Have you ever caught yourself complaining that you don't have anything fun to do? "I'm bored" is one of the phrases that most parents report hearing fairly regularly, especially in the summer or on weekends. However, many experts agree that boredom is a choice. It certainly is in writing.
When you write the same way most of the time, readers are more likely to lose interest in what you have to say. In fact, a writing style that uses the same types of sentences over and over again can make your writing seem like it was written for a little kid―not an audience of your peers. Here's an example of how Jordan might sound if all of his sentences were written a similar way.
I ran my fingers through my short hair. I made it stand on end. I felt like punching something. I knew I would regret it. I told myself to calm down. I worked to control my emotions. My best friend had been bullied again. I said out loud to myself, "Don't do something stupid."
While Jordan might have some very interesting character traits and be part of a fascinating story, this repetitious way of writing is very dull. To create an engaging introduction to a character and to make a first-person narrator both intriguing and believable, you should use a variety of sentence styles in your writing. The tabs below describe some useful strategies for making your narrator sound more interesting.
To make your narrator sound more real and more interesting, mix short, simple sentences with longer, more complex ones. You can make sentences longer by using words such as although, because, before, however, since, until, and whenever.
Although I felt like punching something, I knew I would regret it.
I kept telling myself to calm down until my breathing slowed and my anger drained away.
Another way to make short sentences longer is by combining two closely related sentences using and, but, or, or so.
I ran my fingers through my short hair so that it stood on end.
I felt like punching something, but that would just get me in trouble.
Don't forget to look also for places where you can break longer sentences into shorter ones.
When you write in first-person point of view, you may find that you use the word I too often. After all, narrators have very few other ways of referring to themselves, and yet every aspect of the story must be told through the narrator's eyes. One way to get around the overuse of I is to vary sentence beginnings.
How do you vary sentence beginnings? Just choose some sentences to begin with conjunctions―words like although, after, as soon as, before, but, even though, however, if, since, somehow, unless, until, and whenever. As you read this paragraph, think about how you might vary the beginnings of two or three of these sentences.
I'm not exactly a small person, but I'm not large either. I'm tall for my age. I just don't have any muscles. I knew that teaching this bully a lesson by scaring him wasn't the answer. I wanted to help my friend. I had to think of a way to make the bully stop.
Here's how the writer of this paragraph might improve the paragraph using conjunctions.
Although I'm not exactly small, I'm not large either―just tall for my age. However, I don't have any muscles yet. If I tried to teach this bully a lesson by scaring him, that wouldn't help at all. I really wanted to help my friend, but how could I stop the bully?
You Try It
Look back at the paragraphs you wrote earlier in this lesson. Make some changes to your sentences using the two strategies described above: Vary your sentence lengths, and vary your sentence beginnings.
