Expressing Ideas Through Writing

When you write, you get to pick every single word. That is a big job! You can pick plain words, or you can pick words that show exactly what you think and feel. This is called expressing your ideas through writing.

Expressing your ideas means your writing sounds like you, and not like someone else wrote it for you.

Every day you have thoughts and feelings inside your head. Maybe you feel proud after you score a goal. Maybe you feel nervous before a test. Expressing your ideas through writing means you put those exact thoughts and feelings onto the page using your own words.

Two people can write about the same thing, like a rainy day, and their writing can sound completely different. That is because each person picks their own words and shares their own thoughts.

Some words are plain, and some words are special. A plain word tells a little bit. A special word tells a lot more about how you feel. Look at the chart below to see how one small word change can show more feeling.

When you write, stop and ask yourself: is this the plainest word I know, or is there a word that shows more of my own feeling?

You can also express your ideas by adding a small detail that only you would know. A detail is a tiny piece of information that makes a sentence more real.

Look at these two sentences about a dog.

Plain sentence: "I saw a dog."

Sentence with your own details: "I saw a fluffy brown dog chase a ball and bark three times."

The second sentence sounds like a real person watching a real dog. The extra details come from your own eyes and your own thoughts, so the sentence sounds like you.

After you write a sentence or a story, read it back to yourself. Ask these three questions.

Did I use a word that shows how I feel? Did I add a detail from my own idea? Would a friend know this sounds like me and not like a book?

If you can answer yes, your writing is expressing your ideas in your own special way.

Express: To express means to share your thoughts and feelings so other people can understand them.

Idea: An idea is a thought that comes from inside your own mind.

Detail: A detail is a small extra piece of information that makes writing feel more real.

Feeling word: A feeling word is a word that shows an emotion, like happy, worried, or excited.

Plain word: A plain word is a simple word that does not show much feeling, like good or nice.

Special word: A special word is a word you pick on purpose because it shows more feeling than a plain word.

Try writing three sentences about your favorite snack, but use a special feeling word in each one instead of a plain word. Then write one sentence about your weekend and add a tiny detail that only you would know, like a color, a sound, or a number.

You can also take a plain sentence someone else wrote, like "The cat was happy," and rewrite it using your own words and your own idea of what happy looks like.

Related lessons

• Voice Demonstrating Personal Expression