 Short Stories: April 11, 2007 Issue [#1645] |
  Short Stories
This week: Edited by: kelly1202
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| Reviewing Basic Sentence Structure |
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By definition, every sentence must have the following: (1) a predicate (usually called a verb) and (2) the subject of that verb, and (3) the words must contain a complete thought.
When I was a beginning writer, one of the problems I had was varying the sentence structure. Recently, while do some reviewing on WDC, I have stumbled across a few writer's who seem to have the same problem. The most common sentence being: subject followed by a verb.
Good writers will often mix up their sentence variety to keep their story from becoming too monotonous.
The following is taken from the book, "Pocket Reference for Writers", by Toby Fulwiler & Alan R. Hayakawa.
Reading a story in which all the sentences have the same structure and length can be tedious. However, if you understand how sentences are constructed, it's easy to edit them into engaging patterns. Use coordination, subordination, and parallelism to restructure your sentences to create more lively reading.
A simple sentence: has a single independent clause-at least a subject and a verb or, more commonly, a subject, verb, and object.
EXAMPLE: John ran. {subject, verb}
A compound sentence has two or more independent clauses joined either by a comma and a coordinating conjection or by a semicolon.
EXAMPLE: Pollution is a problem, and it won't go away soon.
Recycling will help; it saves on landfill space.
A complex sentence has one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.
EXAMPLE: Because the problem continues to grow, our legislature must at before it is too late.
A compound-complex sentence has at least two independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses.
EXAMPLE: Pollution can be prevented, and we must take action to stop it because there is no other way to survive on this planet.
 Coordinate Structures
To specify a relations, connect two independent claues with one of the seven coordinating conjunctions, for, and, nor, but, or yet, so to help you remember these seven words, note that their first letters, in this order, spell " fanboys"}.
EX: We had eggs for breakfast, and then we went for a walk.
Avoid using coordination where the meaning of the two sentences is not related closely enough to warrant joining them I made eggs for breakfast, and I missed the bus.
Next month, I'll get into the basics of Subordinate structures, and Parallel structures.
Thanks for reading and I hope you've found this newsletter informative and helpful!
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werden  says: This was a nice indepth lesson. I also enjoyed the brevity so I could concentrate on the important parts. Thank you
Jay Bingham  says: So, what I hear you saying then, paraphrased, is let the characters tell the story with their actions.
What a fascinating concept. It seems so obvious when you read it, but.... it's so easy to get lazy and just do it the other way. It's better to let the reader imagine Gloria's anxiety than it is to tell them about it. No, HELP them imagine Gloria's anxiety, by describing Gloria and what she's doing.
darkin says: Wonderful newsletter Highwind...very helpful!!!
Darkin
Tristy says: The steps this newsletter takes is very instructional and informative at the same time. I find it especially nice that it is also concise. Great job!
likenion says: thank you for the descriptive info about the do's and dont's about the characters emotions. i find it very helpful to read these guidelines and later know better while writing. keep up the good work.
StephBee  says: Kelly, a very informative and instructive newsletter about character emotions. I liked the examples you used regarding anxiety. Two thumbs up.
Lauriemariepea says: i received a review a while back, suggesting i cut back on the adverbs. at the time, i didn't understand exactly why. your newsletter has made the weakening effect of too many adverbs clear.
thank you, highwind!
Fyn  says: Great newsletter, Kelly! Informative,helpful and with good examples to show your points!
SHERRI GIBSON  says: I couldn't agree more that it's better to be more descriptive about one waiting anxiously and so on. The key to a GREAT story is the ability to make a reader envision what is written about. Great newsletter, Kelly!
Thank you to everyone who commented! Thank you for your support, and encouraging words. I greatly appreciate it.
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