THE problem with most bad writing is that it's often so general and lacking in texture and depth. The people, places, or things used as subjects seem to exist only in two-dimensional space, as in a crude cartoon movie, and the actions described all seem to crowd themselves in a very brief timeframe. There are hardly any telling details to give meat and substance to the bare-boned prose, so the writing is dry, bland, uninviting — and unreadable.

An efficient way of giving vitality to such writing is to use appositives and appositive phrases. An appositive is simply a noun or pronoun that often comes directly after another word in a sentence, putting that word in better context by explaining it or by giving more information about it. On the other hand, an appositive phrase consists of an appositive and all of its modifiers. Both are powerful tools that allow the writer to identify or explain the nouns or pronouns he uses without having to come up with a new sentence or string of sentences to provide more information. This makes the buildup of ideas smoother as it frees the writing from digressions or asides that may just impede its natural flow.

Premium + Digital Edition

Ad-free access


P 80 per month
(billed annually at P 960)
  • Unlimited ad-free access to website articles
  • Limited offer: Subscribe today and get digital edition access for free (accessible with up to 3 devices)

TRY FREE FOR 14 DAYS
See details
See details