: Re: Why does using this "-ing" verb construction make my writing weaker? I had to write a scholarship essay, wherein I wrote this sentence: Over the ensuing years I read as much as I could,

@Lengel543

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I see this as a matter of style that is a generational perspective. When I took my writing lessons in high school and college, Strunk & White's Elements of Style book was well-known and well-regarded. I also kept William Zinsser's On Writing Well close at hand for many years.

In those books, short, definite statements hold a lot of expressive power, especially when mixed with sentences that are longer by necessity. Brevity, it is argued, forces the reader to slow down, or even stop, and consider your point.

With your sentence, the sing-song quality establishes a tone and flow that seems personal, but also timid. It's as if you're worried that someone who knows you well might contradict you or plague you with mincing what-ifs, so you mute the main idea and qualify the strong words.

Here's an idea of what I mean. My first sentence below carries my sense on what's happening in yours. The second is how I'd edit it, once I read the first back to myself:

I prefer the general idea of leaving out words that do no meaningful work, and using one word in place of two.

I omit words that do no work once I find them.

In a like manner, I might try changing your sentence like so:

Since that time, I have read as much as I can to increase my knowledge and understanding of my language.

Or even:

I now read as much as I can to improve my grasp of language.

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