How to improve?

[shadows]

OK.

So I a C (60s) in my English exam, and teacher said that I am too shallow and my writing ability is not up to scratch. It's not coherent, quite ambiguous...
I'm quite disappointed and I know that I need to improve.

So now that its holidays.. what do you guys recommend? To read books? (Not only improve vocab and general ability but also comprehension.) Or should I just start experimenting with my writing?

I've always written essays the same, and my essays would harbour formidable results (80+), but now that VCE is here, I need to step it up, and I'm kind of lost as to where to go....

For all my context pieces this year, I have written short stories. For my SAC, to my surprise I actually got full marks, but I only got 6/10 for the context piece in my exam. I learnt quickly that marking short stories are very subjective, and I don't think I want to take that risk next year. So I'm probably going to shift to a expository / hybrid containing expository. But I just don't know where to start. Heck, I don't know how to write one. I know it may sound soo stupid, but I've written essays the same all my life, (just a standard text response, or standard persuasive) I've never really put too much time into English and it's coming back to haunt me.

My structure and essay techniques are mundane, and on the verge of shabby o.o.
Please help someone. I need to enter Unit 2 English with a new mindset, new approach so that my writing ability could start anew.

Also, is it recommended I go to an English tutor? , or should I try improve myself, and get one at the start of next year?

[EspoirTron]

Hey shadows, I will try to help to the best of my ability.
Firstly, to improve your vocab I would recommend that you read for pleasure and perhaps have a look at high-scoring responses, these can be found on the VCAA website or the ATAR Notes forum. Experimenting is a good option seeing as you're in year 11 and you can do that if you so please. However, I would also recommend that you consult your teacher and discuss with them where your writing requires attention.
If you want to shift to writing in an expository it's just an exposition of the prompt, I'd recommend spending time just planning your response before diving straight into it, ask questions of the prompt itself and set out a basic structure for your paragraphs.
When you say your techniques are shabby, what exactly do you mean?
An English tutor could be an option, however there is a plethora of resources available on the Internet that you could utilise, I hope that helped.