Building Sentences (Rewriting Sentences)

“Sentences are alive.  We experience them in time, and we react to their unfolding as they twist and turn, challenging us, teasing us, surprising us, and sometimes boring or confusing us as we read them… Style is what the writer uses and/or what the reader reads.”

Effective writing anticipates shapes, and satisfies a reader’s need for information.  Sentences that bring ideas and images into clear focus by adding more useful details and explanations are generally more effective than those that are less clearly focused and offer fewer details.

EXERCISE #1

·         Write a vague, unclear sentence about your family’s mealtime.  Don’t worry, this can be a very bad sentence, if you like. 

·         Re-write the sentence in a simple, uncomplicated form with the least amount of details.

·         Now, add some specific words and phrases to describe the situation.

·         Finally, write 2 more sentences to accompany your rewritten one that expand the reader’s understanding about your family’s mealtime.

EXERCISE #2

Pick 5 sentences from any of the Sherlock Holmes stories.  Rewrite it in a completely different style – try making it bare and sparse, or formal and ceremonious, or lushly flowery and descriptive, or emotional.  Write the original sentences with the rewritten version following it.  Include the page number of the original.