Sentence Style -- Add Variety to Your Writing

 
 

Style Exercise 1: Use different lengths of sentences. 

 

Use short sentences like drumbeats, to gain attention.  (5 words or less)

 

Use medium-length sentences to emphasize a single word or action. (5-15 words)

Use long sentences to carry the reader through a complex idea or action. (15 words or more)


Examples:  

Short

Medium

Long

I jumped a foot. I jumped a foot and then stood, shaking. I jumped a foot and then stood, angry and helpless, shaking like a scared Chihuahua amongst a pack of pit bulls.

 

 

 
He sang horribly. His cheerful morning song resembled nothing so much as the screech of a rasping file. As the first screech met my ears I stood still in puzzled wonder, but then I realized that the horrible rasp echoing down the hallways was singing, and cheerful singing at that.

 

 

The knife sank in soundlessly.

 

Quivering soundlessly in the cedar doorpost was the knife.

Something hissed past my ear, and there, quivering soundlessly, sunken and silver was the knife.

 

Style Exercise 2: Use different types of sentences.

 

Periodic sentences put the main subject and verb (main idea) at the end. Use periodic sentences for dramatic effect.

 

Loose sentences have many conjunctions (ands & buts) Use loose sentences to approximate spoken English. 

 

Balanced sentences use correlative conjunctions (see below) or parallel grammatical structures. Use balanced sentences to sound logical, formal, or sometimes funny. 

 

Correlative Conjunctions

both . . . and

either . . . or

not only . . . but also

neither . . . nor

not . . . but

whether . . . or

as . . . as

 


Examples:
 

To Grandmother’s House

Periodic

 

Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house we go.

Loose

 

We were going to Grandmother’s house and so we took the bridge, and then we went through the woods and then we arrived.

Balanced

 

Neither dark of night nor stormy weather kept us from Grandmother’s house.

 

The Dripping Bag

Periodic

 

There, at the bottom of the steps in the deepest cellar of the house was a wet and dripping bag.

Loose

 

He flung a wet and dripping bag down the cellar steps and then turned and shut the door and stood in front of it and told me, “don’t go down there.”

Balanced

 

Either I will investigate the bag at the bottom of the steps, or I will go mad.

 

The Store and the Steak

Periodic

 

Standing in the line at the grocery story, eyeing the goods in my cart and thinking of the steak I hadn’t bought, I fished for my change purse.

Loose

 

After I went home I walked around the house and I kept thinking of what I should have bought in the store but then I reminded myself that money is tight these days and I ought to wait for the next paycheck.

Balanced

 

I came to the store; I saw an expensive steak; I conquered my urge to splurge.

 

Style Exercise 3:  Use a mix of active verbs and static verbs.

 

The verb to be is a static verb. A few other verbs -- feels, seems, appears -- are also static.

Static verbs slow down writing. They can be used to introduce important truths, make generalizations, or make significant comparisons. They are often used to close and open paragraphs.

 

Almost all other verbs are active. Not only are verbs like "jumps" or "rolls" active, but also verbs like "sings," "stands," and "writes" are active. Active verbs speed up writing. They are used to carry the reader through what is happening immediately. They are not used for making generalizations, comparisons, or presenting overarching truths.

 

Examples:

Static

 

Active

Schwarzenegger’s strength is like a rock.

 

His forearms bulge as he bends a steel bar in half.

     

Mother Theresa was compassion’s soul.

 

Her tender love wrapped around her children.

     

Tonight will be dark.

 

Night will open across the sky.

 

 

Style Exercise 4: Describe action using gerunds and infinitives.

 

Gerund:  “ing” form of the verb used as a subject or an object. You can use gerunds as subjects to make informal generalizations about action.  


Infinitive: "to be" form of the verb used as a subject or an object. You can use infinitives to make formal generalizations about actions.  

 

Examples:

Gerunds

 

Infinitives

Running around the pool is forbidden.

 

To run is to be at one with the universe.

     

Unhappy bellowing rose from the herd.

 

To bellow like an unhappy cow was not my intent.

     

She thinks fighting solves everything.

 

She needs to fight to defend her title.

 

 

Style Exercise 5: Use prepositions to describe interiors (feeling and thinking) and exteriors (sensing, doing and saying).


Below is a handy list of prepositions.

about
above
across
after
against
around
at
before
behind
below
beneath
beside
besides
between
beyond

by
down
during
except
for
from
in
inside
into
like
near
of
off
on
out

outside
over
since
through
throughout
till
to
toward
under
until
up
upon
with
without

according to
because of
by way of
in addition to
in front of
in place of
in regard to
in spite of
instead of
on account of
out of

 

What a character feels and thinks describes an interior world.  What a character senses, does or says happens in an exterior world.  Often the two worlds can be combined and contrasted by prepositions.


Examples:  

The bell tolled outside, scattering and shattering his thoughts; then, slowly, as the vibrations died away, silence settled in the room, in his mind.  (contrast/combination between exterior event and inner thoughts)

 

He stood against the wall, cigarette between his lips, poised on the last of his dignity, flattened into the last moments of his short angry life.  (combination of feelings and location)

 

Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house we go.  (just exterior landscape; no interior)