6

Writing One Sentence per Line

 2 years ago
source link: https://sive.rs/1s
Go to the source link to view the article. You can view the picture content, updated content and better typesetting reading experience. If the link is broken, please click the button below to view the snapshot at that time.
neoserver,ios ssh client

writing one sentence per line

2022-06-20

My advice to anyone who writes: Try writing one sentence per line. I’ve been doing it for twenty years, and it improved my writing more than anything else.

New sentence? Hit [Enter]. New line.

Not publishing one sentence per line, no. Write like this for your eyes only. HTML or Markdown combine separate lines into one paragraph.

Why is it so useful?

It helps you judge each sentence on its own.

We sometimes write sentences that don’t need to exist. Hidden in a paragraph, we might not notice. Standing on their own, we notice. Delete any sentence not worthy of its own line.

It helps you vary sentence length.

We need to vary the lengths of our sentences. Sometimes short. Sometimes long. Yes it really helps to read it out loud, but it’s even clearer to see it on the page like this.

***********
***
***
***************

It helps you move sentences.

When all sentences are stacked in a column, they’re easier to rearrange. Cut three lines. Paste them up above. It’s easier to move your best sentence to the beginning or end of a paragraph.

It helps you see first and last words.

First words punch. Last words linger. Seeing your sentences vertically helps you notice your beginnings and endings. Chop the weak beginnings, like “I think” and “Whether or not”. Start with powerful subjects and verbs.

screenshot of text with one sentence per line

© 2022 Derek Sivers.

Copy & share: sive.rs/1s

Comments

  1. Todd (2022-06-20) #

    Brilliant! Simply Brilliant advice. As a writer/editor always looking to simplify, I can see this making both jobs so much easier. Thanks.

  2. Sythe (2022-06-20) #

    Thanks for this advice, I'm going to try it!

  3. Yo (2022-06-20) #
  4. Aditya (2022-06-20) #

    Thanks for simplistic yet powerful advice. Golden words for lovers of writing (did I say markdown? :p)

  5. Derrick (2022-06-20) #

    Thanks so much, Derek!

  6. Justin (2022-06-20) #

    Time to give this a shot!

  7. Bob (2022-06-20) #

    How does Markdown support combining two sentences with an empty line between them as a single paragraph?

    I thought the default was to make them separate paragraphs.

  8. keithb (2022-06-20) #

    The book called 'Several short sentences about writing' by Verlyn Klinkenborg suggests writing one sentence per line. The book is actually typeset like that as well to make the point. And DS has notes on the book!

    A Web search on 'semantic line breaks' leads to a number of resources and tools...

  9. Camellia (2022-06-20) #

    Awesome tip!

    Especially for someone like me who write English as a second language.

    Sometimes I like to use complex grammar and long sentences to ‘show off’ my English ability. However, it’s not reader-friendly.

    Thanks for this and I’ll definitely use this trick to practise!

  10. David (2022-06-20) #

    Hello

  11. John (2022-06-20) #

    Great article.

  12. (o)> (2022-06-20) #

    Good article

Your thoughts?
Please leave a reply:

Your Name

Your Email   (private for my eyes only)

Comment

report

Recommend

About Joyk


Aggregate valuable and interesting links.
Joyk means Joy of geeK