<p>I scored a 590 on my writing on the Jan SAT (8 essay, 59). What is the best way to bring that score into the 7’s? Are there any particular books I should purchase to study? I have the blue book, but I need explanations.</p>
<p>Thanks,</p>
<p>Ryan</p>
<p>The most tricky part of the Writing is the Sentence Error ID. Try to “train your eye” - as they say - to recognize errors quickly. Like for me, I scan each sentence quickly with my eyes and stop immediately when I see an error. The most common errors will be clear to you after a few practice problems in the Blue Book (subject/verb agreements, tenses, sentence parallel, I/me, etc). Sometimes I feel like I haven’t even absorbed the meaning of the sentence, I just focus on the errors (or lack thereof). But also don’t be too quick to jump to conclusions. If you find an error, reread the entire sentence carefully to see if it makes sense after correcting it. </p>
<p>The same basic skills can be used for the other MC on the Writing Section. Most grammatical errors come up over and over again. As for the essay, try to vary your sentence structure, use elegant (but not overly sophisticated or pretentious) words, and remember to relate every paragraph back to the “thesis”. Most of the time, it matters more about HOW you write than WHAT you write about.</p>