From Drab to Fab: How to Enliven Your Prose
by Kathleen M.
Ever wonder how to add more life to your writing? Sometimes writing is correct and clear but lacks any emotion or life; these types of essays are often difficult for the reader because they lack energy. These “boring” essays are a struggle for writers because like all personal writing, if it’s yours, it is probably clear and interesting to you.
Here is a list of ways you can improve your writing and make it more lively:
- Use active voice
- Add sensory language
- Insert personal anecdotes
- Choose strong verbs (there are lists of these online and in your recommended books!)
- Vary sentence structure
Here is an example of a paragraph that could be livelier:
Friendship is important to everyone but has been especially important in my life. Without my friends, I don’t think I would be the successful person I am today. My friends in AP Biology really helped me to work harder and together we worked on experiments. And my friends in Orchestra were the ones who encouraged me to apply for a special summer program in Vienna.
Using active voice:
Friendship fortifies me for the world. Because of my friends, I seek out intellectual adventures.
Adding sensory language:
In Orchestra, my friends and I explored a variety of sound variations as we learned new pieces of music.
Varying sentence structure:
In AP Biology, I learned the importance of friendship as my labmates challenged me to think about the subject differently. Not only did we learn the material assigned, but we worked together to design an experiment that won us honors in the Regional Science Fair.
Keep experimenting with your writing to try to add more detail. In the process, you are likely adding life to your essay. Rearranging your text so that you use multiple types of sentences and engaging a variety of vocabulary will also help. Have fun and keep working at it and soon you will have a lively college application essay response.
Resources:
“How to Convey Emotion in Your Writing”
