by Effie Moore Salem

Created on: August 13, 2009   Last Updated: November 16, 2010

Sentence structure that is varied is far more interesting to read. long sentences explain, clarify and go into  detail, short sentences emphatically state a point.  Both are necessary for a well written article. The following long sentence explains the process: Sentence structure is often too long and most of us are guilty of stringing out our thoughts when we would have been clearer had we stopped and made this mile long thought into one more easier to navigate by readers who take in ideas a few words at a time. The preceding words, strung out on purpose to illustrate the point the first sentence was trying to make, would have been clearer this way: Sentences are easier understood when they contain the whole idea we want to make. Although short sentences are easier to read and are to be used over long ones whenever possible.

Short two word sentences are effective when placed amidst long sentences that have used too much of the readers attention. The next thought wrapped up neatly with only two or three words can add a refreshing take to a possibly long hard to understand sentence. What we are writing and the point we are making is the guide to sentence structure. Sentences needs no extra wording that adds nothing to the thought process.

Compound sentences held together with a semicolon add dimension to a thought in that one gives a viewpoint and the other adds something interesting to the first one. Often however these are best put together as two separate sentences. Long sentences often weaken thoughts. You make a statement in one or two words and as you string words together you are modifying and taking away from your initial statement. Sometimes this tells readers you are not sure of what you wanted to say in the beginning. It's as if you are reluctant to let go of the thought and you keep grooming it until it is weak and ineffectual.

Before or after is one way of looking at active writing. It is easier to write actively and forcefully when you know your subject matter well. That is why writing as each sentence dictates itself to you is more interesting and provocative than when you try to tell of facts that are new to you. It is not possible, of course, to become so fully saturated with stories unfamiliar to you that you can just write them as they appear in your awareness. This often results in passive writing. Sometimes this can be changed and sometimes it cannot. The tone of the writing and the seriousness of the writer often make the difference here.

The right words aligned in their rightful place within sentences turn out to be the best sentences. An article or an essay or a poem or a news story all depends on the structure of the sentences to make their points and to become what the idea or thought or purpose was meant to be, or not. Knowing this takes constant work and a love for words and an unceasing desire to use them appropriately. When this is done, the sentence structure is just right.

Learn more about this author, Effie Moore Salem.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.