A Little More Voice in Writing? Yes, Please

Background Information

Many of the students I’ve been working with are writers who have thrived on sentence frames and organizational structures. They’ve leaned on lists of transitional words to express and explain their ideas, and they’ve subscribed to any “rule” of writing, acronym, or template I’ve provided them. They want to know how many sentences paragraphs should have and how many paragraphs that essays should have. Their writing is predictable and straightforward. Their writing is also formulaic and boring. Therefore, my challenge has been nudging them from the safety of a scaffold to the confidence of self-expression. 

The Power of Three

The power of three refers to the repetition and patterns that exist in most pieces of writing. Whenever I study mentor texts, I find places where the author uses three things in a row. Those things could be related words, phrases, sentence structures, or concepts, but they exist in a series of three. My daughter gave me Mona’s Words for Christmas, and it’s next to me as I work on this post. On the first page, Thomas Schlesser writes: “…No sooner did shame creep into a word, an attitude, an intonation than the die was cast:…” The power of three exists in his opening page. 

Writers who tend toward rigidity benefit from this trick. If a student thrives on asking a question for a hook, then that student is likely to understand three questions in a row. Somehow, the repetition gives the piece more voice and also gets a timid writer to write a little more. This trick works in other parts of paragraphs, as well. I guarantee that if you look at a skimpy paragraph through the lens of power-of-three possibilities, you will find opportunities to expand the writing— and you can teach students to do the same. 

Twin Sentences

Twin sentences are sentence pairs that end and begin with the same word or words. Students understand these quickly through a couple of simple examples like the ones below:

• Last night I made brownies with dates. Dates are stone fruits that are similar to raisins. 
• Then we played Code Words. Code words is a game that requires making connections between words. 

Once you know about twin sentences, they’re like the power of three in that you’ll see them in many pieces of writing. You’ll also see opportunities for twin sentences in students’ writing… and so will they! This is a simple writing trick that will help writers elaborate and develop ideas, becoming less formulaic and reliant on prescriptive templates. 

Asking and Answering Questions

Writing is often an exercise in empathy. Thinking about an audience strengthens many writing pieces as the author considers what readers might know, what readers might care about, and what readers might want to learn. (Note the power of three in that last sentence.) Scaffold-leaning writers may have a trickier time considering their audience as they write, so coaching them to ask readers a question and then answer it has many positive effects. It’s an on-ramp for end punctuation (which is another potential blog post) since if you ask a question, you should be envisioning a question mark (which many writers aren’t envisioning yet), and if you’re asking questions, you’re considering your audience in an empathetic way. Templates provide structure, but not empathy. 

Transition Word Options

Transition words are key players when it comes to structuring paragraphs, and many templates include sentence frames or words such as: one reason, for example, and in conclusion. Once students get the hang of using these words and phrases, then they should learn some options. Options provide writers with agency and decision-making power as writers, moving them beyond the type of writer who fills in blanks. I like to teach students the idea that words and phrases serve different purposes, with some being to introduce information or ideas and others being to explain information or ideas. This concept makes for a useful table to co-create with students that they can use and add to over time. 

Words that Add	Words that Explain
One thing One reason Another Additionally For example One time I remember when	This is important This is similar/different As you can see Therefore If…then

Transitional words and phrases are also helpful for students who struggle with end punctuation and capitalization. They almost always begin a new sentence, so they can serve as great cues for those key conventional moves. 

Final Thoughts

Templates and organizers are effective scaffolds for many writers as they navigate their learning of sentence, paragraph, and compositional writing. And, along that pathway, exists the challenge of incorporating their voice, cadence, and interest into their writing. These strategies are on-ramps for a little more personalization and individuality within predictable and routine structures.