts often ask you what you think about something. Formal writing should sound certain about its answer. Starting an essay with, “I think that snowboards are great…” is immediately less certain than just saying, “Snowboards are great.” Leave out words like maybe, and possibly.

Avoid the Second Person

What’s the “second person?” It’s one of the “points of view.” The “first person” is I, the “second person” is you, and the “third person” is he, she, or it. When you’re writing a formal essay, the word “you” kinda makes it informal ’cause you’re suddenly talking directly to the person who’s reading it. I’ve found that using “we” is a good substitute. For instance:

“If you find it difficult to sleep at night, you can take a sleeping pill to help.”

This is kind of like getting into the private life of the reader. It’s making assumptions about the reader’s sleeping habits. If you just replace you with we then it immediately takes a step back and makes it feel a little more formal.

“If we find it difficult to sleep at night, we can take sleeping pills to help.”

Just remember that “we” is plural while “you” isn’t, so make sure to make any changes necessary, like how I changes “pill” to “pills.” After all, we all can’t take one pill between us!

Here’s a prompt and answer from CanTeach:

What is a good neighbour?

I think a good neighbour is someone who’s friendly, but not overly friendly, you know? Like, it’s ok if a neighbour comes over for a cup of sugar or something, but if the neighbour’s coming over all the time and using up all your sugar, then that’s way too friendly. A good neighbour has to be like a yin-yang. They have to keep to their space, but also not only keep to their space. ‘Cause then they’re just a recluse, and not really a neighbour at all. And if you’re like, “Hi neighbour!” and they just ignore you, then that’s just rude!

So, how could you fix this paragraph? I’ll see if I can clean it up myself in my next blog. Good luck with your GED! And keep writing!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit the GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

hi here is my sentence

I am a good cook. I can cook lots of things like lasagna which can be hard to get right and I can make my own pesto sauce or also some desserts too. I learn how to cook from when I was a child. My mother had five children so she cooked a lot and thats where I learned it from. Lots of people tell me I am good at cooking now and that makes me happy. My mom would be proud.

That’s a great paragraph, Lauren. You brought up different kinds of things that you could cook, and talked about your mom, which could end up being two main ideas in an essay. You might think about a third thing if you ever wanted to turn this into an full essay, but it’s a great start!

I noticed you had a few run-on sentences, so I thought I might talk about that a little.

Run-ons are pretty hard to catch. When we talk, we say a lot of “ands” and “buts” without really pausing sometimes. Our brains don’t think like an essay, they just kinda run and run. Just like run-ons.

“I can cook lots of things like lasagna which can be hard to get right and I can make my own pesto sauce or also some desserts too.”

This sentence can be split up. They best thing to do to split it is to find the verbs and the conjunctions (joining words). I’ll mark the verbs in green and the conjunctions in red.

“I can cook lots of things like lasagna which can be hard to get right and I can make my own pesto sauce or also some desserts too.”

A good rule to follow is to have two verbs at the most in each sentence. Since there’s three verbs in this sentence, it can be cut down to two sentences by removing the and. I would also replace the “or” with “and” because “or” means that you can cook pesto sauce or desserts, not both.

“I can cook lots of things like lasagna which can be hard to get right. I can make my own pesto sauce and also some desserts too.”

It might have been better to list off the foods first to keep things clear, too.

“I can cook lots of things like lasagna, pesto sauce, and some desserts. Lasagna is especially hard to get right.”

Here’s another run-on sentence:

“My mother had five children so she cooked a lot and thats where I learned it from.”

Again, this can be cut down to two sentences.

“My mother had five children, so she cooked a lot. That’s where I learned it from.”

or

“My mother had five children. She cooked a lot, and that’s where I learned it from.”

If you want to read more about run-on sentences, I wrote a post on comma splices a while back.

Here’s the writing topic for today:

What is your favourite room in your home and why?

I just love my kitchen. The walls are spring green, and when the sun comes in, it feels so bright and cheerful. It’s also the place where everyone always comes together. When my boys come to visit, we’re always chatting away in the kitchen, especially in the morning. We’ve leaned against the counters with our mugs of coffee or tea and talked lots of mornings away in my kitchen. It’s also the place where all the best smells come from. Whether I’m cooking up dinner, or boiling homemade potpourri, the smells always fill up the whole house.

Leave a comment with your own answer to the question, or just if you need any help with writing at all.

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit the GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

So, I’m thinking I need to write a little more. Nothing too long, not a full essay, just a little paragraph to get some practice in. And you can write too. We can help correct each other’s mistakes and learn more about the rules of writing together.

Here’s a prompt from Can Teach, and what I wrote:

What is something you do well?

