Sentence structure alternatives

Question

Could you suggest a style guide or an exercise book that could teach how one sentence can be written in alternative ways, or how to rephrase a sentence in various structures, especially sentences involving modal verbs like should and would in third person.

The purpose is to avoid repetition of modal verbs and make the writing more persuasive.

Examples include: the parliament should pass the antiterrorism bill could be rewritten as: it is incumbent upon the parliament to pass the antiterrorism bill; the finance minister must wither away the economic crisis as the economic crisis demands that the finance minister takes immediate action, and so on.

Answer 1

The purpose is to avoid repetition of modal verbs and make the writing more persuasive.

I think you're barking up the wrong tree. You're relying on your individual sentences to persuade people when you should look at your entire essay. It doesn't matter to most people whether you say "the parliament should pass the antiterrorism bill" or "it is incumbent upon the parliament to pass the antiterrorism bill" (although the former flows smoothly and the latter sounds like it is trying too hard). People are going to want reasons, and you can't provide all of those in a single sentence.

Just googling your phrase "make the writing more persuasive" resulting in 69+ million hits on how to write persuasive essays, but nothing I could find there was about writing persuasive sentences. When it comes to persuading people, it's the forest, not the trees.

Answer 2

Having scoured the internet for a bit, I have found two style guides which I have not read myself, but which sound like they do at least part of what you are looking for.

The first one is called The Economist Style Guide and is available on the website of The Economist. It's a general style guide for the English language, so it might not be directly a tool for learning different ways of phrasing specific sentences, but it might still offer some good advice.

The second one is The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. Again, a general style guide. I'll let the Amazon description speak for itself:

You know the authors' names. You recognize the title. You've probably used this book yourself. This is The Elements of Style, the classic style manual, now in a fourth edition. A new Foreword by Roger Angell reminds readers that the advice of Strunk & White is as valuable today as when it was first offered.This book's unique tone, wit and charm have conveyed the principles of English style to millions of readers. Use the fourth edition of "the little book" to make a big impact with writing.

That sounds generally badass.

Personally, I really like The Economist's style, which is the kind of style that is used by intellectual writers who are not showing off. Elegant and to the point. But I am considering buying both books, especially because the second one sounds like what I was looking for - a general, sort-of-agreed-upon style guide.

Other than these two, the only guides I can find are mostly for a high school level of writing, i.e. "remember that you can use passive to mix things up sometimes" and similar tips.