- Memorisation as a Writing Tool: Memorising 20 well-crafted pieces of writing can enhance students’ skills in structure, vocabulary, and grammar without extra cost.
- Building Structure: Memorising passages helps students internalise structure, allowing them to organise thoughts clearly in new writing contexts.
- Expanding Vocabulary: Exposure to varied vocabulary through memorised writing broadens students’ word choices, enabling more precise language use.
- Brain Training: Recall practice strengthens memory and understanding, helping students retrieve ideas and write smoothly.
- Boosting Creativity: Memorised writing serves as a foundation for students to develop original expressions and ideas.
- Increasing Confidence: With strong sentences already memorised, students feel more assured in writing tasks, reducing anxiety.
- Proven by Great Writers: Authors like Hemingway and Franklin used memorisation to understand structure and find their unique voices.
- Key to Success: Memorisation isn’t about copying but about understanding structure and flow to create strong, original writing.
This method offers an accessible, effective way for students to build lasting writing skills and confidence.
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At Pre-Uni New College, we understand that improving writing skills can sometimes feel like an uphill battle. Many students and parents search for the best teachers or academies, hoping for that breakthrough moment when everything clicks. Yet, despite all the effort, writing doesn’t always improve as quickly as expected.
While a great teacher can certainly guide and inspire you, here’s a lesser-known secret: Memorising well-written pieces of Writing can be one of the most effective ways to improve your writing skills—and it doesn’t require any extra cost.
Why Memorising Writing Helps
Memorising 20 carefully selected pieces of well-crafted Writing, across different categories, can significantly enhance your skills in structure, vocabulary, and grammar. This isn’t about repeating memorised Writing in your essays—it’s about internalising the structure, the rhythm, and the flow, so that you can apply similar principles when writing independently. Importantly, this memorisation involves perfectly learning the Writing in both spoken and written form, ensuring that grammar, spelling, and punctuation are 100% accurate.
Here’s how it works:
- Building a Solid Structure
The memorised Writing helps you grasp the basic structure and flow of writing. By recalling these pieces, the brain naturally learns how to organise ideas and form coherent paragraphs. This foundational structure becomes a framework for creating new pieces of writing, helping students shape their thoughts clearly. Students must memorise each piece of Writing exactly as written, with correct spelling and punctuation, so that they fully understand how to replicate similar structures on their own.Example: Let’s say a student memorises an essay introduction like:
“In today’s world, technology plays a crucial role in almost every aspect of our lives. From communication to education, technology has reshaped how we live, work, and learn.”
By memorising this introduction, the student internalises a strong structure that they can later adapt to different topics. For instance, they can write:
“In today’s world, environmental concerns play a crucial role in shaping how we develop policies and make lifestyle choices.”
The memorisation helps them understand how to craft a clear, impactful opening, even if the topic changes. - Enhancing Vocabulary and Expression
Through memorisation, students are exposed to a range of words and expressions. This broadens their vocabulary and helps them use more precise and varied language. Since vocabulary plays a crucial role in writing, memorising this Writing provides a strong base for selecting the right words when writing. Every word must be spelled correctly during memorisation, as this builds the habit of accurate writing. However, it’s important not to copy this Writing but to apply the vocabulary and structure in new, creative ways.Example: A student might memorise a descriptive sentence like:
“The shimmering waters of the lake reflected the golden hues of the setting sun.”
Later, when tasked with describing a different scene, they might write:
“The snow-capped mountains glistened under the bright winter sunlight.”
Here, the student applies the same descriptive techniques they memorised, but with new context and imagery. - Training the Brain
Memorisation is more than simply storing information. It trains the brain to organise and retrieve data effectively. Research in cognitive science shows that retrieval practice (the act of recalling information) strengthens neural connections and improves long-term retention of information. Having key pieces of Writing committed to memory helps the brain generate ideas based on these templates, leading to smoother and more logical writing. Memorising both the speech and written form of the Writing helps train both verbal and written communication skills. But again, students should not make the mistake of thinking they need to use this exact Writing. The goal is to understand how to apply the learned structures.Scientific Support: Studies in educational psychology show that retrieval practice, such as recalling memorised Writing, helps with deeper understanding and better application in new contexts (Roediger & Butler, 2011). This means students who actively memorise and recall Writing will not only remember it better but will also be better equipped to apply similar structures when writing independently. - Boosting Creativity
The memorised Writing serves as a foundation upon which new ideas and expressions can be built. Creativity in writing often comes from modifying and combining familiar structures with new concepts. The Writing acts as a launching point for students to explore and develop their own unique ideas in writing. Memorising the Writing perfectly allows students to confidently create new sentences that follow the same high standards of language. Remember, the aim is not to copy but to innovate using what’s been learned.Example: A student who memorises a conclusion like:
“In conclusion, the rapid advancements in technology will continue to shape our future in ways we can’t yet fully comprehend, but it is clear that its impact will be profound.”
Could create their own version for a different topic:
“In conclusion, the global fight against climate change will undoubtedly define the next generation’s challenges, but with collective effort, its impact can be mitigated.” - Increasing Confidence
When students have strong Writing already committed to memory, they feel more confident when writing. They can rely on what they’ve memorised as a starting point, which reduces anxiety and allows them to focus on crafting their thoughts clearly and effectively. Perfect memorisation of both spelling and structure ensures that students can write with confidence, knowing they have a solid foundation to build from.Example: A student who has memorised several well-constructed paragraphs will approach exams or writing tasks with less fear, knowing they have strong sentence patterns and structures already ingrained in their memory. This confidence often leads to improved performance and less writer’s block.
Famous Writers’ Insights on Memorisation and Imitation
This method of memorising and internalising Writing is not new; it’s a technique that many famous writers have used to develop their skills:
- Ernest Hemingway, one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, famously copied down passages from writers he admired. He believed that by writing down and absorbing their sentence structures, he could develop his own voice. This was not mere imitation but a way of deeply understanding the mechanics of great writing.
- Raymond Chandler, the renowned detective fiction writer, also used copying as a method to sharpen his writing skills. By copying other writers’ works, he internalised how they structured sentences, used rhythm, and developed atmosphere, which he later applied to his own stories.
- Gabriel García Márquez, the Nobel Prize-winning author, suggested that memorising great sentences helped him learn how to write effectively. Márquez believed that writers start by imitating others and through that process find their unique style.
- Benjamin Franklin, an iconic figure in American history, attributed much of his writing success to a similar method. He would read great works, then reconstruct them from memory, which taught him how to organise ideas and develop logical arguments.
- William Faulkner, another literary giant, advised aspiring writers to read as much as possible and learn by imitating great works. He believed that copying good writing was essential for understanding its structure and style before developing one’s own.
Important Note: This method requires students to perfectly memorise the Writing, both in speaking and in writing, with correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation. It’s essential that students don’t misunderstand this method. The goal isn’t to regurgitate memorised Writing but to internalise its structure, vocabulary, and flow so they can create their own original and strong writing. Understanding the principle behind memorising is key to using this technique effectively.
So, while finding the right teacher or academy is valuable, improving writing skills doesn’t always require spending money. This method, if done correctly, offers a powerful, cost-free way to build a strong writing foundation that lasts.
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