I think that I am good at parenting. I had kids pretty young, and I know I made a lot of mistakes when I was raising my two boys, but I worked hard to make sure they had a good upbringing. They always had nutritious meals, and there was no disrespect allowed to their elders like I’ve seen with some other kids. I also always made sure they knew they were loved. I always went to their games, and now that they’re older, I visit them as much as I can. I know no one’s perfect, and I certainly wasn’t the perfect mom. However, I think I did a good job and that it’s something I do pretty well.

That’s a good start. It’s not a full essay, like the GED test asks for, but I could definitely write an essay from the ideas I came up with in this paragraph. Writing up short paragraphs like this as often as you can gets your brain working and thinking about how to answer these types of questions, and when you have time, you can use a paragraph you already wrote to practice writing a longer GED essay, with 4 or 5 paragraphs.

Write your own answer to this prompt, just a short paragraph, then think about how you can turn that into a full essay.

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit the GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

Thanks for giving me chance to contact with you. i appeared ged exam for two times. But i can’t make it. i don’t know why i couldn’t pass essay part. my grammar part is fine. Now i decide to appear again. Will you suggest me, how i can get better number in essay part.

Okay, the essay part can be hard. Here are a couple of tips… brainstorm beforehand about ideas, people, and events that are important to you. You won’t know what the test is going to ask about, but it’ll get the ideas flowing. Then, when you take the test:

(1) Make sure you understand what the question’s asking, and really respond to the prompt. That’s a big deal. Spend some time reading the prompt and thinking about it, so you’ll be able to answer the question, otherwise, you’ll be “off-topic,” and that’s not passing!

(2) Write enough detail. Don’t just write a couple of sentences or be really general. Think of real-life examples…. things that happened to you, something you saw on the news, what your son did… having details is important to passing! If you’re too general, that’s not going to pass!

(3) Get your writing organized. Have A MAIN IDEA, and tell what it is in the beginning. In the middle, give details that support or give reasons for your MAIN IDEA. In the end, make a conclusion about what you wrote. What’s it all mean? Why’s it important?

If you do those three things, and the readers can understand what you wrote, then you’ll pass!

I have A.D.D and staying on task is really hard for me I have been to take practice tests for the GED and would have passed if the essay was not a part of it. I also have a few problems when it comes to writing. Do you know of any good methods to stay on task.

Here’s my advice:

A.D.D. can be tough! First, have you checked whether you qualify for extra time or breaks because of your A.D.D.? It’s at least worth looking into. There’s information on the ACE GED website: http://www.acenet.edu/Content/NavigationMenu/ged/test/Take/Accommodations_Disab.htm

Now, you may or may not be able to get accommodations, depending on your medical history. There are still things you can do to maintain focus. One is breaking apart the essay into smaller tasks. Write a list on your notepaper of the things you’re going to do:
1) Read the prompt and restate it in my own words:
2) Make an outline of a main idea, two supporting ideas, and a conclusion:
3) Write an intro paragraph:
4) Write the first body paragraph:
5) Write the second body paragraph:
6) Write the conclusion:

That gives you six small things to do, instead of one big thing that you can be lost in. It’ll also help your writing stay organized and focused. A couple more tips: (1) Give yourself a break. If you find yourself drifting, take a deep breath, look around, say “I can do this,” and re-focus. It can help to have a ritual, like doodling a cat or saying a mantra (I will pass!) to yourself, to give a short break and then be back on track. (2) Eat before the test, layer your clothes so you won’t get too hot or cold, and choose a seat that won’t be distracting. Being hungry or by a window or cold or hot can ruin your concentration, so pay attention to your needs!

Hope this helps!

For more information on the GED test or GED test preparation, visit the GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

Now, people ask me about the 5-paragraph essay structure, and I say, if you’ve got it down, use it. But you don’t need 5 paragraphs exactly. 4 or 6 paragraphs is just as good. You also don’t need to follow a special structure for your introduction. And one thing I notice, a lot of people who learned the 5-paragraph essay, learned by rote: I’ll write a thesis that lists 3 things I’ll talk about later, etc. Then, the essay sounds stiff and repetitive, a lot of the time. I mean, that’s okay. You’re not going to fail or anything for being a little repetitive, but to me, it’s more important that you write an essay that’s logical, interesting, makes sense, and answers the question.

The Beginning, or Introduction of a GED Essay

The beginning of your essay will be an introduction. Your introduction needs to tell what you’re going to write about and get the reader’s interest in what you have to say. You’ll need to get across your main idea, or thesis, in the introduction. You don’t need to restate the question. Think about the essay topic given above. Now, think about a typical GED essay reader, with a stack of dozens of essays to sift through. How many of those essays begin:

An event from my childhood that taught me an important lesson that I use today is…

As soon as the reader starts reading this exact same sentence for the twentieth or thirtieth time, he or she has already decided that this definitely isn’t a 4 essay. It’s copying the essay prompt instead of stating something in your own words. Now, it’s important to actually answer the prompt, but that doesn’t mean copying the prompt word-for-word.

