Change Nouns to Verbs for Clear Writing

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

change nouns to verbs Ever wonder why some writing is so confusing? You read it once. It makes no sense. You read it again and hope for the best.

Most business, legal, and government writing rely on lengthy and unclear sentences and plenty of nouns.

Nouns stop the forward motion of the sentence and often make the sentence longer, like this:

The addition of a 10-minute warm-up routine made the winning of the gold medal possible for him.

Why not punch up the sentence with specific, active verbs? This generally makes sentences shorter, and it definitely makes them easier to understand, like this:

How a Tiny Tick Almost Stopped Her

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Angeli Vanlaanen has had it rough. When she was ten years old, she fell ill and continued to experience symptoms until she was twenty-four: headaches, sore muscles and joints, fatigue, fainting, blurry vision, and so forth.

The diagnosis

Still, she pushed herself to learn how to ice skate and snow ski. Her sport of choice is women’s halfpipe skiing, which she competed in despite the severe pain in her joints and her other physical ailments.

Doctors had long ago given up trying to diagnose her illness. Maybe she was making up the symptoms. Maybe it was all in her head—that is, until her aunt

The Enumerative Essay: Parking Spaces and Baseball

SHARON’S BLOG

My husband Terry gave me the idea for this writing prompt though he didn’t know it at the time.

A love of lists

Last summer we drove to our local grocery store, and as Terry pulled into a spot, he said, “I like to park here because . . . ,” and he listed four reasons why he likes to park in that particular place. Now that you know how exciting our lives are, you’ll be happy to know that his love of lists surfaced yet again—at the ball park.

We were watching the Indianapolis Indians play the Rochester Redwings when one of the Indians smacked a ball and headed toward first. Terry leaned over to me and said, “There are nine ways to get to first safely.” Or was it seven?

Terry was halfway to writing an enumerative essay because he began with a number (four or nine) and had a secure idea of a list.

A Moving Description?

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Aren’t descriptions those portions of books that you skip? Aren’t they boring? Don’t they stop the forward movement of the plot?
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Sometimes they do. But when you are the writer, you don’t have to stop the movement even if you are describing something.

Make something move.

An effective writer makes a description move. Wind blows the curtains. The sea surges on the shore in frothy waves. The train plows through fields of ripe winter wheat. You get the idea.

Read the following description of an abandoned cabin from Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire and figure out what is moving:

Wanted: Cowboy Poets

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

Heifers. Cowpokes. Cottonwoods. Hullabaloo.

What do these words have in common? Well, if you were a cowboy poet, you would know!

The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering is held in Elko, Nevada, each year. Singers and poets compete, attend workshops, and dance. Watch Randy Rieman recite his humorous poem about being “throwed” from a bronco here.

When Is a Sweet Pea Not a Sweet Pea?

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

Gardeners love to receive their new seed catalogs in the middle of winter. It gives them something to dream about and plan for. Not only are the photos of flowers and vegetables beautiful and inspiring but their descriptions are as well.

Here’s the description of the Erewhon Sweet Pea from a Burpee catalog:

Maya Angelou and the Smile

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

When Maya Angelou, author of the moving autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, was eleven years old, she was reunited with her birth mother, whom she hadn’t seen in eight years. Young Maya was unhappy.
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After two weeks, her mother still had not seen her smile. Here’s the exchange between Maya and her mother, recorded in Mom & Me & Mom (Random House, 2013):

Do You Have a Spice Clock?

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

When you want to know what time it is, where do you look?

Most likely, you tell time by clocks of some sort. But what if you told time by flowers, birds, or scents?

Huh?

Opinion Writing: Professional Matchmakers

SHARON’S BLOG

Students who have a hard time writing about wars, politics, gender issues, and other heavy topics really warm up to writing opinions, so let’s give them something engaging to write about. After all, everyone has opinions.

It’s Just Lunch is a dating service for businessmen and businesswomen. According to their Website, they’ve provided over two million dates in major cities in the United States since 1991.

This is how it works:

‘Tis the Season for Giving

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Charitable organizations need help and often ask for money around Christmas and at the year’s end. You may be familiar with the bell ringers of the Salvation Army and their red buckets near store entrances.

The Salvation Army, the Red Cross, police and firefighter organizations, local food pantries, and local homeless shelters are all worthy causes that ask for contributions near Christmas.

Will you or your family be giving to a charity this year?

The diagnosis

A love of lists

Make something move.

Looking for something?

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