Writing skills Archives - Page 2 of 7 - English Lessons Brighton

Using Commas with Lists & the Serial Comma

by Phil Williams | Nov 8, 2022 | Punctuation, Writing skills

Today I’m going to look at another specific use of commas in English, particularly how we use them in lists, and how the controversial serial comma or Oxford comma works. This builds on a couple of articles about specific uses of commas that I’ve shared in the past:...

Writing Exercise: Letter of Complaint

by Phil Williams | Jul 12, 2022 | Exercises, Writing skills

Following on from my recent writing exercise for a letter of local investment, I’ve got another exercise today covering a topic that affects everyone at some point: a letter of complaint. The task here specifically concerns something ordered online, which we all...

Writing Exercise: Local Investment Letter

by Phil Williams | May 10, 2022 | Exercises, Writing skills

Ever since I released the book Advanced Writing Skills, I have been planning to produce some companion exercises to go with it. These would be writing prompts with model example answers provided. Now, I’ve finally produced some of these, which I intend to...

English Idioms & Sayings: Exercise 2

by Phil Williams | Nov 9, 2021 | Definitions, Exercises, General English, Writing skills

This is a continuation of my Idioms and Sayings exercise series, which I started last month. As a reminder, I’ve put together a list of 45 interesting, popular sayings which I’m putting into 3 short exercises, with the third one to come soon. Check the first exercise...

Reading Exercise: Classic Horror

by Phil Williams | Oct 26, 2021 | General English, Reading Exercise, Writing skills

For today’s reading exercise, I’ve taken an extract from a creepy old horror story by M.R. James. James was an accomplished scholar who wrote ghost stories heavy with real mythological references. He wrote in a “visceral” way, creating strong feelings/reactions, but...

Reading Exercise & Analysis: Novel Opening 2

by Phil Williams | Sep 7, 2021 | Exercises, Reading Exercise, Writing skills

As my last post going into detail analysing the opening to a novel proved popular, I’ve put together another reading exercise looking at a different style of novel. This one is modern and from my more recent writing, so let’s see if we can spot some interesting...