"This Sentence Has Five Words": Varying Sentence Structure

“This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.”

—Gary Provost

If you've read the quote above, I don't think I have to say much more to win you over: varied syntax better engages readers, period.

Now the question is, how do we apply that to our own writing?

First, remember the rule as you write. Monitor each sentence's length. Monitor each sentence's structure. If you catch yourself falling into mundane repetition, change it up.

However, sometimes it's difficult to identify your mistakes in the moment that you're making them. So take a few further steps during the revision process:

1. Pick a handful of sample paragraphs. Count the words in every sentence. Catalogue the different types of punctuation marks and clauses employed.

2. Evaluate. Are all the same numbers popping up when you look at sentence length? Does punctuation repeat itself? Do you use a lot of compound sentences? Dependent clauses? Or none at all—just basic, straightforward sentences?

3. Now revise. Consider breaking long sentences into shorter ones, or combining short sentences into longer ones. Sprinkle varied punctuation marks throughout the paragraphs. Vary each clause in a way that flows and creates music, just like our friend Gary Provost recommends above.

Follow these steps often during revision. Pause during a writing session to check yourself and your syntax. Eventually this habit will become second-nature to you, and you'll learn to vary your prose instinctively.

#selfediting #revision #syntax