Lesson 9 - Point of View - DT

DISCUSSION TOPIC:

How does varying the length of your sentences and paragraphs prevent a sense of stagnation and predictability in your novel?

I’ve learned two things about using variations of sentence structure in my paragraphs. One is to vary the length of sentences and paragraphs. Often mixing in dialog can help change the length of the paragraphs. Keeping the sentences the same length makes a story sound like a primer. It makes it sound like reading a newspaper article where all you get are the facts maam – just the facts.

There was a school of thought that believed writing using only this time of sentences was better than changing the sentence length and structure. But when you read those sentences out loud, you get lost in their monotone characteristics. I don’t think too many people believe in this anymore. It sounds like you are talking down to the reader as if you think he is not smart enough to digest anything but simple sentences.

Also, I’ve learned to keep from starting every sentence with the name of a subject or he/she where it replaces their name. If you do this it is also another way of reducing the sentence’s uniqueness. It sounds like every sentence starts the same way and therefore has the same kind of structure.