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Sentence Fluency (continued)

Read this sample paragraph aloud.  How well does the paragraph flow?  What do you think of the quality and style of the writing?

The paragraph you just read is an example of a choppy paragraph that lacks sentence fluency.  Notice the number of short sentences.  Also notice that almost all of the sentences begin with either a noun (someone’s name) or a pronoun (“he” or “she”).

Now, read a revised version of the paragraph.   Do you find this one any easier to read aloud?  What is your impression of the quality and style of the writing in this example?

Several changes have been made to the paragraph to improve the sentence fluency.  The paragraph not only flows better and is easier to follow, but the writing also sounds more sophisticated and interesting.

• Sentences beginnings have been reworded so they do not all begin with nouns or pronouns:

• “In response . . .”
• “For the rest of the evening. . .”

• A few transition phrases have been added to improve the paragraph’s flow:

• “One day . . .”
• “During the movie . . .”

• Some sentences have been combined to create a mixture of short, medium, and long sentence lengths.

Pay attention to the sentence fluency in your own writing.  In your next assignment, focus on applying these three techniques to make your writing flow.