Craft with Purpose

Great writers are purposeful crafters of the sentences they write, paying attention to subtle options they have available to them. In this module, we’ll introduce you to some of the most common options that writers have when they work at the sentence level. Click the title of each tutorial to see more info and use the “View Now” link to check out the tutorial and related exercises.

In this tutorial we give you the first of the tools you’ll use to enhance your sentences: the participle. You’ll see how to use this versatile element to add a sense of movement or action to your writing. View Now

Appositive phrases allow the writer to add description to important nouns in an economical and sophisticated way. Check out how they work in this tutorial. View Now

Like almost-formed sentences, the absolute allows the writer to pack more information into the sentence while still staying concise. Your writing will benefit from using this powerful element. View Now

In academic settings, novice writers often misunderstand the passive voice. This tutorial will help you recognize the difference between active and passive and show you the power of active sentences. View Now

Have you ever been told to never use the passive voice? Most of us have. But that advice isn’t really accurate–after all, why would the language have developed something like passive voice if people don’t need to use it? Check out this tutorial for help on how to choose between passive and active voice. View Now

The semicolon is a puncutation mark that’s intimidated many a writer, but it’s a powerful (and not-so-hard-to-understand) mark. The tutorial will help you start combining independent clauses like a pro!View Now