Writing practice: emails, essays and paragraphs
Twenty-four timed writing tasks, each with a free guide to what a strong answer does. Write one and AI on TalkDrill scores it on six dimensions, with notes on your own lines and a rewrite of your own text.
Free to start. You need a TalkDrill account to submit a piece for scoring; reading these guides does not.
Email writing tasks
Eight emails people really have to send at work and on the way into it: an apology to a client, a leave request, an internship application, declining an offer, a bug report, an interview follow-up, a complaint and a thank-you. Each names its reader, and tone is scored against that reader.
Essay writing tasks
Eight argumentative essays of 220–340 words. The skill is the same in every one: take a position, defend it with reasons and examples, and give the other side its best case before you answer it. Good practice for coursework, IELTS Task 2 and group-discussion preparation.
Paragraph writing tasks
Eight single-paragraph tasks: describing a bar chart, a line graph and a process, summarising a decision, writing instructions, explaining a project, giving an opinion, and explaining a cause. One paragraph has nowhere to hide, which is what makes it such good practice.
How your writing is scored
Every piece, whether one of these tasks or your own brief, is scored by AI on TalkDrill on the same six dimensions. The weights tell you where the marks are: doing what the brief asked is worth more than any single language skill.
Task response
25%Did you do what the brief asked? Every point covered, for the reader it names, at roughly the length it asks for.
Organisation
20%Can the reader find your main point? Order, paragraphing and the links between sentences.
Grammar
20%Accuracy and control: tenses, agreement, articles, and sentences that end where they should.
Vocabulary
15%Precise, natural word choice. Range counts when it serves the meaning, not when it shows off.
Mechanics (spelling and punctuation)
10%Spelling, punctuation and capitals: the small errors a reader notices before your ideas.
Tone
10%Register matched to the reader: formal enough, warm enough, firm enough for the person on the other end.
Six scores and an overall
Each dimension is scored out of 100, and the overall is their weighted total, so you can see which one is holding the piece back.
Line-by-line notes
Notes pinned to the sentences that need them: what is wrong, why it matters to the reader, and what to do instead.
A rewrite of your own text
Your piece, improved, so you can compare your sentence with a better version of what you meant. Never a stranger’s sample answer to copy.
How a writing session works
Pick a task, or bring your own
Choose one of the 24 tasks below, read its guide here for free, or paste your own brief: a cover letter, an IELTS essay, a statement of purpose.
Write against the clock
Each task has a word target and a suggested time. The timer is a guide, not a guillotine: you can keep writing past it, and the screen tells you when you have.
Submit for scoring
AI on TalkDrill reads the whole piece against the brief and its reader, and scores it on six dimensions in minutes.
Read the report, then write it again
Six scores, notes on the lines that need them, and a rewrite of your own text. The second attempt is where most of the learning happens.
Write your own
Have a real piece to write? Bring your own brief instead of one of ours. Tell us what it is and who will read it, write it, and get the same six scores, notes and rewrite.
Any email you need to send: to a manager, a client, a professor, a landlord.
Cover letter
For a specific job: matched to the posting, with evidence rather than adjectives.
LinkedIn post
An announcement, a lesson learnt, a project you shipped, in a voice that is still yours.
Formal letter
To an institution, an embassy, a council or a company, where the format matters.
Essay
Argumentative, discursive or opinion essays on your own question.
Paragraph
A single paragraph: a summary, a description, an opinion, an answer.
Report
A short workplace or academic report with findings and recommendations.
Statement of purpose
For a university application: why this course, why you, why now.
IELTS Writing Task 2 essay
Paste the real question and get an estimated band as well as the six scores.
IELTS General Training Task 1 letter
Formal, semi-formal or informal letters, with an estimated band.
IELTS pieces also get an estimated band, so you can see where a real essay or letter would land.
Writing practice: common questions
Is TalkDrill writing practice free?
Every guide on these pages is free to read and needs no account. To write a task and have it scored you need a TalkDrill account. It is free to start, and the writing screen shows what a review costs before you submit.
How is my writing scored?
AI on TalkDrill scores each piece on six dimensions: task response (25%), organisation (20%), grammar (20%), vocabulary (15%), mechanics, meaning spelling and punctuation (10%), and tone (10%). You also get notes on specific lines and a rewrite of your own text.
Will I see a model answer?
No, on purpose. A polished sample teaches you to copy someone else’s sentences. Instead, the report rewrites your own piece, so you can compare what you wrote with a better version of the same ideas and see exactly what changed.
Is the timer strict?
No. Each task has a suggested time that matches how long the piece should take, but you can keep writing past it; the screen simply shows when you have gone over. Time yourself strictly if you are preparing for an exam.
Can I practise IELTS Writing here?
Yes. Bring a real IELTS Writing Task 2 question or a General Training Task 1 letter through “Write your own” for the six scores and an estimated band. The bar chart, line graph and process paragraphs on this page train the same overview-first skill that Academic Task 1 tests.
Which task should I start with?
Start with the kind you need soonest. If you have no deadline, try a beginner email such as the leave request or the interview follow-up: they are short, the brief is clear, and the report shows quickly how tone is scored.
Practise speaking too
Pick a task and write it
24 tasks, six scores, notes on your own lines and a rewrite of your own text, in minutes.
Free to start. You need a TalkDrill account to submit a piece for scoring; reading these guides does not.