A better approach is to briefly summarize the event (or at least give a hint about what it’s about) and tell that it taught you an important lesson.

The Middle, or Body

The middle of your essay is the body. In a 5-paragraph essay structure, the middle has 3 paragraphs. Each paragraph addresses one point or argument that you want to make, and each point or argument relates to the main idea in the beginning of the essay. In the GED essay, 2 to 4 paragraphs is a good length for the middle of your essay, so the 5-paragraph essay structure falls right in the middle. Making three points, and then talking about each of them in one paragraph, is a good approach. But it’s not always the best or easiest way to write about a particular topic.

Sometimes, you can tell a story about what happened, what you learned, and how you use that today. Those three things could become your three middle paragraphs. Or, you could write your middle paragraphs as story, starting at the beginning of what happened, and continuing to the end. That’s an easy structure to write and follow, for most people.

Either type of body works. Both versions answer the question and keep to the main point. For many students, it’s easier to tell a story about themselves than to break up the question into two or three different points. Either way, the middle of the essay needs to contain details about what you know or what you experienced.

The Ending, or Conclusion

The last paragraph of your essay needs to be a conclusion. Many students think of a conclusion as just restating what you’ve said before. But the truth is, a conclusion is much more effective if you’ve got something new to say. Ask yourself:

• What did I learn? Why is this important?
• How does this affect other people? What can other people learn from this?
• Can I apply what I learned to bigger ideas and issues?

If you can think of something new and interesting to say about your experience, you’ll have a great conclusion, and you’ll leave the GED reader with a great last impression. If you use the storytelling route to write the body, you’ve got a lot of material for your conclusion. You need to tell what you learned and how to use it today. In either case, you need to say something interesting that wraps up what you think.

Hey, try it yourself!

Read More: http://www.passged.com/student_blogs/elizabeth/category/ged-essay-start-to-finish/

First of all, what is a “possessive”? Do you notice that it’s got the word “possess” in it? That means to have something. A possessive shows that something belongs to someone or something else:

the girl’s book
his calendar
the room’s lighting
the food’s smell

The possessives are: “girl’s,” “his,” “room’s,” and “food’s.” They show who or what something belongs to or goes with. The smell is the smell of the food. The book is the book belonging to the girl.

Okay, now, what are the problems people have with possessives? The main problem is a spelling problem… when do you use an apostrophe (‘) and where do you put it?

(1) Spelling Possessive Pronouns

Now, “his” is a possessive pronoun. It tells you the calendar belongs to a guy, but not what specific guy… that’s what makes it a pronoun. The important thing to remember is that possessive pronouns NEVER are spelled with an apostrophe. The big trouble spot with this is “its.” People confuse it with “it’s,” which is NOT possessive. It’s short for “it is.” If “its” is possessive, it does not have an apostrophe… no possessive pronouns do. Same for “your.” It’s sometimes confused with “you’re,” which is NOT possessive… it’s short for “you are.”

Here are the common possessive pronouns you need to know:

belonging to me–my, mine: That’s my book. The book is mine.
belonging to him–his: That’s his book. The book is his.
belonging to her–her, hers: That’s her book. The book is hers.
belonging to it–its: The dog has a bone. That’s its bone. The bone is its.
belonging to you–your, yours: That’s your book. The book is yours.
belonging to them–their, theirs: That’s their book. The book is theirs.
belonging to us–our, ours: That’s our book. The book is ours.

(2) Spelling Possessive Nouns

Okay. That’s pronouns. Most possessives are nouns, and most of the time you make a noun possessive by adding an apostrophe-s at the end:

The girl’s book
The dog’s bone
The water’s edge
The children’s toys

Notice that “children” is plural. The possessive is made the same way. So far, so good. But, when words end in “s,” sometimes they take an apostrophe-s at the end, and sometimes just an apostrophe. As a rule, all plural nouns ending in “s” take jsut an apostrophe. So:

The possessive of “girls” is girls’ –
All the girls’ books were lost!

The possessive of “dogs” is dogs’ –
All the dogs’ leashes were too short.

When does it need an apostrophe-s after a word ending in “s”? Well, you can hear it. If you would pronounce an extra “-ez” at the end of the word, add an apostrophe-s. Go with your instinct! For non-plural words ending in “s,” there’s a little leeway. If Mr. Williams has a book, you likely would say “Mr. Williams book” not “Mr. Williams-ez book”… so you’d write:

Mr. Williams’ book

But if Curtis has a book, you’d probably say “Curtis-ez book” out loud, so you’d spell it:

Curtis’s book

That’s the main deal with possessives! This’ll help with the multiple choice part of the GED writing test, so it’s real good to know!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit the GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

Well Good advice. But still unable to get Idea or moving to start to write essay I am worried to take my test on January 15th . and I need to start or just giving up. I did try reading every day for one month and copying others. Or, what was the other word for copying statements making it your own?
Still having hard time to come up with an idea to write!

