A sentence creates a bridge from writer to reader. Every word moves the ideas and action. If all your sentences look the same, where's the thrill? Add texture by naming the sparrow, hibiscus or magnolia tree. Stress key points with the details of color and sensory imagery. If you break long sentences into short ones you will attract the reader's attention. Add spice! Create a breathing stop. To achieve emphasis, reverse the usual word order. Read your sentences aloud to gain rhythm, emphasis and impact.
Write like a moving camera to take in the scenery and tease each moment. Let the reader experience your subject as you go. Don't tell everything. Add sound and scent along the way. Color the greenery with delphiniums, roses and a daisy.
Listen to bird songs and see if you can duplicate the trills on the page. Show the ping of water that splashes in a fountain.
Word choice provides clarity. Active verbs intrigue and intensify sentences. Avoid the use of passive voice and the "to be" verb. The subject needs its verb near the front rather than separated by a clause and stuck at the end of the sentence. Ask yourself what does an adjective or adverb add? Often they creep in like bandits and hitchhikers to rob your sentences of power. Make verbs your heroes to defeat them.
Take a look to see if adjectives and adverbs sprout like weeds among the "beautiful" flowers. They choke the essence from nouns and verbs that drive the sentences. Why write "beautiful" rose when you can show the rose float above its stalk like a banner in the wind?
Select a paragraph from your current work. Circle the adjectives and adverbs first. Then use a green underliner to color your nouns and verbs. Begin to re-arrange the sentences to add texture and movement to the sentence. It helps to sing your sentences!
Write like a moving camera to take in the scenery and tease each moment. Let the reader experience your subject as you go. Don't tell everything. Add sound and scent along the way. Color the greenery with delphiniums, roses and a daisy.
Word choice provides clarity. Active verbs intrigue and intensify sentences. Avoid the use of passive voice and the "to be" verb. The subject needs its verb near the front rather than separated by a clause and stuck at the end of the sentence. Ask yourself what does an adjective or adverb add? Often they creep in like bandits and hitchhikers to rob your sentences of power. Make verbs your heroes to defeat them.
Select a paragraph from your current work. Circle the adjectives and adverbs first. Then use a green underliner to color your nouns and verbs. Begin to re-arrange the sentences to add texture and movement to the sentence. It helps to sing your sentences!
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