Developing Details
By Joanna Clark
One of the most common problems a lot of writers run into is providing enough support and details within their essays. Most of us tend to think, “I’ve said what I need to say in a paragraph. Why do I need to say more?” Well, writing is one of those places where you’re better off explaining too much than not enough.
To explain what I mean, let’s pretend that you have to write a paper explaining how to play the game of poker. If you’re very familiar with the subject, your first draft might look something like this:
Poker is a card game where you play with a group of friends and try to get the best hand. You can bet on each hand, or you can just play for fun. Whoever has the best hand, wins. Sometimes you play with 5 cards and sometimes you play with 7 – it just depends on the type of poker you play.
For those of you who know a lot about poker, you may feel that this pretty much sums it up, but for those of us who aren’t as familiar, we have some questions – what’s considered a good hand in poker, and how do you know who wins? What are the different types of poker, and which one is the best for beginning players? While keeping your friends guessing about the details of your hand while playing poker is part of the fun, you shouldn’t follow the same strategy when you write.
Whenever a reader reads your paper, he/she should have just about all of their questions answered and their concerns addressed. Therefore, when you write, you should work to put as much detail into your work as possible so that your reader knows exactly what’s going on at all times.
In order to develop your essays, you can consider using the following:
Examples, illustrations, and sample scenarios
If you can explain what something looks like, what it does, or how it works (either on its own or within certain contexts), you’re using examples, illustrations, and sample scenarios. These provide detail by relating the subject to other subjects that the reader might have some familiarity with. “For example,” “imagine this situation,” “pretend,” and other words signal the use of this strategy to your reader.
Imagery
Using words that recreate sensual aspects of the subject (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell) gives your reader the details he/she needs to visualize what you’re talking about. If you can form a picture in your reader’s head, your reader will understand better. You don’t want a stick figure; you want a full portrait with sunburned skin, sandy toes, and a goofy smile.
Explaining the logic
When you explain how you arrived at a particular decision or conclusion in your text, you need to explain the logic (thinking processes) of how you got there. While it would be lovely if people just accepted everything we told them without question, that doesn’t happen very often. Give your reader the information he/she needs to understand why you’re talking about your subject the way you are.
Strategic repetition
Have you noticed the repetition of key words and slogans during political speeches? Astute politicians know that if they can use a short phrase that they have really built up and explained several times, the phrase can stand in for other ideas and thoughts every time it gets used. For instance, President Obama used the phrase “Yes, we can” many times during his campaign. It’s a very simple, short phrase, but if you listened to any of his speeches on the campaign trail, you know that the phrase represented key pieces of his political philosophy and campaign strategy. He had to explain how the phrase was tied to his beliefs and plans, but you probably noticed that toward the end of the campaign, people started shouting “yes, we can” often before he had completely laid out a problem or goal. Strategic repetition is often harder to do well within papers than other strategies, but it can be very effective.