Writing usually involves a lot of shaping and rearranging sentences. If one sentence is too long, awkwardly worded, or just “off,” it can distract readers. Assessing the way sentences are structured is essential to improving your writing skills.
No matter the sentence, it always come down to the subject and the verb. For example: “She wrote.” Anything outside of this sentence just concerns the details. To expand on the example: “She wrote an assessment of the initial efforts of the new program, which began in FY 2021.” In that sentence, the subject remains “she” and the action remains “wrote.” The rest pertains to what she wrote about. To make this flow better, we could break the sentence in two: “She wrote an assessment of the program. The initial efforts began in FY 2021.”
Which is easier to read? The longer sentence or the two shorter sentences? How would you restructure sentences in your own writing to allow for better flow and focus?
Maintaining a subject/verb can ease the stress that comes with finding places to put the extra details. The subject/verb focus is key to creating compelling sentences.
Contact Dave Bounds at x2859 with any questions. Happy writing!