Grammaropolis
The Writing Company · with the Mayor

Write to Explain

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Write to Explain

When you explain, you are the guide. Show the way, one stop at a time.

An explanation is a little trip you take your reader on. Here is what it needs.

  1. Where we are going
    Tell your reader what you will show them. One sentence.
  2. Two stops, in order
    Your two steps. First one, then the other. Order matters.
  3. What to notice
    Add one helper tip. What could go wrong? Say it.
  4. Leave them knowing the way
    End so your reader can do it too.

Spend your tools

Your craft moves still help. Here they are, pointed at explaining.

Nelson portrait

Nelson · Specific nouns

A noun names a person, a place, a thing, or an idea. "Pet" and "food" stay vague. "Fish" and "flakes" are the exact things. Name the exact one.

I gave the pet some food. I shook flakes into the fish tank.

Vinny portrait

Vinny · Strong verbs

Some writers add an adverb to a weak verb, like "came up quickly." One strong verb does it better. The fish darted. Pick the one strong verb.

The fish came up quickly. The fish darted up.

Connie portrait

Connie · Join two sentences

Two short sentences can become one. Use and, but, or so to join them. "He poured, and they came up" reads smooth.

My brother poured the food. The fish came up. My brother poured the food, and the fish came up.

The Mayor portrait

The Mayor · The three parts of a paragraph

A paragraph is like a tiny story. It starts by telling what it is about, fills the middle with more, and ends. Three parts, every time.

A bunch of sentences, all in a heap. First tell what it is about. Then add the middle sentences. Then finish it.

The Explain Plan

Same three moves as always. When you explain, the plan is the Tour.

The Mayor's Power Plan

  • Pick it. Choose one thing you know how to do.
  • Plan it. Map your stops before you go.
  • Pour it on. Write, and add the helper tips.

The Tour

Plan the way, and your reader can follow you.

  1. Name where we are going: what will you show me?
  2. The stops, in order: your two steps.
  3. What to notice: one helper tip for each stop.
  4. Leave them knowing the way: an end that hands them the skill.
Watch the Mayor plan it

Watch me plan a tour for something you might know: how to feed a fish, for a reader who never has.

Pick it. How to feed a fish. I can do it, and I can show somebody else. That is the whole trick of explaining.

Plan it.

  • Where we are going You can feed a fish in two steps.
  • The stops, in order 1. Shake a little food onto the top of the water. 2. Watch, and stop as soon as the fish stop eating.
  • What to notice A little is plenty. Too much food clouds the water.
  • Leave them knowing the way Two steps, and the fish are fed. Now you can feed them tomorrow.

Pour it on. When I write it, I keep my stops in order. First the food, then the watching. On a tour, the reader follows me step by step.

Start the quiz →