1. Magic ThreeThree groups of words, usually separated by commas, that create a poetic rhythm or add support for a point, especially when the three word groups have their own modifiers.
Original Sentence: When you're in a big city, there are many places you can visit that smaller places don't have. With Magic Three: When you're in a big city--you know--the kind with around-the-clock lights, laughter and love, there are many places you can visit. There are nooks and crannies or rooms with echoes and floor-to-ceiling windows that smaller places don't have, wouldn't have and probably, definitely, shouldn't have. 3. Figurative LanguageNon-literal comparisons – similes, metaphors and personification add “spice” to writing and can help paint a more vivid picture for the reader.
Original Sentence: When you’re in a big city, there are many places you can visit that smaller places don’t have. With Figurative Language: When you’re in a big city, you’re a lion in a jungle, able to roam the many places you can visit. There are nooks and crannies or rooms with echoes and floor-to-ceiling windows that call you to explore. Smaller places don’t have these magical places that can be as surreal as a fairy tale. 5. Specific Details for EffectInstead of general, vague descriptions, specific sensory details help the reader visualize the person, place, thing, or idea being described.
Original Sentence: When you’re in a big city, there are many places you can visit that smaller places don’t have. Adding Specific Details: We would travel through the big city like walking through knee-high grass, marveling at the smaller, obscure places that seemed to tickle our legs like spiders. 7. Repetition for EffectWriters often repeat specially chosen words or phrases to make a point, to stress certain ideas for the readers.
Original Sentence: When you’re in a big city, there are many places you can visit that smaller places don’t have. Adding Repetition: In the smaller city, I was never Peter Pan and flew to Never-Never Land. In the smaller city, I was never Cinderella getting ready for the Ball to dance the night away with Prince Charming. In the smaller city, I was never Jane waiting for Tarzan in our tree hut. But in the big city, there are many places that I can visit. 9. Hyphenated ModifiersHyphenated adjectives often cause the reader to “sit up and take notice.”
Original Sentence: When you’re in a big city, there are many places you can visit that smaller places don’t have. Adding Hyphenated Modifiers: It was one of those please-don’t-make-me-go-to-school mornings in the big city. There were so many other places to visit. Unlike in smaller places where everyone knows who you are if you ditch. |
2. Painting With ParticiplesParticiple: Adding an -ing or -ed verb onto the beginning or end of a sentence.
Original Sentence: When you’re in a big city, there are many places you can visit that smaller places don’t have. With Participles: When you’re browsing, admiring and exploring in a big city, there are many places you can visit. There are nooks and crannies or rooms with echoes and floor-to-ceiling windows that smaller places don’t have, wouldn’t have and probably, definitely, shouldn’t have. 4. Adjectives Out of OrderTo avoid the three in a row pattern, use this brush stroke to keep one adjective in its place and move the others after the noun.
Original Sentence: When you're in a big city, there are many places you can visit that smaller places don't have. With Adjectives Out of Order: When you're in a big city, bright and bustling, there are around-the-clock lights, laughter and love and many places you can visit. There are nooks and crannies or rooms with echoes and floor-to-ceiling windows that smaller places don't have, wouldn't have and probably, definitely, shouldn't have. 6. Action VerbsGo from passive voice to active voice by deleting “Be” verbs.
Original Sentence: When you’re in a big city, there are many places you can visit that smaller places don’t have. Adding Action Verbs: When you're in a big city, it overflows with places to visit that smaller places don't have. 8. Painting with AppositivesAn appositive is a noun that adds additional information to a preceding noun.
Original Sentence: When you’re in a big city, there are many places you can visit that smaller places don’t have. Adding Appositives: When you're in a big city, like New York, there are many places you can visit, but they pale in comparison to lazing in a raft on the lake in smaller cities, like Minden. 10. Painting with AbsolutesAn absolute is a noun combined with an –ing verb at the beginning of the sentence.
Original Sentence: The dog yawned silently. Adding Absolutes: Paws curling, back stretching, the dog yawned silently. |