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How to Make Your Writing Vivid

Whether you are writing a paper for school, a fictional story or a speech, one of your focuses should be to make your writing more vivid. Writing with simple terms allows your readers to understand you, but can make for a boring read. You don't want to fill your writing with fancy words that the average person can't understand, but you also don't want to use the same words repeatedly. Instead, write in a manner that holds your reader's interest by creating a vivid picture with your words.

Synonyms
- Synonyms can be a powerful tool in making your writing more vivid. If you use the same common words repeatedly throughout your work, the reader may become bored with the story you are trying to portray. Mix things up by using a thesaurus to use different, more vivid words to replace some instances of the same word. For instance, instead of using the word "like" in all instances, scatter other synonyms, such as "admire," "adore" and "cherish." Readers generally know what these words mean, and using them improves your writing.
Descriptive Words
- While too many descriptive words can become cumbersome and lengthy, the use of adjectives and adverbs can paint a clearer picture for your readers. Use these words sparingly to ensure that your writing still flows smoothly and gets the idea across easily. Only use adjectives and adverbs when the description is necessary to move the story or other document forward. For example, if your story is about a lost dog, describing the way a garden smells doesn't necessarily add to the story, unless the dog is in the garden.
Analogies
- The use of analogies can make your writing more interesting to the readers. However, overusing analogies can also cause your writing to become redundant or confusing for your readers. Relating two things together can help your readers see the point you are making in your writing more clearly. As an example, you can write about a girl who is always late. Instead of simply writing, "She walked slowly down the street," you can write, "She walked as slow as a snail." The analogy gives readers a clearer picture of how slow the girl walked.
Vivid Verbs
- Using active or vivid verbs in place of passive language in your writing helps keep your story concise and interesting to your readers. Instead of using linking verbs, such as "is" and "are," using the verbs that coordinate with the action show the reader the action more effectively. For instance, instead of saying that a character "put off" going to the doctor, substitute a more vivid verb, such as "postponed," "delayed" or "canceled" to give the reader a better idea of what happened.

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