A copywriter’s greatest skill is his/her ability to weave together words for a compelling narrative or argument. However, using only the same sentence structure again and again runs the risk of you sounding monotonous and unimaginative… which is not only unappealing to read, but may also have the unintended effect of turning away audiences permanently. What are some ways to shake up our writing structures without having to call upon the spirits of Shakespeare or Hemmingway? Well luckily for us, there are some easy writing hacks that can give you the variety you so seek – read on and find out!
Giving your writing a voice
We’ve talked about the passive versus active voice many times before, but it is one of the best ways to alter a sentence’s presentation. To recap briefly, the active voice has the subject(s) performing an action (sometimes to an object). On the other side, the passive voice has the subject(s) being acted upon by the verb. Here’s an example:
· Active: The decontamination crew suited up and stepped onto the scene.
· Passive: The scene was entered by the decontamination crew after they suited up.
Both instances are grammatically correct, but the active voice gets preferential treatment because it evokes more confidence. This is because the active voice puts the subject as the “star” of the sentence – conversely, the passive voice emphasises the verb over the subject. Across storytelling and copywriting, the subject often takes precedence, as it helps the audience to establish a bond with the subject (be it a positive or negative one).
However, in cases where you want to give an objective account (say in a news report or to recollect events during a court hearing), the passive voice might be more suitable. The passive voice carries a subtler tone and gives the illusion of you as a bystander or reporter – and not someone who was directly involved with what happened.
There’s no explicit rule saying that you have to use the active voice only for storytelling or the passive voice only when recollecting, but just know that sentences with the passive voice are inherently longer and wordier because of their grammatical structure (as they typically require prepositions to function). That said, you can also make the passive voice do wonders when you pair it with rhetoric, like so:
· The detective who discovered and disarmed the nuclear device was beloved by the citizens. The villain who planted the bomb… not so much.
Using the right type of sentence
There are multiple types of sentences, and the way you use them can drastically affect the presentation and meaning of your words.
The most common sentence type would be the declarative kind. From voicing your opinions to teaching and documenting, declarative statements are the bread and butter of English writing. Here are some examples:
· Jeff said he enjoyed his pudding.
· I think Jeff enjoyed his pudding.
· As you can see by Jeff’s facial expression, one can assume that he enjoyed his pudding.
Imperative sentences are up next. As the name would suggest, the most common imperative sentences occur when you order or demand something from someone (but whether or not you’re polite about it is entirely up to you and how you want them to react).
· Jeff, share some of that pudding with me please.
· That’s my pudding and you will give it back – or you’ll be eating knuckle sandwich next.
However, imperative sentences can also be in the form of a question – these are known as imperative requests. Although these sentences end in a question mark, they are more demand than question. Imagine if your boss asks you to write a report for him… it’s not really a request, because you’d face repercussions if you said no! Here are some examples of imperative requests:
· Can we order please?
· Could you edit this document and have it back to me by day end?
· Would you kindly sit down and stop shouting for five seconds?
Interrogative sentences are the true question-type requests. Unlike imperative requests that are disguised demands, interrogative sentences expect an answer from the respondent. From something as simple as yes or no to personal philosophies and ethics, there’s a huge range of questions you can draw from!
· What are your thoughts on the candidates for the upcoming election?
· Do you think Jeff is getting pudgy from eating all that pudding?
· When did the doctor say he’ll have the report results ready by?
The last of the four primary sentence types would be the exclamatory sentence. Commonly used for call-to-actions or to attract attention, these are most discernible by an enthusiastic or loud voice along with strong emotions – most feature the tell-tale exclamation mark, but you could also get by with a full-stop as long as you make the emotions apparent enough to set it apart from a declarative sentence.
· Look, Jeff is eating a fifth tub of pudding!
· Jeff needs to stop eating those before he gets seriously sick – he’s diabetic!
· Darn! There’s no feeling worse than watching your bus depart just as you make it to the stop.
· I’m done. I took a gamble and it did not pay off at all.
Finally, we have optative sentences. These are sentences where a prayer, wish, curse or other sentiment is expressed towards another being or object. Although they most commonly start with “may”, “wish” or “hope”, it’s not a hard rule that you need to follow – just like with exclamatory sentences, you only need to make sure that the wish and emotion(s) are apparent enough to make it discernible from the other sentence types.
· I hope Jeff won’t get sick.
· All the best to your new career.
· Glory to the Emperor!
· May your children develop an appetite for crayons and Play-Doh.
There’s more to writing than just stringing together a bunch of declarative sentences all the time. You don’t need to be a master writer to have variety in the way you write – sometimes you just need to restructure your sentences to revitalise them!