Writing Skills: Letters, Reports, Notices, Articles, Speeches
Writing tasks are marked on three heads in this order: format, content and expression. Candidates lose more marks to a missing subject line or a wrong subscription than to imperfect grammar, so learn each format as a fixed frame before worrying about style.
Formats in brief
- Business or application letter: two addresses, date, subject line, salutation, body (purpose → details → requested action), 'Yours faithfully' with your full name.
- Letter to the editor: addressed to 'The Editor' of a named newspaper, no receiver's street address; raise a public issue, give two supporting points, suggest action.
- Notice: boxed, the word NOTICE centred, date, headline in capitals, the five Ws, name and designation, under 50 words, no salutation.
- Report: headline, byline, date and place, past tense, third person, factual, no gushing adjectives.
- Speech: 'Respected Principal, teachers and my dear friends', a hook question, three points, a call to action, thanks.
- Article: title, byline, opening hook, body with one concrete example, conclusion.
Worked example - notice
Notes given: Interact Club; sapling distribution; 5 June, Environment Day; school gate; 9 a.m.; bring your own bag. Reasoning: a notice is read in ten seconds, so only the five Ws and the action required survive; verbs stay in the present or future; there is no salutation and no 'thanking you'. Model: NOTICE / 5 June 20XX / SAPLING DISTRIBUTION / The Interact Club will distribute tree saplings at the school gate at 9 a.m. on 5 June, World Environment Day. Students who wish to plant one should bring their own bag and register with the class teacher by 3 June. / Anu Nair, Secretary, Interact Club.
Traps that cost marks
- 'Dear Sir' closed with 'Yours sincerely'; a named person closed with 'Yours faithfully'.
- Salutation inside a notice, or a notice written as a paragraph.
- Reports written in the first person ('I saw that...').
- A speech with no salutation, or an article with no title and byline.