This list was compiled by Erin with the help of all the visitors to the TestMagic forums.
- Hit “Enter” twice at the end of every paragraph. Doing this will create a space between your paragraphs and will make your essay much, much easier to read. Remember, the real ETS essay scorer reads hundreds of essays every week and really, really appreciates nice formatting.
- Or, indent the paragraphs in your essay. “indentation” refers to the number of blank spaces at the beginning of a paragraph. The “standard,” or most traditional formatting, requires using five blank spaces at the beginning of every paragraph. There are, however, two other common ways. The second very common way is to use two spaces instead of five; the third way way is not to use any spaces at all, but to separate the paragraphs with a space.
- Hit the space bar after almost EVERY punctuation mark. Specifically, this includes periods, commas, and colons. Conversely, do NOT hit the space bar before almost EVERY punctuation mark.
- Good: Because I was sleepy, I went to bed a bit early.
- Bad: Because I was sleepy,I went to bed a bit early.
- Bad: Because I was sleepy ,I went to bed a bit early .
- CAPITALIZE the first letter of every sentence, the pronoun “I,” and other proper nouns.
- Good: Because I was sleepy, I went to bed a bit early.
- Bad: because I was sleepy, I went to bed a bit early.
- Do not use only uppercase letters or only lowercase letters.
- Good: Because I was sleepy, I went to bed a bit early.
- Bad: BECAUSE I WAS SLEEPY, I WENT TO BED A BIT EARLY.
- Bad: because I was sleepy, I went to bed a bit early.
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