#Sentence Structure

[doctortoothless]

Seriously, learning proper punctuation isn't a bad thing.

"If you use em dash in your works, it makes them look AI generated. No real human uses em dash."

Imaging thinking actual human writers are Not Real because they use... professional writing in their works.

Imagine thinking millions of people who have been using em dash way before AI becomes a thing are all robots.

REBLOG IF YOU'RE A HUMAN AND YOU USE EM DASH

[physalian]

How to make your writing sound less stiff

Just a few suggestions. You shouldn’t have to compromise your writing style and voice with any of these, and some situations and scenes might demand some stiff or jerky writing to better convey emotion and immersion. I am not the first to come up with these, just circulating them again.

1. Vary sentence structure.

This is an example paragraph. You might see this generated from AI. I can’t help but read this in a robotic voice. It’s very flat and undynamic. No matter what the words are, it will be boring. It’s boring because you don’t think in stiff sentences. Comedians don’t tell jokes in stiff sentences. We don’t tell campfire stories in stiff sentences. These often lack flow between points, too.

So funnily enough, I had to sit through 87k words of a “romance” written just like this. It was stiff, janky, and very unpoetic. Which is fine, the author didn’t tell me it was erotica. It just felt like an old lady narrator, like Old Rose from Titanic telling the audience decades after the fact instead of living it right in the moment. It was in first person pov, too, which just made it worse. To be able to write something so explicit and yet so un-titillating was a talent. Like, beginner fanfic smut writers at least do it with enthusiasm.

2. Vary dialogue tag placement

You got three options, pre-, mid-, and post-tags.

Leader said, “this is a pre-dialogue tag.”

“This,” Lancer said, “is a mid-dialogue tag.”

“This is a post-dialogue tag,” Heart said.

Pre and Post have about the same effect but mid-tags do a lot of heavy lifting.

They help break up long paragraphs of dialogue that are jank to look at

They give you pauses for ~dramatic effect~

They prompt you to provide some other action, introspection, or scene descriptor with the tag. *don't forget that if you're continuing the sentence as if the tag wasn't there, not to capitalize the first word after the tag. Capitalize if the tag breaks up two complete sentences, not if it interrupts a single sentence.

It also looks better along the lefthand margin when you don’t start every paragraph with either the same character name, the same pronouns, or the same “ as it reads more natural and organic.

3. When the scene demands, get dynamic

General rule of thumb is that action scenes demand quick exchanges, short paragraphs, and very lean descriptors. Action scenes are where you put your juicy verbs to use and cut as many adverbs as you can. But regardless of if you’re in first person, second person, or third person limited, you can let the mood of the narrator bleed out into their narration.

Like, in horror, you can use a lot of onomatopoeia.

Drip Drip Drip

Or let the narration become jerky and unfocused and less strict in punctuation and maybe even a couple run-on sentences as your character struggles to think or catch their breath and is getting very overwhelmed.

You can toss out some grammar rules, too and get more poetic.

Warm breath tickles the back of her neck. It rattles, a quiet, soggy, rasp. She shivers. If she doesn’t look, it’s not there. If she doesn’t look, it’s not there. Sweat beads at her temple. Her heart thunders in her chest. Ba-bump-ba-bump-ba-bump-ba- It moves on, leaving a void of cold behind. She uncurls her fists, fingers achy and palms stinging from her nails. It’s gone.

4. Remember to balance dialogue, monologue, introspection, action, and descriptors.

The amount of times I have been faced with giant blocks of dialogue with zero tags, zero emotions, just speech on a page like they’re notecards to be read on a stage is higher than I expected. Don’t forget that though you may know exactly how your dialogue sounds in your head, your readers don’t. They need dialogue tags to pick up on things like tone, specifically for sarcasm and sincerity, whether a character is joking or hurt or happy.

If you’ve written a block of text (usually exposition or backstory stuff) that’s longer than 50 words, figure out a way to trim it. No matter what, break it up into multiple sections and fill in those breaks with important narrative that reflects the narrator’s feelings on what they’re saying and whoever they’re speaking to’s reaction to the words being said. Otherwise it’s meaningless.

—

Hope this helps anyone struggling! Now get writing.

[elumish]

I think one of the biggest and most overlooked things to keep in mind when writing is: is how/what I am writing accomplishing what I am trying to accomplish?

