Chapter 16 Sentence Style

Why Sentence Style Matters

Imagine a world where all music was in a single monotone, all paintings were the same shade of green, and all dancing consisted of one slow dance step. Writing with only one kind of sentence style would fit nicely into that world. In truth, music, art, and dance gain much beauty and interest from wide variation. You, as a writer, also have the option to vary your sentence style strategically. This chapter will help you vary sentence lengths and styles and choose when to write in active and passive voice. You will also learn how to use subordination, coordination, and parallelism to achieve emphasis and balance, how to control for sexist and offensive language, and how to manage the mood of the verbs in your writing.