This IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 post deals with the methods of writing an answer to a flow-chart or process diagram. It also provides some important tips on writing a great answer and presents a sample answer to a flow-chart.

Let us have a look at this sample question of flow-chart.

The flow-chart shows the sequential process of writing a great story.  

According to the Google dictionary, a flow-chart is a diagram of the sequence of movements or actions of people or things involved in a complex system or activity.

Writing answer to a flow-chart can be tricky in some cases. A flow chart has similarities with a process diagram as both of them contain a sequence. We need to think about the chart, look at it carefully and decide on the structure of writing.

Structure:

A great flow-chart/process diagram description in IELTS should have two paragraphs.

The first paragraph:

Introduce the picture by paraphrasing the title. Paraphrasing means to express the meaning of (something that is written or spoken) using different words, especially to achieve greater clarity. Here is an example of paraphrasing:

Look at the title of this chart. It says:
The flow-chart shows the sequential process of writing a great story.

Now look at the paraphrased line:

The provided flow-chart supplies information on the chronological methods of writing a grand story.

This is how you should change the sentence.

You should also write a general statement or overview of the given picture with the introductory statement. An overview is a general review or summary of a subject. For this flow-chart, an overview or an overall statement can be:
From a glance, it can be seen that the process requires seven stages in total initiating with assuming the ideas and culminating in creating the story.

The second paragraph:

Now, in the second paragraph, you should write a good detailed description of the chart or diagram.

You should carefully look at each stage and give a description. Be careful not to overstate anything. Keep it simple and use a variety of sentences such as active and passive forms, simple, complex, and compound sentences etc. You should also use a number of linking words/ connecting words to describe the sequence of the chart or process.

You need not to write a conclusion for a Writing Task 1 answer.

Thus, you can write an excellent answer to a flowchart or process diagram.

Tips:

Here are some important tips for you to remember when you write a flow-chart or process diagram:

• Use present indefinite tense or simple present tense.
• Use active as well as passive verbs.
• Spot how many stages there are in the chart and include them in the introduction.
• In an overview/overall trend/general trend of the picture, include the number of stages as well as the first and the last stages.
• Try using a range of linkers/connecting words to show the sequence.
• Use a range of vocabulary; change the words you see in the flow-chart, especially, the verbs.
• Avoid using the second person (you) as the subject of sentences in the detailed description, even though you find ‘you’ written in the picture.

Model answer:

The provided flow-chart supplies information on the chronological methods of writing a grand story. From a glance, it can be seen that the process requires seven stages in total initiating with assuming the ideas and culminating in creating the story.

As it is observed in the flow-chart, the first stage of writing a great story generates ideas and the background of the subject which leads to choosing one specific topic. In the next step, the writer needs to search for an excellent character and he or she should focus on the character. The writer has to be precise about the events to share. However, describing the events is prohibited. Rather the events should involve the readers. After that, in step four, the writer should try to involve the most significant human senses viz. touch, smell, hearing, vision, etc. In the following stage, the use of ‘figure of speech’ like metaphors, allusions, and similes should be used with extreme care. In the sixth step, proper treatment should be given to adjectives and adverbs. Finally, a great story is produced by the writer.
(165 words)

Here are some other diagrams that you can practice:

Flow-chart on sweater manufacturing

Process diagram on olive oil production

Two maps showing changes in an industrial village

Two maps showing changes in a town

Life cycle diagram on tuna fish

Life cycle diagram on silkworm moth

Cycle diagram on water movement

Diagram on water contamination

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