Questions tagged [sentence-structure]
This tag should be used for questions about structuring your sentences in certain genres or for certain characters in your writing.
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Should an emoji come before or after a full-stop? 🤔
When I make a hilarious joke on social media it's easy to put an emoji/emoticon/smiley on the end. 😀
But sometimes I want to set the context and make a more reasoned argument over a paragraph or so. ...
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9
answers
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How can I improve my sentence construction or flow in general writing?
Can anyone suggest resources or techniques I can use to improve my sentence construction when writing? I am a native English speaker and fairly well educated, but confess I didn't pay much attention ...
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5
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How long should each paragraph be in fiction writing?
In high school and even college most students are told to aim for around 5-6 sentences per paragraph. I am now trying to write fiction, fantasy specifically, but am hitting a wall when it comes to ...
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Very long sentences: personal style or just bad writing?
I'm writing a story targeted towards children in which the protagonist is a young girl. I find that in writing her dialog and the narrative, I'm producing a lot of very long sentences, to the point ...
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What's the effect of placing "of course" at the beginning or at the end of the sentence?
Example from my writing:
Not everything was rainbow and roses, of course. Sometimes rain would
fall on my head or a thorn prickle my finger.
Of course, not everything was rainbow and roses. ...
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9
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4
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Sentence starters for summaries?
I'm writing a technical book (step-by-step sort of book) and noticed that all my summaries start with 'In this chapter we ...'. What would be some other sentence starters that I could use to make the ...
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4
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Starting a sentence with well. Does my sentence need to be changed?
I had a colleague today point out that the use of well in the following sentence is a typo. I think it makes sense but now I'm second guessing myself. Is this correct? If not, what would be a better ...
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3
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Which authors' style would be more appropriate for me to write in? [closed]
When I study the style of Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Carver, and other authors, I find that they use very simple language and simple words. But when I look at present day authors, such as Stephenie ...
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5
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How to construct quality long sentences?
I want to construct long sentences, for fiction. I do use subordinate conjunctions and coordinate conjunctions, and I also understand different kind of phrases, and grammatical rules. But I still ...
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4
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How do you use adverbs properly in fiction writing?
How do you use adverbs properly in fiction writing?
In a related question, a reply states:
When to use [adverbs]? When your alternative would be pretentious. There are strong nouns and verbs, that ...
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Are run-on sentences always bad?
(TW, depression related stuff?)
In my AP Lang class, we've recently started an activity called Visiting Author, where a student does a cold read of a piece they wrote and the others give criticism ...
user34214
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2
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Why does variety in sentence length and structure feel engaging?
An obvious answer might be "because people like variety", but this doesn't feel right. If this was the case, why doesn't using a different font family (or color) for each word feel engaging? ...
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5
votes
1
answer
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Must every sentence be 25 words or less?
Many books that are read today frequently use long sentences, far surpassing the 25 word limit. There is pleasure in reading such sentences, and there is pleasure in comprehending them. But oftentimes ...
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votes
2
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Is there a rule against chopped sentences?
I'm beta reading a book with a lot of chopped sentences. I understand that this writer would like to make their sentences short and punchy. But it is disturbing when sentences are either lacking in a ...
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2
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Parentheses in scientific writing
I occasionally use parentheses in scientific writing when a piece of information is related to a previous statement but not to the central story.
Is it bad style in scientific writing to use ...
- 193
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2
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How do I make a concluding sentence flow from the previous sentence?
This question was flagged as being similar to another question of mine, so I have to clarify that this question pertains to how I should introduce the concluding sentence, whereas the other one ...
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2
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Using rhythm to evoke emotion
When writing there is one area I am not great at leveraging. That's rhythm or meter. I don't hear meter naturally like some people do so I have to really break down the meter in order to work on it. ...
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4
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Is it good to add 'I believe' at the beginning of the sentence?
I believe that people should eat apples.
or,
People should eat apples.
Which one is best, or when to use which? Is it good to say 'I believe' or 'We believe' in public speaking or public ...
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4
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2
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Why is the construct "'hello' says Pete" most common?
I am asking this from the point of a reader not a writer and just wondering why, so sorry if this is a bad place.
I read loads of books to my kids and the construct always seems to go:
"What a day,...
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4
votes
2
answers
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Repetitive sentences
How do I start off sentences without them being too repetitive and boring?
I have a problem of starting a sentence with something like "The person" and end up using "The person" in the next one again.
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1
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When should you use extra long sentences, never?
I often see world-renowned thinkers and writers, such as Nietszche and Herman Melville, write extremely long sentences. When I was in high school, people said sentences should be as short as possible, ...
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3
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Increasing the flow in descriptions of a sequence of events
Thomas appeared behind Daniel and shook him by the neck, which brought
him down to his knees. Thomas kicked him and then kicked away the gun
that Daniel dropped making sure he wouldn't be able to ...
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3
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How do you write long, nonconvoluted sentences?
Sometimes, when I show others a long sentence I have written, I am told it is convoluted due to the chaining of dependent clauses.
Is there a way to keep tacking on modifiers and dependent clauses to ...
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4
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How to keep all my sentences from having the same structure?
Been reading through my writing and I noticed that 90% of my sentences follow the same basic structure of
[phraseA], [phraseB].
The few exceptions I could find were very short sentences I put there ...
