Taurus
New member
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2026
- Messages
- 10
You guys, I need to share this little victory because I'm actually buzzing right now. 
I was working on my application essay for my dream university, and I was stuck on this one sentence. I had this powerful idea, but I didn't know how to introduce the final, punchy part of it.
Then, out of nowhere, a voice in my head (probably my AP Lit teacher) whispered, "try a colon." So I did. I wrote something like, "My volunteer work taught me one essential truth: helping others is the key to helping yourself." And it just worked. It looked professional, it added drama, and it connected the two parts perfectly. It was in that moment I finally understood, on a gut level, what is a colon in writing for.
It's not just a punctuation mark; it's a tool for creating emphasis and showing a direct relationship between two ideas. I feel like I've unlocked a new level of writing. It's such a small thing, but it made my whole essay feel so much more mature.
Has anyone else had that "aha!" moment with a piece of punctuation?
I was working on my application essay for my dream university, and I was stuck on this one sentence. I had this powerful idea, but I didn't know how to introduce the final, punchy part of it. Then, out of nowhere, a voice in my head (probably my AP Lit teacher) whispered, "try a colon." So I did. I wrote something like, "My volunteer work taught me one essential truth: helping others is the key to helping yourself." And it just worked. It looked professional, it added drama, and it connected the two parts perfectly. It was in that moment I finally understood, on a gut level, what is a colon in writing for.
It's not just a punctuation mark; it's a tool for creating emphasis and showing a direct relationship between two ideas. I feel like I've unlocked a new level of writing. It's such a small thing, but it made my whole essay feel so much more mature.
Has anyone else had that "aha!" moment with a piece of punctuation?