Developing Your Writing Style

Sentence Length and Structure

A. Varying Sentences Length and Structure

Vary your sentences in numerous ways to add impact and interest to your writing.

BLAND

Bernice won the sculpting contest. She told her best friend Emi as soon as she found out.

BETTER

Bernice won the sculpting contest. As soon as she found out, she told her best friend Emi.

BLAND

Emi Was happy for Bernice. She told Ari the good news over the phone.

BETTER

Emi was happy for Bernice. Over the phone, she told Ari the good news.

BLAND

Emi kept Ari on the phone for an hour. She is talkative and sociable.

BETTER

Talkative and sociable, Emi kept Ari on the phone for an hour.

BLAND

Ari was excited to hear that Bernice had won. He wanted to congratulate her.

BETTER

A. Excited to hear that Bernice had won, Ari wanted to congratulate her.

B. Ari was excited to hear that Bernice had won and wanted to congratulate her.

Paragraph without Variety

She heard about Galveston’s devastating hurricane. She went to Texas, bringing a small staff with her. She participated in the last disaster relief work of her career. She was seventy-eight years old. She was a remarkable woman. She was Clara Barton. She was the founder of the American Red Cross.

Varying sentence beginnings

A. Sentence Connectives

(and, but, however – can help you make transitions between ideas)

B. Appositive and Appositive phrases

C. Single-word modifiers

D. Phrase modifiers

E. Clause modifiers

Paragraph with Variety

Almost as soon as the devastating hurricane hit Galveston, she heard about it. Immediately, she went to Texas, bringing a small staff with her. There she participated in the last disaster relief work of her career. Being seventy-eight years old did not stop her. Who was this remarkable woman? She was Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross.

B. Using Grammatical Voice

There are two grammatical voices to choose from: active and passive.

• Active voice

• Ex. Nelson Mandela led the South African People in protest.

• Passive voice

• Ex. Mandela was freed after twenty-seven years.

C. Point of View

Point of view is the vantage point from which you write, your “angle” on your topic.

The point of view you choose depends on whose story you want to tell, how formal you want your writing to be, and how much closeness you want to set up between you and your readers.

Three basic points of view:

• first-, third-, and second-person

A story narrated by a participant using pronouns such as I, me, my, we, and our is told from the first-person point of view.

A story of the other people’s experiences narrated by an observer is told from the third-person point of view. The use of pronouns such as they, it, her, him, and she signals this point of view.

The second-person point of view is used for specific purposes, such as giving directions and instructions. The pronoun you is used to as the subject, though it may be implied rather than stated.

Ex. To protect your family from fires, follow these rules:

1. Install smoke detectors in your home, and check them regularly to make sure that they are working.

2. Always have a fire extinguisher on hand. Explain to young children that it is not a toy.