Variety

Monotony. Even the spelling is boring. It means tedious repetition or a lack of variety. For the reader, it means, “time to find something better to read.”

As I mentioned in an earlier post, reading your work aloud spotlights patterns. Do you use the same word over and over again? Do you begin all your sentences with a modifier? Are your sentences all a similar length and form? Take a moment and look for patterns in your work. Listen to the rhythm of your writing. Does it rise and fall predictably, chugging along like train wheels on track? Subject, predicate. Subject, predicate. Subject, predicate.

I’ll describe my writing rut as being “stuck in the two-step.” My natural inclination is to write in twos. Two adjectives: The woman looked bedraggled and lost. Two sentence parts: She ate her sandwich and watched the clock anxiously. Two objects: The woman clutched her coat and coffee and walked toward the exit. Basically, I employ two of everything. For the reader, that creates monotony. 

Once you’ve identified a pattern — of the tiresome sort — the first step to recovery is the decision to write with intention. What if, instead of “bedraggled and lost,” I wrote, “The woman looked bedraggled”? Or, “The woman looked bedraggled, lost, and dangerous”? Not only do these variations alter the rhythm of my paragraph, but they also change the emphasis. Saying she looked bedraggled is observant. That is how she looked. Saying she looked bedraggled, lost, and dangerous evokes the feeling of a cornered animal. That is how she felt. That is how it felt to be near her. Moreover, the latter sentence, with its alarming third adjective, is charged with potential plot action. Consider your choice of one adjective — or two, or three, or more. Don’t fall into your comfort zone. Think about the number of adjectives (or adverbs) and how they will affect your story.

The same consideration can be applied to sentence length. A long sentence can create a feeling of leisurely progress. A short sentence can communicate urgency. Likewise, a longer sentence can convey complexity in contrast to the simplicity of a short sentence. Whether that complexity (or simplicity) reflects on a particular setting, character, or event is up to you, the writer. Additionally, if you vary sentence length, you avoid the soporific train wheel effect. Keep your reader alert!

Use the repetition of words or sentence structure strategically. If you repeat a word (obviously, I don’t mean prepositions, conjunctions, or pronouns), don’t do it out of laziness. Repeat for a purpose. If you group several brief sentences together, are you creating a particular atmosphere or making a point? If so, usually short-term is best. If it is the modus operandi of your entire piece, the reader may tire of it.

Varying the length, structure, and wording of your sentences and paragraphs keeps your reader’s interest. It gives your writing vibrancy. If variety is the root of gluttony, let it be the “I just couldn’t stop reading!” type of gluttony.