Writing Advice

You can solve most of your writing problems if you stop after every sentence and ask: What does the reader need to know next?

WILLIAM ZINSSER

When writing your assessments for theater & other courses:

• Start with knowing what your table of contents is and what your rubric points are (these are not the same).

• Make an outline using your table of contents and rubric points to guide you.

• Choose material from your journal that will help the reader understand your writing.

• Choose images from your rehearsal process and performance that will help your reader understand the experiences that you are writing about. (You can take screen shots of your videos from rehearsals and performances.)

• Read your work out loud to help you proof. DO NOT HAND YOUR PAPERS IN WITHOUT READING OUT LOUD.

• Have someone else read your papers.

• BEFORE YOU HAND IN YOUR PAPER:

  • Make sure you have:

    • Numbered your pages

    • Table of Contents with page numbers

    • Cited Works page at end of document

    • Cover Page with correct information:

      • Your Candidate Number

      • HL Theatre

      • Session of Assessment (either May 2019 or May 2020)

      • Name of Assessment

      • Title of your work:

        • Collaborative Project: name of performance piece

        • Director's Notebook: name of play

        • Solo Project: name of performance piece

      • Length details

        • Collaborative Project: page count

        • Director's Notebook: page count

        • Solo Project: word count

BEFORE YOU HAND IN YOUR DRAFT READ YOUR PAPER OUT LOUD to check for clarity and mistakes you may miss if reading silently.

• Make sure your paper is:

  • clear to understand

  • aligns with Table of Contents/Subheadings

  • addresses each rubric point

• Remember, all rubric points for writing score this way:

  • 0 - did not address rubric

  • 1-2 - the work is limited: insufficient, incomplete or irrelevant writing about content rubric asks for

  • 3-4 - the work is underdeveloped: outlining content rubric asks for

  • 5-6 - the work is good: describing content rubric asks for

  • 7-8 - the work is excellent: explaining content rubric asks for

BEFORE YOU HAND IN YOUR FINAL READ YOUR PAPER OUT LOUD to check for clarity and mistakes you may miss if reading silently.