Writing style

College Essays
1

<p>What writing style? Prose, or can it be very literary and abstract? is it formal? or more dramatic and emotional?</p>

2

<p>not formal, but don’t go overboard with the dramatic elements.</p>

3

<p>bump bump bump</p>

4

<p>bump 10char</p>

5

<p>If you’re asking about style in general, I would suggest that you write in a style that is natural for you. If you’re funny, be funny. If you’re whimsical, be whimsical. If you’re analytical, be analytical. The goal is to answer the prompt in a way that reveals your personality to the reader, so any style that accomplishes that goal is “correct.”</p>

<p>If you’re asking about style at the sentence level, I would suggest that you avoid weak verbs, passive voice, and thesauruses. By weak verbs, I especially mean is/are/was/were/become/became. If you refuse to use these weak verbs, your style will improve.</p>

<p>By passive voice, I mean the object-verb-subject sentence structure. Passive voice should not be used by you. Instead, use standard subject-verb-object sentence structure. Use active voice. </p>

<p>And by thesauruses, I mean those terrible books people use to try to sound smart (with painfully rare success). A plethora of loquacious primates? That’s a group of babbling monkeys to you and me. Well, pretty much. You get the point. Fancy words are not fooling any thesaurus-weary admission counselors.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>JP</p>

6

<p>

Please tell me this was intentional.</p>

<p>To counter some of the above points, I think passive voice is acceptable, if not desired, in some scenarios. Consider these two sentences: “Angelica was being watched” and “People are watching Angelica.” If the focus is on Angelica, that she is, say, being spied on by some vague other, the passive voice (first sentence) is stronger. If the focus is on the people spying on Angelica, use the active voice. Don’t go overboard with passive, but if you feel something reads stronger in passive voice, your hunch may be correct. The main complaint, I think, stems from the fact that passive voice is often inappropriately used. </p>

<p>Regarding the thesaurus, I have found them useful. Consider the sentence: “Lionel Messi ran across the field.” That’s okay, but other verbs can be more descriptive. All footballers run, but some sprint, some weave, others barrel, others trot. I want to describe how Messi runs. I could use an adverb. Alternatively (perhaps preferably) I could change the verb; looking in my thesaurus, I found the word “dart.” That gives me the sentence: “Lionel Messi darted across the field.” That sentence is far more descriptive, and it came with the aid of a thesaurus. I do agree, however, that many fancy words should be avoided. There is often a simpler word that says the same thing and doesn’t make you sound like a tool.</p>