How to write an advice article in English (B1+): three phone photo tips with reasons and alternatives

Plan first: one reader, three different problems

Choose one group of readers, such as travellers taking photos at night, and three problems with different causes: composition, light, focus or storage. In 140–180 words you have room for a title, a one-sentence introduction and three headings. Make each heading the advice itself:

• Not “Light”, but “Turn off the flash for distant views”.
• Not “Focus”, but “Tap the face you want sharp”.
• Not “Storage”, but “Keep every photo in two places”.
• If two tips share a cause, replace one.

A complete tip: action, reason, alternative

An order alone leaves the reader asking why. Build every tip from three parts:

• Action, with an imperative: “Move before you zoom.”
• Reason, with because for a cause or so for a result: “Digital zoom can reduce detail, so walk nearer when it is safe.”
• Alternative, with might, could or one possibility is: “You might also take one wider landscape and one close-up; together they preserve both context and detail.”
• So can also mean “so that” and show a purpose: “Switch off the flash and move nearer, so the wet ground keeps its colour.”

Instructions that guide rather than order

Readers of a tips article have asked for advice, so imperatives sound helpful, not rude. Vary them:

• Don’t + base verb: “Don’t use the flash for distant buildings; it only reaches nearby objects.”
• Avoid + -ing: “Avoid holding the phone with one hand in low light.”
• Try + -ing means “do it and see if it works”: “Try tapping the face on the screen.” Try to + verb means “make an effort”: “Try to keep your elbows close to your body.”
• If + condition first, when the advice depends on the situation: “If the sky looks white, reduce the brightness before you take the photo.”

Words that name the problem precisely

Vague advice starts from “The photo is bad.” Precise advice names the problem:

• Out of focus or in focus: “The portrait was out of focus because the phone focused on the window.”
• Overexposed, meaning too bright: “The sky is overexposed, so its colour and cloud detail have disappeared.”
• Self-timer: “They used the self-timer for a photograph of the whole group.”
• Portrait and landscape: a portrait setting keeps a person sharp and softens the background; a landscape is a wide view. Both words also mean a tall or a wide picture.
• Upload: “Take the photo first, but ask permission before you upload it.”

Listen: four steps for one difficult photo

Notice the reasons after because and so, the purpose in “tap the cyclist to focus”, and how First, Next, Then and Finally order the steps.

Questions to discuss before you write

Answer out loud first. Your reasons often become the reasons in your tips.

• “Is it better to edit a photo or to take it again?”
• “Should you ask permission before you upload a photo of someone?”
• “Do phone cameras make people better photographers, or just faster ones?”

Common mistakes

Check your draft for these:

• “Don’t to use the flash.” After Don’t, use the base verb: “Don’t use the flash.”
• “Avoid to zoom.” Avoid takes -ing: “Avoid zooming.”
• “Make a photo.” In English you “take a photo”.
• A tip with no reason: “Use the self-timer.” Add why: “Use the self-timer, so you can be in the group photo too.”
• Three tips with one cause, such as three ways to change the settings.

A 10-minute daily practice routine

Say each tip aloud before you write it. At the weekend, write the full article in 40 minutes.

• 2 minutes: play the photo word cards and repeat each example.
• 3 minutes: name one problem in the last photo on your phone.
• 3 minutes: write one tip for it: action, reason, alternative.
• 2 minutes: read it aloud and ask “Why?” and “What if I can’t?” Keep the tip only if it answers both.

What comes next

At this level, describe a room in four paragraphs or send five connected trip updates. Next, back up two professional strengths with evidence in a profile. At B2, expand a 50-word core into a complete short story.