Make words work hard

Be specific, definite and concrete.

In both narrative and persuasive writing, you have to use words to create a visual feast of sights and sounds for the reader to fall into. Being specific creates engaging pictures in the mind of a reader.

Don’t say                     Say

Food                                 Seared steak and crunchy hot chips

The floods                       Mothers waded through the chest-high water

Drink                                Manhattan, Whisky sour

Dog                                   Cavoodle, Golden retriever

Flower                              Daffodil

Cat                                    Persian Blue

Painting                           Banksy’s Slave Labour

Which words create the better picture?

Go and have a look too – at a new section on our website  – some excellent tools for high school and university students.