“Let me live, love, and say it well
in good sentences.”
-Sylvia Plath-
One of my favorite techniques for improving my writing is the use of appositives.
An appositive, derived from the Latin term meaning "to place close by," is a noun or noun phrase that renames or further identifies the previous noun.
Appositives may range from concise and straightforward to lengthy and complex, depending upon your objectives.
THE BENEFITS OF USING APPOSITIVES
Although appositives are not crucial to the meaning of your writing, they will enhance your work in the following ways:
Animate your writing with vivid mental pictures
Clarify the meaning of your sentences
Provide the reader with further explanation
Create depth and texture within your content
Extend your sentence lengths to produce appealing rhythm and flow
In addition to the above, appositives are fun to write! They will challenge you to dig deeper into your imagination to produce more inventive and interesting writing.
EXAMPLES OF APPOSITIVES (in blue)
1. Her dog, an Australian Shepherd named Ralph, loves to fetch tennis balls.
2. Glenn grabbed his tools—a hammer and a chainsaw—and placed them in his pickup truck.
3. Mount Greylock, the highest point in the state of Massachusetts offering a panoramic view of five states, is Brian's favorite camping spot.
4. Studies have shown that mosquitos, one of the most dangerous animals on earth, cause more than 750,000 deaths per year.
5. Connie Willis, a graduate of Colorado State College and an American science fiction/fantasy writer who has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards, is married to Courtney Willis, a former professor of physics at the University of Northern Colorado.
Try a few of your own. Any time you use a noun in your writing, consider whether adding an appositive will enrich your sentence and elevate your work to the next level.
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