In the same way that you vary word choice in your writing to create interest and find multiple ways to restate concepts, you can vary sentence structure in order to create a more readable, clear, and stylistically interesting paragraph and thus refine the Style, Tone, and Voice of your writing. Varying sentence structure is partly a matter of keeping an eye on how often you use different forms of sentences. For instance, you might write an idea as two simple sentences (a sentence with only one independent clause) or as one compound sentence (two independent clauses tied together with a coordinating conjunction). Other types of sentences include complex sentences (sentences with a dependent and an independent clause) and compound-complex sentences (complex sentences that use a coordinating conjunction). Combining two simple sentences into a compound or complex sentence is one good way to create sentence variety. You can also use complex sentence structure to get the reader to focus on a particularly important part of the sentence.
Diversifying sentence structure goes hand in hand with another sentence-level revising process: diversifying sentence length. Sometimes length concerns are grammatical: a run-on sentence can be not only confusing, but grammatically inaccurate. Other times, varying the length of your sentences can clarify points in your Argument, create better readability, and help your writing flow. Shorter sentences may deliver main points or emphasize facts, while longer sentences may elaborate and make a rhythm.
Gary Provost’s “This Sentence Has Five Words” demonstrates the way sentence length and structure can change how a paragraph is read:
This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety.
Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals— sounds that say listen to this, it is important.
So write with a combination of short, medium, and long sentences. Create a sound that pleases the reader’s ear. Don’t just write words. Write music.
Provost’s first example is made up entirely of simple sentences. As he notes, there is no variety and the sentences all sound very similar. In the second example, varying sentence length has changed the way the paragraph sounds. There are still simple sentences present, but these are mostly reserved for clear statements; further explanation usually comes in compound or complex sentences. Notice that varying structure also helps to vary length. This creates stylistic variety, which creates a more interesting flow for the sentence and also directs the reader’s attention to the longer, more “energetic” (in Provost’s words) sentences.
Follow this exercise to assess the variety of your own sentences:
Step 1: Take a paragraph from the piece of work you are writing and retype it into a fresh document.
Step 2: Color-code each sentence based on its length: long, medium, and short. Is there variation, or do you overwhelmingly have sentences of a particular length? Are your sentences mostly simple, or mostly complex?
Step 3: Now that you’ve established the form of each sentence, move to the content. List each sentence and its purpose in the paragraph. Is it providing factual information, summarizing something you already stated, transitioning to a new idea, etc.?
Step 4: Apart from considering whether your sentence structure and length is varied enough, you will also want to consider whether the sentence’s purpose fits its length. If you have a series of short sentences that are presenting a core theoretical idea that you want the reader to notice, would it be better to combine them into a longer, more noticeable sentence? If you have a long sentence that lists a few different concepts or facts, would shortening them into individual sentences make each idea clearer? Experimenting with how you format your sentences can help you find ways to present information more clearly and direct readers to the core concepts of your argument.
If we did this exercise with Provost’s second paragraph, it would look something like this:
Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals— sounds that say listen to this, it is important.
- Introductory statement (telling the reader to listen).
- Introduction of a new idea (variation is musical).
- Repetition for emphasis.
- Descriptive elaboration.
- Factual note (this paragraph uses short sentences).
- Additional factual note (it also uses medium length sentences).
- Elaboration for emphasis (showing how sentence length can emphasize a more complex idea).
As you’re doing this exercise, it’s important to note that you will not have time to perform it on every paragraph in your paper. In that case, how should you prioritize which paragraphs you check for variation? This goes back to the question of the roles of longer and shorter sentences. If you have a body paragraph that is introducing a core strand of your argument, this would be a good candidate because it includes both complex ideas (which might deserve a longer sentence, and also a shorter restatement) and supplementary context (which would likely be less complex, shorter sentences). On the other hand, a paragraph summarizing background information or literature might be less important to focus on stylistically, because it is conveying factual information, not leading the reader toward one complex idea. There is no hard and fast rule, though, beyond focusing your revising attention on paragraphs that are most important to your overall argument.
If you find color-coding helpful in this case, you may also find it helpful in these entries: “Disorganized first draft? Color-coding as a tool to reorganize and restructure,” “How much do I need to explain? Finding places to condense and expand,” “Evidentiary Disconnect—Thinking Through the Vacuum,” and “Do you have trouble balancing your amount of evidence and degree of analysis? Color-coding to find your evidence to analysis ratio.”