Are you having trouble lengthening your paragraphs? Do you want to make them more detailed? If so, here’s a method you can try.
I once had a student write me a paragraph telling me what they did over spring break.
About 30 minutes after I gave her the assignment, she handed it back to me. I looked at and it was only two sentences.
I read it and it said:
“Spring break was boring. I didn’t do much and didn’t have fun.”
I handed it back to her and asked her why she wrote so little. I told her there must have been something else that she could’ve added.
She said that’s all she did. She didn’t have anything else to write.
So, I asked her to think and to try to be more descriptive and detailed. Maybe talk about an actual event that happened.
She told that she didn’t know how to make her paragraph better.
I stood there and pondered.
“What can she do to make this longer?”
Then, it hit me. I told her to answer these questions to make her writing longer:
- Who
- What
- When
- Where
- Why
- How
I also gave her these specific questions as examples:
- Why was spring break boring?
- Where did you want to go but didn’t?
- What did you want to do but didn’t get to do?
She said okay and got to writing.
After about 15 minutes, she handed the writing back to me.
I read it through and it was much better than the original (however, I will add she didn’t come up with her own questions. But the important thing is that she actually tried and did her work).
She added all these details and it increased the length of her paragraph. But, more importantly, it made the writing more descriptive.
Here’s what she wrote:
“Spring break was boring. I didn’t do much and didn’t have fun. I wanted to go to the rec centre, but I wasn’t allowed. My mom said she didn’t have time to take me. I also wanted to watch a movie. But my mom was busy with work.”
She could’ve added more to it, but this is not bad at all.
How You Can Use This Method
If you have trouble meeting word requirements or have problems with putting enough detail into your writing, try this method.
Be a journalist and ask yourself variations of those questions (who, what, when, where, why, and how), and try to see if you can fit the answers into your writing.
You will have to be creative with it and it will take time to inquire.
But that extra little bit of time will make your writing much better. It’ll make your piece longer and more compelling.
Additionally, this method will help make your story more elaborate, convincing, and informational, which will be more beneficial to the reader (which can get you better grades).
Final Thoughts
Writing descriptive content with loads of information is valuable.
It’ll help you paint a vivid picture that’ll influence the reader.
So, if you have trouble making your essay, for instance, longer and more detailed, use this method.