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3
votes
2
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329
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Sentence Variety
Writers always talk about the importance of sentence variety in writing, but they never say which sentence type one should use for a specific scenario. So when do I use simple, complex, compound, and ...
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4
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How do you write short-short nonfiction?
I need to write an opinion, narrative of only 80 words in length.
Examples: write about your fondest childhood memory/comment: homework should be banned, etc.
How are short-short pieces like this ...
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2
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Alternatives to starting a sentence with well [closed]
I'm new to narrative writing and especially have trouble with dialogue. I too often am using the word well to start a character's sentence after receiving some information to then ask a question about ...
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4
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How can I shorten a piece of writing without losing its original essence?
I need to know how to make my writing more brief without maring its original meaning and message. I have been struggling with that for a while, and still cannot do that. It simply seems to me that you ...
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votes
1
answer
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Should I use colons and semicolons to summarize information?
I'm writing a paper that goes something like this:
To quickly summarize MIT is located in Massachusetts FIU is in Florida, The tuition cost for MIT is 45 thousand versus 6 thousand for 30 credits ...
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votes
1
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"still could" vs "could still"
I am reading a novel and a sentence kind of popped out at me, so of course, the first thing I thought of was to come here and ask...
What I would say out loud, and most likely write, if I were writing ...
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6
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152
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How to decide which sentence structure is correct?
I'm trying to describe an action (a gust of wind blows) and its result (the flame is doused) and its subsequent effect (the room is plunged into darkness). However, I'm facing some issues with how to ...
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2
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Is it good to write long sentences with "and" like Hemingway?
When you read Hemingway, for example, the first thing you notice is that he uses the conjunction and a lot, and he is fond of long sentences!
If I didn't know it's Hemingway, I would probably think it'...
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2
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What to do when a sentence is too confusing
I’m struggling to clearly yet briefly explain what’s going on. I’m fairly sure this sentence is grammatically correct, but it still sounds clunky and confusing.
For context, my POV character sits down ...
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2
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Sentence structure alternatives
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 ...
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1
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How would I extend a line in poetry?
I'm writing a villanelle as a school project and one of my lines is too short. Can somebody give me tips on how to extend the line?
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1
answer
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Ways to write a biographical introduction without using "___ was an..."
I'm writing a short biography on a relatively obscure ancient Greek figure. Since so little is known about this individual's life, I'm finding a dearth of information to support the 2-3 pages I'm ...
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1
answer
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Subtle Difference in Sentence Structure [closed]
"P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrel. He grasped Harry's hand.
V.S.
"P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrel, grasping Harry's hand.
In the first sentence, it feels as though Professor ...
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3
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How to "Show" and not "Tell" for nervousness?
I was told to ask this question here. There’s a saying in writing to “show; don’t tell”. For example, instead of naming the emotion, “She was angry”, you would show the emotions happening by saying, “...
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5
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Is the following sentence structure allowed in fiction?
I'm not very sure why, but the following sentence structure came out from my mind:
Disclaimer: this is a first draft.
The realization just came to her now. Or perhaps, she knew it all
along; it ...
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4
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Is it necessary to use words like "said", "asked," etc in dialog?
I am writing a novel. I'm not sure if the below sentence structure is correct. I have not used any word like said/replied/asked.
He was looking at the painting. “You do not have to believe me. I will ...
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2
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Is using non-sentences bad writing?
Consider the following extract of text (content not important, only sentence structure):
When the jump is made, from seeing a subject as vocational, to worthy
of study for the sake of knowledge alone,...
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vote
2
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Is my usage of this word correct? [closed]
'The ambit of his patience"
I'm not sure if I've used the word ambit correctly here. Could someone tell me what context it can be used in / examples to go with?
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1
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I don't fully understand sentence unity
First, let me clarify that I do not intend right now to write in Early Modern English, although I tend to use some words uncommon in ordinary prose, such as "whereof", etc. However, being ...
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Action between dialogue
I've noticed I've been putting lots of action between someone's dialogue and have many inconsistencies and wanted to know if there was a difference between different ways of punctuating it or if it ...
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2
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Hyphen, Comma or Brackets? What should I use?
Which would be the proper style for a scientific publication:
It is required that a, b, and, depending on a and b, c is given.
It is required that a, b, and - depending on a and b - c is given.
It ...
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2
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Is it a bad habit to omit conjunctions in poetry?
When writing a verse for a song a lot of times I find it easier to sing if I leave out function words (demonstratives/conjunctions). Is this a bad habit? It seems to cause lack of clarity but I see ...
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1
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How to remove filter words from dialogue actions in first POV
While editing my story's first draft, I read a blog about filtering words. When it came to editing, I realised it's not that easy to remove those words when you are editing an action after a dialogue, ...
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1
answer
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Topic Sentence in a two-sided essay
I am writing a two-sided essay, and my teacher told me to underline the topic sentence in every paragraph. But I have a problem. First, take a look at the essay structure:
[1] Hook, small context, ...
user46525
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3
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Book on sentence structure/variety
Is there a good book on sentence structure and variety?
My goal is to improve the way my sentences flow on the page and to improve the reader experience.
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2
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Writing better result sections in scientific articles, non-native English writer
I'm currently doing my master thesis in Ecology and now writing my result section. I'm a non-native English writer and I would like to ask for some help structuring my sentences and how to become a ...
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