Toiling on with Everyday Editing by Jeff Anderson, today I bring you Chapter 5: Simple Sentences. In an effort to finish this book before Nanowrimo starts I need to start covering two chapters per weekend so the chapter summary and the exercise suggestions will be covered in one post.
So Simple Sentences. They need a subject and verb. Did you know that a starting it with a Capitol Letter and finishing with a period does not a sentence make? laughing.
We write in sentences all day every day. I think I do anyway. But Word frequently informs me I am wrong about that and sometime I ignore Word and leave it as a style choice.
Some examples from Anderson:
My hair wakes up stupid. – Tony Johnston, Any Small Goodness
Is that a sentence? (Yep. Subject:hair, verb:wakes)
Another corpse. – Scott Smith, The Ruins
Is this one? (Nope. Subject:corpse, verb: MIA)
Let’s make our own two words sentences.
She writes.
She edits.
She designs.
She publishes.
Sounds good to me. But it’s a subject close to my heart. I think the point of simple sentences is to use the most powerful verbs you can get your hands on. Here are some from my current reading.
The universe loves novelists. – Chris Baty, No Plot? No Problem!
I hope they will not meet at all. – Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
It was unlikely that she had drowned accidentally. – Ann Rule, Green River, Running Red
As usual my reading is somewhat disjointed. LOL. Be sure to check in tomorrow, both here for another Chapter from Everyday Editing and at Sheri J. Kennedy Riverside for my next blog stop on my virtual book tour.
T.A. Henry 