Expanding on writing?

Question

How do you "expand" on writing and make it smooth? I'm supposed to be writing a page on describing a wintery scene, but so far I only have a paragraph, but the sentences aren't nicely linked together and have no flow between one another. It's simply a sentence about the sun, then a sentence about trees, next a sentence about how the snow looks, then a sentence on how the snow has dips, etc.

Answer 1

First pick a theme for your paper, such as children playing on a snowy playground and discuss all the unusual things that happen on the slide, swings etc. Do something different than the norm, like describing people waiting in line at a ski resort. They can be doing various things while they wait in the lift lines, while they wait at the concession stand and the line up of the cars trying to get down the snowy mountainside on the way home. Some others are:

People rescuing a duck or a deer on an icy pond, different costumes that dogs are wearing while taking a walk in the dead of winter and how the costumes match their owner.

Make a beginning sentence, followed by three sentences, each introducing one aspect of the scene and then write a more detailed paragraph for each of these sentences, to follow. Finally sum it all up in your closing paragraph.

Answer 2

I have found that the best way to do this is to just read everything. The more you read, the more you learn. If you don't know a word when reading, pick up a dictionary and look it up. Make sure you know how to pronounce it, too, so that you can use it in speech as well as in writing. When you read, notice the different styles of writing. Experiment by writing short stories or passages in those styles. Find out what makes you really like certain styles or plots, and write them down. Refer back to that list when writing, so you can write in a way you will like. I would say that when reading, try to read more books from a while ago (such as Jane Austen's books, or even Anya Seton--Katherine is an amazing novel), because they tend to have more "big" words than books placed nowadays. (although books from now can be a very good resource too). Plays are good, but they're not the best for vocabulary or learning to write, because they're speaking, and it's very different from novels, and because that kind of writing is so limited. Unless, of course, you want to be a play write. Then, by all means, read a play. I also find that crossword puzzles (relatively hard ones, at least) help with vocabulary. Other word games, too. Hope this helps. =]

Answer 3

Write it in first person singular, as though you are seeing it live and you are thrilled to describe it to someone on a telephone

Describe what you see as your eyes move over the scene. Let your imagination have reign in your thoughts and sculpt an image for your listener/reader. Add details, perhaps a bit of animation, such as seeing crisp-edged shadows stretching themselves beyond the trees then sliding into the dips in the snow, there to disappear as the sunlight resumes it's control of the frozen surface.

Preface it with an action that includes you, and use it to introduce the story you are about to tell, such as
" It was noon when I arrived and the bus driver was kind and stopped beside the driveway leading into my Aunt's old farm. As I stepped down from the bus my feet went through the crust and the thick snow immediately and pushed up under the bottoms of my jeans and got into my shoes.

I leaned against the fence and remembered it had been weak when I last visited, but now it seemed strong. Perhaps that was because it was frozen in place, but it was sturdy enough to support my leaning on it while I emptied the snow from my shoes.

The driveway had previously been cleared, as I could see from the ridges on both sides, but the usual gravel surface was covered with hard-packed snow that I could walk on. I picked up my bag and began my trek to the house, each step bringing the crunching noises from the snow that reminded me it was a very cold day. The scene all around me was so beautiful and so full of contrasts, that I had to pause a moment to take it all in.

Over to you.....

Answer 4

When I am teaching creative writing, I use the example below from Walden Pond (Author - Henry David Thoreau) to illustrate how to "expand" on an idea. Though he wrote it long ago, it still resonates.

"The real attractions of the Hollowell farm, to me, were: its
complete retirement, being, about two miles from the
village, half a mile from the nearest neighbor, and
separated from the highway by a broad field; its bounding
on the river, which the owner said protected it by its fogs
from frosts in the spring, though that was nothing to me;
the gray color and ruinous state of the house and barn, and
the dilapidated fences, which put such an interval between
me and the last occupant; the hollow and lichen-covered
apple trees, gnawed by rabbits, showing what kind of
neighbors I should have; but above all, the recollection I
had of it from my earliest voyages up the river, when the
house was concealed behind a dense grove of red maples,
through which I heard the house-dog bark."

Answer 5

You could write it in the first person and say 'I' walked through the trees and the sun glinted through the leaves it was hard to believe the snow was still on the ground.

That's only rough but perhaps it will help