Part of why so many writing "rules" don't work for everyone is that they're assuming you're trying to accomplish things that you're not trying to accomplish.

This way of thinking is applicable at every level and every step of your writing process.

Is this plot structure telling the story I want to be telling?

Does this scene evoke the emotion I am hoping to evoke?

Does this sentence mean what I intend it to mean, in a way that is likely to be read with that meaning by most readers?

If something in a story is jarring, for example, it's probably because that piece isn't accomplishing what you're otherwise trying to accomplish in the story.

When I talked about finding epithets jarring in a close third person POV, it's because what epithets do (provide distance from the character) inherently conflicts with what the point of view was intending (intimacy with the POV character).

If a scene or moment is jarring or just feels wrong in a book, it may be because it doesn't match the tone you are otherwise trying to cultivate, it breaks or escalates the tension in a way that you aren't intending, or it has a different narrative feeling than you are intending with the book.

Even down to the grammatical level, you can get away with breaking a lot of grammar rules if you can accomplish what you want to accomplish with the sentence. Is it coherent? Does it have the meaning you intend? Does it have the clarity or ambiguity that you are intending? Does it fit the tone that you are going for?

The same idea holds for the message/implication level. If you are implying or stating something in your story, is it what you mean to be implying or stating? If you are mimicking or subverting stereotypes, is it in a way that accomplishes what you are trying to accomplish?

[gr8writingtips]

writing tip #3562:

wrong put what see words happens the order in the

[courtingwonder]

How Sentence Length Affects The Readability, Rhythm, And Aesthetic of Writing

[sparenickel-blog]

Words/Phrases I struggle with using too much when writing and a few alternatives I've been sneaking in to keep my sanity

At least -To some extent -For Starters -On the bright side -Such as it is

Just (like "just barely" or "just wanted") -Only -Merely -Simply -Precisely

Somehow -For some reason -In some way (shape or form) -By some means

At this/some point -By now - At present -At this stage - At any given time

If only -It's too bad -Were it so -Should it have been

Rather -Instead -Preferably -Somewhat -On the contrary

A bit -(Ever so) Slightly -A smidge -A tad -Marginally

Instead (of) -Rather than -In place of -Alternatively

So (as in therefore) -Thus -As a result -Consequently

All of these have the potential to change the way a sentence 'feels' so take them with a grain of salt depending on how you want your words to flow, emphasize, or sound as the entire structure could change as well. I'm just keeping this here to remind myself that I have options.

"Sort of" and "Kind of" fit into a few of these but I didn't want to spam, so I'll just leave them here.

[suddenlymicah]

i have no clue how the friendpilled visitmaxxer thing came about but now that it's being used less here's an analysis of how it's formulated using absolutely any lines i could think of

in sentence structure, there are three things needed to make a proper sentence: object, verb, and subject

therefore, the structure would be objectpilled verbmaxxer. of course, variations (changing the word with "ing" or using apostrophes to shorten two words into one) wouldn't count the modifications ("ing" or whatever)

"yeah so i went to go visit my friend" = "friendpilled visitmaxxer"

"she ate that" = "thatpilled atemaxxer"

"i will hunt you down wherever you're hiding" = "youpilled huntmaxxer"

"bungee gum contains the properties of both rubber and gum" = "rubber and gumpilled containmaxxer"

this makes perfect sense as a format! seeing what the "pilled" and "maxxer" do to the words, it just shortens the sentence and puts it into different terms! you are focusing on maximizing verbing your object!

---

it's 4:40 in the morning definitely time to sound like that one guy on tiktok that loves etymology

[writing-for-life]

Friendly neighbourhood writer here…

How often do we call someone “the woman”, “the other man”, “the blond/e”, “the taller girl”… (you get my drift) in our minds, as opposed to “he/she/they/favoured pronoun” or “name”?

And why do we bend over backwards in our writing to avoid writing “he” or “she” (or whatever pronoun) more than twice in a row?

1. It’s okay to do that and just change between “name” and “pronoun” because it honestly sounds far more natural than bringing in a random descriptor at every corner.

2. If you feel that too many of your sentences start with “name” or “pronoun”, “name” or “pronoun” is not your problem. Your syntax is. So mix up your sentence structure, and you’ll be fine.

“He sat down and sighed. He struggled to find the right words. He looked so defeated.”

⬇️

“Frank sat down and sighed. The man struggled to find the right words. He looked so defeated.”

