✍️Writing Tips to Level Up Your English (B1 to B2)
Writing is one of the most powerful skills you can develop in English. At the B1 level, many learners can communicate their ideas, but their writing often sounds repetitive, unnatural, or full of small mistakes. The next step — reaching B2 — is all about reducing those mistakes, writing with more variety, and learning to express complex opinions with clarity and confidence.
In this post, I’ll share the most common struggles English learners face, the skills you need to build, and some activities that will take your writing to the next level.
🎉 You’re Invited to the Next Peach Teach English Event!
Before we dive into this article, I want to invite you to the next FREE Live Event. I’ll be joined by my guest, Suzanne, an experienced writing tutor, for a special workshop on how to improve your English writing.
📅 Date: September 23rd
🕐 Time: 1:00 PM (Bogotá time)
📍 Where: Zoom
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✍️ Common Struggles ESL Learners Face in Writing
When you’re writing at the B1 level, you can usually get your ideas across, but the message often feels a little unorganized or unclear. Here are some of the most common struggles I see with my students:
Punctuation confusion – Commas, periods, and question marks are often used in the wrong place, which makes writing harder to read.
Word order problems – Sentences like “Always I go to the gym in the morning” are understandable but not natural.
Repetitive vocabulary – Words like good, bad, nice, or very show up again and again, which makes writing feel flat.
Short, simple sentences – Ideas are written one after another and comes off a bit choppy. For example: “I went to the park. It was nice. I saw my friends.”
Missing connectors – Without words like although, however, and as a result, sentences don’t flow together smoothly.
Over-reliance on translators – It feels easier in the moment, but it prevents you from developing your own voice in English.
👉 None of these struggles means you’re “bad at writing.” They simply show you’re in the B1 stage. The exciting part is that every single one of these challenges can be improved with practice — and that’s what moving into B2 is all about.
💡 Skills You Need to Build for Better Writing
To grow as a writer, it helps to think less about avoiding mistakes and more about building new strengths. Here are the areas you should focus on as you move from B1 to B2 — along with some study tips to practice each one:
1. Writing in Longer, Connected Sentences
At B2, you should be able to link ideas together smoothly instead of stopping after every short sentence. Practice combining your thoughts with connectors like because, although, while, and which.
✨ Study tip: Make a list of common connectors and study their meaning. Then practice writing 3–5 sentences with each one. This will train you to use them naturally in your writing.
2. Expanding Your Vocabulary
The more precise your word choice, the stronger your writing sounds. At this level, you should study synonyms, collocations, and topic-specific words that let you describe things in richer detail.
✨ Study tip: Create word webs. Start with a simple word like good in the center, then draw lines with synonyms (great, excellent, beneficial), antonyms (bad, harmful, weak), and collocations (good job, good idea, good condition).
3. Organizing Your Ideas
B2 writing requires a clear structure. Learn how to plan your introduction, body, and conclusion so your writing has a beginning, middle, and end.
✨ Study tip: Before you start writing, make a quick outline with bullet points. Even 2 minutes of planning helps your writing flow better.
4. Expressing Opinions with Support
You’re expected to go beyond describing facts. Practice writing about your opinions and backing them up with reasons and examples. It can be helpful to answer the questions who, what, where, when, why, and how.
✨ Study tip: Choose a simple question like “Should students wear uniforms?” and write a short paragraph giving your opinion and supporting ideas.
5. Editing and Proofreading
At B2, accuracy matters. Train yourself to check for punctuation, word order, and grammar errors. Reading your work out loud is a simple but powerful way to catch mistakes.
✨ Study tip: Read articles about correct punctuation and ask a tutor or AI to correct your writing mistakes for you.
🎲 Writing Games and Activities to Practice
Once you know what skills to build, the next step is practice. Writing doesn’t have to be boring — here are some activities and games you can try to make your writing more engaging:
1. Morning Pages
This activity comes from Julia Cameron’s famous book The Artist’s Way, which was written to help creative people unlock their ideas and overcome blocks. Although it was designed for artists, it’s also a fantastic tool for language learners.
The idea is simple: every morning, sit down and write freely for about 10 minutes — usually 1 to 3 pages — about whatever comes into your head. Don’t worry about grammar, spelling, or being perfect. This is called stream-of-consciousness writing, where you let your thoughts flow onto the page without stopping.
Why is this so powerful? Because it gets your creative juices flowing, helps you think directly in English, and builds the habit of expressing yourself without fear of mistakes.
Watch this video to learn more about Morning Pages:
2. Storytelling
Pick a memory from your past and write it in as much detail as possible. Then, rewrite the same story from a different perspective. Try to answer the questions who, what, where, when, why, and how. Using the senses (touch, smell, taste, sight, sound) will make your writing come alive.
✨ Why it works: This develops description vocabulary, creativity, and sentence variety.
3. The 5-Word Writing Game
Choose 5 random words and challenge yourself to write a short story using them.
✨ Why it works: This pushes you to be creative with vocabulary and make unexpected connections.
4. Debate Paragraphs
Choose a question like “Is it better to work in an office or from home?” Write a short essay with a beginning, middle, and end. Be sure to give your opinion and support it with reasons and examples.
✨ Why it works: This trains you to organize arguments, use connectors, and back up opinions — exactly what examiners look for at B2.
5. Summarize and Transform
After reading an article or watching a short video, write a quick summary. Then, take it further by adding your own opinion or suggesting a solution.
✨ Why it works: This combines comprehension with original writing, helping you move beyond repeating ideas to creating your own.
6. Text Your Language Partner
A simple but powerful way to practice writing is by sending daily messages to a language partner. Keep it casual — talk about your day, ask questions, or share something interesting. Even short texts help you practice spelling, word choice, and sentence structure in real time.
✨ Why it works: It feels natural, helps you build consistency, and gives you real practice communicating in English every day.
💡 Quick Tip: Use ChatGPT or other AI tools to give yourself new writing prompts. When you finish your paragraph or essay, ask for suggestions to make it stronger. Try to avoid using a translator or relying on AI and spellcheck to write for you — the goal is for you to do the thinking and practice, and then use tools only for feedback.
Keep Writing, Keep Growing
Writing is one of the best ways to improve your overall English. When you practice regularly, you’re not only building your grammar and vocabulary — you’re also training yourself to think more clearly and express your ideas with confidence. The mistakes you reduce in writing will also help you speak more naturally in conversations.
Remember: don’t wait for perfection. Even one short writing practice each week will make a difference. Focus on building your strengths step by step, and you’ll see your writing skills moving from B1 to B2 faster than you think.
👉 Do you want help with your English writing? Book a FREE consultation with me today to see how I can support you in taking your writing skills to the next level.
