: entences for Effect
“This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word
sentences are fine. But several together are 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 interested, 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 (100 Ways to Improve Your Writing, 1985)
Provost is right to use the metaphor of music to describe words: the combination creates a melody.
What harmony are you going to create?
To get practising, complete the following tasks and questions.
1. Underline (or highlight) the one-word sentence. This is what we call a minor sentence. By
placing this word in isolation it adds emphasis to what Provost is saying.
a. What is Provost trying to emphasise?
2. Why does the first paragraph sound boring?
3. Underline the really long sentence. This is what we call a complex sentence because it has
lots of commas in it to separate the clauses.
a. Whereabouts in the extract is it (the beginning, the middle or the end)?
b. Why do you think Provost places it here?
4. Where are the majority of the shorter, simple, sentences in the second paragraph?
a. Why do you think Provost has chosen to use shorter sentences at this point?
5. What message is Provost trying to convey to the reader?