Writing Strong Sentences

A lot of the meaning of a sentence lies in its structure. Not all sentences are built the same, and not every part of a sentence is as strong as every other part. Writing usually has greater impact if each sentence is as strong as it should be.

Take the sentence, “After going through the door, the man fired the gun.” “The man fired the gun” is an independent clause hence more important. “After going through the door” is a dependent clause, hence less important. Maybe the man going through the door is the most important part, and the firing of the gun less so. The sentence needs to be revised If that’s the case.

I read from left to right, like all readers of English. My mind therefore reads the left-hand part of a sentence first and then goes on the right. I’m undercutting myself when I led with the weaker part of the sentence. The most important part of the sentence should lead off. Give me that sentence to read, and my mind is dwelling on the man going through the door. But, the most important part of the action might be the man firing the gun. If the sentence reads, “The man fired the gun after going through the door,” I better understand that. I may find out that the man going through the door can be understood from context and I don’t even need to write it.

I am convinced that many of my sentences that begin with dependent clauses are left over from first drafts in which I am trying to remind myself of what is going on in the paragraph. The dependent clause may even be unimportant and can be deleted. I often find I need fewer words when I switch such sentences around.

I also believe I lead off with weaknesses because down deep I don’t want anybody to really know what I was really saying. That’s pretty weird for someone trying to communicate, not to want others to know what I’m really saying. Success is scary sometimes.

No hard and fast rule here. There might be a good reason to lead with weaker sentences or clauses. Everything depends on context or sub context. Sometimes we need a weaker sentence to make stronger sentences stand out. I

Next time: paragraphs.