⬇️

“Frank sat down and sighed. An air of defeat surrounded him as he seemingly struggled to find the right words.”

Or something like that, depending on your style 🙂

[1wolfninja1]

Why Periods are stupid

One they are stupid, two as well as being stupid they can be easily replaced by a simple use of a comma, a third and final point the idea of run on sentences limits ones ability to write!

This all stems from the fact that apparently one is supposed to put periods when they naturally take small breaks to breath, I for some stupid as reason do not do such things? leading to me rushing to finish the fragment of the idea in intended to say, then due to basic social cues leading others to pick up there part of conversation; this leads to me when writing my thoughts down to end up over using said Commas to an exorbitant extent, as one can see by their use in this rant.

(all other forms of punctuation are cool thought) (yes I know I used a period I'm sorry)

[neurospicybirb]

Hey germans? How the fuck?

[spenjelly]

How it went trying to teach mini autistic me how to write:

Dad: that’s good, but you need to have space between the words.

Me: *confusedly starts adding stars to my sentences*

Dad: aha, no, not that kind of space

Me: the space needle?

Dad: no, like you need to put nothing between the words

Me: that’s what I’m doing!

Dad: *sweating* ah, but not that kind of nothing..

[ellemeditdance]

This is my favorite example of an ambiguous sentence that was presented in one of my classes for my editing minor:

The men got out of the car wearing jackets and knitted hats

There are so many options here!

Are the men wearing jackets and hats that are knitted?

Is the car wearing jackets and hats that are knitted?

Did the men, wearing jackets, get out of the car and then knit hats?

Did the men get out of the car, which was wearing jackets, and then knit hats?

Who knows! Certainly not me

[physalian]

How to make your writing sound less stiff part 2

Part 1

Again, just suggestions that shouldn’t have to compromise your author voice, as I sit here doing my own edits for a WIP.

1. Crutch words

Specifically when you have your narrator taking an action instead of just… writing that action. Examples:

Character wonders/imagines/thinks/realizes

Character sees/smells/feels

Now not all of these need to be cut. There’s a difference between:

Elias stops. He realizes they’re going in the wrong direction.

And

Elias takes far too long to realize that it’s not horribly dark wherever they are

Crutch words are words that don’t add anything to the sentence and the sentence can carry on with the exact same meaning even if you delete it. Thus:

Elias stops. They’re going in the wrong direction.

I need a word in the second example, whether it’s realizes, understands, or notices, unless I rework the entire sentence. The “realization” is implied by the hard cut to the next sentence in the first example.

2. Creating your own “author voice”

Unless the tone of the scene demands otherwise, my writing style is very conversational. I have a lot of sentence fragments to reflect my characters’ scatterbrained thoughts. I let them be sarcastic and sassy within the narration. I leave in instances of “just” (another crutch word) when I think it helps the sentence. Example:

…but it’s just another cave to Elias.

Deleting the “just” wouldn’t hit as hard or read as dismissive and resigned.

I may be writing in 3rd person limited, but I still let the personalities of my characters flavor everything from the syntax to metaphor choices. It’s up to you how you want to write your “voice”.

I’ll let dialogue cut off narration, like:

Not that he wouldn’t. However, “You can’t expect me to believe that.”

Sure it’s ~grammatically incorrect~ but you get more leeway in fiction. This isn’t an essay written in MLA or APA format. It’s okay to break a few rules, they’re more like guidelines anyway.

3. Metaphor, allegory, and simile

There is a time and a place to abandon this and shoot straight because oftentimes you might not realize you’re using these at all. It’s the difference between:

Blinding sunlight reflects off the window sill

And

Sunlight bounces like high-beams off the window sill

It’s up to you and what best fits the scene.

Sometimes there’s more power in not being poetic, just bluntly explicit. Situations like describing a character’s battle wounds (whatever kind of battle they might be from, whether it be war or abuse) don’t need flowery prose and if your manuscript is metaphor-heavy, suddenly dropping them in a serious situation will help with the mood and tonal shift, even if your readers can’t quite pick up on why immediately.

Whatever the case is, pick a metaphor that fits the narrator. If my narrator is comparing a shade of red to something, pick a comparison that makes sense.

Red like the clouds at sunset might make sense for a character that would appreciate sunsets. It’s romantic but not sensual, it’s warm and comforting.

Red like lipstick stains on a wine glass hints at a very different image and tone.

