Adding extra information to your sentences

Using comma’s correctly is an effective way of adding more detail to your writing. Consider:

George swam to the shops. This doesn’t make much sense. But… George, a pink fish, swam to the shops, is makes much more sense because it has greater detail. Notice that the additional noun group is indicated using a pair of commas. These are called relative clauses. 

Add additional information to these: 

• Jeepers vacuumed Lily. 
• The Murry winds towards the ocean. 
• Mr. Huff shouted and jumped up and down.
• The chair broke and Miles…
• I found a ring…

Task 2:

Try writing a story that is about 100 words but that uses as many relative clauses as possible. Bonus points if your story is exactly 100 words. 

 

Punctuating Dialogue

Dialogue is an important tool in story writing. It allows the writer to express ideas to the reader without having to come right out and say it. For example:

Juan was angry at Daniel for drinking all the orange juice. Daniel felt ashamed. 

OR

“Juan shouted, “you always drink all the orange juice!”

“I’m sorry”, Daniel quietly replied. “Its just that it tastes so sweet and cold.”

Hopefully you recognize the dialogue adds more interest to the story.

Remind yourself about these basic tips for punctuating dialogue.

Try some of these more advanced tips on punctuating dialogue.