Okay, Vic, here’s some more advice! Hopefully we can get you going:

You’ve worked from some other people’s essays… now it’s time to start one on your own. Take some GED essay topics (see below) and try starting from scratch. Sit down with one of them and think about how it relates to your life, what you think about it, what it makes you think of. Seriously, don’t worry at all about what exactly you should write, just start getting ideas out there. That’s what all the freewriting and word webs come down to… getting SOME ideas down on paper, whatever they are.

Once you have some ideas to work on, then you can start to organize them into an essay, pick the ones you like, don’t use the ones you don’t like. It might take you some time to think of things at first. Don’t worry about the time right away. Just start with ANY ideas, even if you don’t think they’re very good. It doesn’t have to be perfect… and getting started is more important than making it perfect or even great.

So, work all the way through writing one, no matter how long it takes. Then, practice with other topics, and try to bring your time down. Here’s a list of topics to work with:

Topic 1
What are three qualities you value in a friend?
In your essay, describe those qualities and explain why they are important to you. Use your personal observations, experience, and knowledge to support your essay.

Topic 2
Many American children watch 3 or more hours of television a day.
Is watching television a good or bad influence on children? Use your personal observations, experience, and knowledge to support your essay.

Topic 3
What would your perfect job be?
In your essay, identify your perfect job and explain why that job would be perfect for you. Use your personal observations, experience, and knowledge to support your essay.

Topic 4
Why do you want to get your GED certificate?
In your essay, explain what you hope to gain by passing the GED. Use your personal observations, experience, and knowledge to support your essay.

Topic 5
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Think of a time when a picture or image was important in communicating to you. Tell about that time and explain how the picture or image was important. Use your personal observations, experience, and knowledge to support your essay.

Topic 6
Would you rather own a truck or a passenger car?
In your essay, explain why one vehicle would be better for you. Explain advantages and disadvantages of each kind. Use your personal observations, experience, and knowledge to support your essay.

Topic 7
How has the invention of the Internet affected everyday life?
In your essay, explain how the Internet has affected you and the world around you. Use your personal observations, experience, and knowledge to support your essay.

Topic 8
What is the most important invention?
Choose an invention that has affected your life and explain why you think it’s the most important invention. Use your personal observations, experience, and knowledge to support your essay.

Topic 9
What is the greatest problem facing our country today?
Explain what issue you believe is most important to our country and why it is important to deal with this issue. Use your personal observations, experience, and knowledge to support your essay.

Topic 10
Two-thirds of US adults are overweight or obese.
In your essay, explain what factors cause American adults to become and stay overweight. Use your personal observations, experience, and knowledge to support your essay.

Im takeing my test next week,and I have a question about,how I start out an essay.Im also a little nervouse about,when they give you a topic,you have to write about it,my brain kinda freezes up.what if I can’t think of anything?How do I go about this? Please help!

Hi, Tanya! I know the essay can be a little intimidating. Here are some things to help…

1)Try to think of some things in advance, that you might use on your essay. You don’t know what the question will be, but you can think of some things that might help, like:
–Who are some people you admire, and why?
–What’s important to you in life? What are your goals?
–What are some important events that happened to you, that really made you think or taught you something?
–What’s an important world event that has a special meaning or memory for you?

Thinking about these kinds of questions gets your juices going… you  might find that you can use them in your essay, or else it’s just good practice!

Also, here are some techniques you can use to brainstorm while you’re in the test. Practice these before the test on some of the questions above, or other practice GED prompts…

1) Freewriting… write down the question and just write for 3-4 minutes, whatever comes into your head. Don’t even worry if it’s a good idea!

2) Listing… write a list of as many things related to the idea as you can think of.

3) Word Web… write the main idea in the center. Then, draw 3-4 lines from the center, connecting to 3-4 related ideas. Write 3 details or new ideas about each related idea.

4) Questioning… write 3-4 questions about the topic, and then try to answer them.

5) Try answering these questions about the topic (and add more if you can think of them!):
–What’s my feeling or opinion about this topic?
–Who’s a person I know who taught me something about this topic?
–What’s a memory I have about this topic?
–How is this topic related to my life?

That will give you some ideas to start organizing into an essay. Some techniques work better for some people, so try these out to see what works best for you. Practicing beforehand really helps, so you’ll have your essay-writing muscles all flexed and ready to go!

Also, it’s really important to try to relax. That means, eat a good breakfast. Get plenty of sleep the night before. Bring some good snacks and water along. Wear comfortable clothes. And don’t worry! Just concentrate on your essay.

Good luck!
Liz