Metaphor can also either water down the impact of something, or make it so much worse so pay attention to what you want your reader to feel when they read it. Are you trying to shield them from the horror or dig it in deep?

4. Paragraph formatting

Nothing sticks out on a page quite like a line of narrative all by itself. Abusing this tactic will lessen its effect so save single sentence paragraphs for lines you want to hammer your audiences with. Lines like romantic revelations, or shocking twists, or characters giving up, giving in. Or just a badass line that deserves a whole paragraph to itself.

I do it all the time just like this.

Your writing style might not feature a bunch of chunky paragraphs to emphasize smaller lines of text (or if you’re writing a fic on A03, the size of the screen makes many paragraphs one line), but if yours does, slapping a zinger between two beefy paragraphs helps with immersion.

5. Polysyndeton and Asyndeton

Not gibberish! These, like single-sentence paragraphs, mix up the usual flow of the narrative that are lists of concepts with or without conjunctions.

Asyndeton: We came. We saw. We conquered. It was cold, grey, lifeless.

Polysyndeton: And the birds are out and the sun is shining and it might rain later but right now I am going to enjoy the blue sky and the puffy white clouds like cotton balls. They stand and they clap and they sing.

Both are for emphasis. Asyndeton tends to be "colder" and more blunt, because the sentence is blunt. Polysyntedon tends to be more exciting, overwhelming.

We came and we saw and we conquered.

The original is rather grim. This version is almost uplifting, like it's celebrating as opposed to taunting, depending on how you look at it.

—

All of these are highly situational, but if you’re stuck, maybe try some out and see what happens.

*italicized quotes are from ENNS, the rest I made up on the spot save for the Veni Vidi Vici.

[themontessoriacademyofarlington]

Lower Elementary - Grammar Farm

As our rising first graders transition to a new classroom, they will notice familiar materials from their Early Childhood classroom that are also present in the Elementary program. One of these is the Montessori Grammar Farm, which encourages children to practice building simple combinations of words and phrases, learning about the parts of speech and sentence structure. Intriguing objects pique a child's interest, as they manipulate the objects to better internalize abstract concepts.

The work begins with labeling each object, animals as nouns, as seen here. As they become familiar with the function of nouns in a phrase or sentence, they can explore adjectives, like "brown horse" or "fluffy sheep." This work lays the groundwork for good communication, reading comprehension, writing, speaking, and storytelling in an approachable way for children.

#grammar #literacy #partsofspeech #sentencestructure #handsonlearning #experientiallearning #focus #order #concentration #coordination #independence #confidentlearner #competentlearner #academicallyprepared #language #intrinsicmotivation #tma #montessori #privateschool #arlingtontx #arlington #texas #infant #nido #toddler #earlychildhood #preschool #kindergarten #elementary #education #nontraditional #themontessoriacademyofarlington

[bumgall]

So physicists can just omit cruical context clues from the structures of their mathematical equations and have no problems understanding how to understand it but then when someone omits an oxford comma…

[wordsaficionado]

I think a great piece of advice for people who want to learn, but don’t know what to learn, is to take advantage of Wikipedia.

However, the second half of this advice is use that specific feature where some words are highlighted, and fall into rabbit holes. The best part about this is you don’t have to have anything super specific to search.

Say, for example, I was in the mood for some ELA type stuff, but I don’t know what kinds of stuff there is. I simply go on Wikipedia and search English. Admittedly, that doesn’t bring up much, but there IS a blue link to a page about the English language.

From there, I can click on things like “Indo-European language family” and “early Medieval England” and “British Empire” if I’m in the mood for more history things. Or, if I really want to learn about words, I can click the vocabulary section, or the phonology section, or the orthography section, or even the grammar section.

There’s so much to be learned in this one broad category, and it’s the same for every other subject you learn in school, which is a great place to start.

Math (mathematics)? Empirical sciences, number theory, and set theory are just in the opening paragraph. Not to mention the sections titled “relationship with astrology and esotericism” and “symbolical notation.”

History? Well, from history we can get to History of Earth, and it’s not hard to guess how much is there. There’s also anything that could be the History of; History of Mankind, History of Dinosaurs, History of Philosophy, literally pretty much anything you could want to learn about is on Wikipedia.

The point is, Wikipedia is an amazing tool and source of knowledge. This strategy is a great way to actually access that knowledge. Have fun!