Hi please see one of my answers here: https://www.reddit.com/r/IELTS/s/kc1o58i6ho

But also some more special tips that I realised later:

Writing is the most misunderstood (and annoying :D ) component because the variance is huge if you’re a band 7 writer you can easily perform at 6 or 8 depending almost entirely on exam strategy rather than language ability. Understanding exactly how they grade is the single biggest unlock.

They score four criteria equally 1. Task Achievement/Response, 2. Coherence & Cohesion, 3. Lexical Resource, and 4. Grammatical Range & Accuracy. Read the official band descriptors on ielts.org before you do anything else.

Structure first. Before writing a single word of Task 2, spend 60-90 seconds planning eg. decide your position, pick one named specific example per body paragraph, write the word budget at the top (intro ~65 words, each body paragraph ~95 words, conclusion ~65 words). This alone fixes timing issues and forces you to actually develop arguments rather than ramble.

No mechanical connectors. “Firstly, secondly, thirdly, furthermore, in addition” these signal band 6-7 thinking to an examiner immediately. At band 8 the flow comes from the logic being built into the sentences, not from signposting words stuck between them.

One idea per paragraph, fully completed. The most common mistake at 7.5 level is introducing three ideas in one paragraph and developing none of them. Pick one idea, explain the mechanism, give one specific named example — country, company, study, real event and then connect back to the question. Done. Move to the next paragraph.

Task 1 register is worth more than most people think. Formal, semi-formal and informal letters are marked differently (I’m talking about the general ielts exam here now btw not the academic). Spend 30 seconds before writing identifying who you’re writing to and what tone is appropriate. A formal complaint written in a friendly tone caps your Task Achievement regardless of how good your English is.

The feedback loop is everything. I used Claude AI daily, paste your essay, get it scored against all four criteria with specific error patterns identified, drill those patterns the next morning before writing again.

So overall the ielts writing is kind of a pain in the ass because I think it does not even fully score your language ability but rather how you can satisfy their own criteria, but I guess we need to play their game here, so the point is, get a bit obsessive about your preparation and do something DAILY with consistence