Make Your Writing More Interesting!

1
Make Your Writing More Interesting!

• Varying sentence structures

2
Vary your Sentence Openings

• If you start too many sentences with the same
  word, especially The, It, This, or I,
  guess what will happen?
• It was such a coincidence to meet Molly at the
  cinema.

3
How about these

• When I sat down at the cinema, I realised that,
  coincidentally, I was sitting next to Molly.
• Molly and I, without any advance planning, ended
  up sitting next to each other at the cinema.
• Unbelievable, I know, but Molly and I ended up
  sitting right next to each other at the cinema.
• At the crowded cinema, packed with 300 people,
  Molly and I ended up, by sheer coincidence,
  sitting right next to each other.
• I have known many coincidences in my life, but
  none more surprising than finding myself sitting
  next to Molly at the cinema.
• How extraordinary it was to find that I was
  sitting right next to Molly at the cinema!

4
Sentences with the same rhythm and length can be
very monotonous

• We went to Chester Zoo. We went to look at the
  bats. It was dark in the Bat Cave. The bats were
  beautiful. Some bats were flying around our
  heads. Some bats were sleeping upside down.
  Bethany was scared at first. Later, she bought a
  cuddly bat.

5
Use connectives

• If your sentences are short and the rhythm does
  not work, try joining sentences, clauses and
  phrases with connectives
• and, but, so, or, for, yet, however, in spite of,
  etc..
• Add imagery (similes, metaphors), adjectives,
  adverbs, adventurous vocabulary

6
Use short and long sentences.

• Class Six visited Chester Zoo last summer to look
  at the bats. In the darkness of the Bat Cave they
  met a variety of beautiful nocturnal creatures,
  some fluttering soundlessly around their ears and
  others resting upside-down in the darkest
  corners. Bethany had been worried, but, after
  learning more and seeing the bats in their home,
  she became very fond of them. She later left the
  zoo clutching a cuddly toy bat.

7
Use different types of sentence.

• Simple sentences
• Alex enjoyed going to the show with you.
• Henry VIII is famous for having had six wives.

• Compound sentences
• Henry VIII is famous for having had six wives and
  for having two of them beheaded.

8
Complex Sentences

• In his quest for an heir to the throne, Henry
  VIII married six different women, two of whom he
  divorced, two he had beheaded, one died and one
  survived.

9
Add an extra clause to give more information

• Jenny finally made it to the party.
• Jenny, who had spent forty-five minutes waiting
  for a taxi, finally made it to the party.
• Six children took part in the dance.
• Six children, each wearing a mask of their own
  design, took part in the dance.
• Drop in your extra clause between two commas-
  make a comma sandwich

10
Recap

• Vary sentence openings
• Join short sentences, phrases and clauses with
  connectives
• Use sentences of different lengths
• Mix different types of sentence- simple, compound
  and complex
• Add a clause- make a comma sandwich