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Writing Exercise: Sentence Structure

Erin Penn

222310993 © National Library New Zealand | Dreamstime.com
When slush reading I ran into a lot of stories with little variation of sentence structure. Noun(subject)-verb-noun(object). 
He did a thing. She went somewhere. I ate food.
They may be long sentences joined with the basic conjunctions (and, but, or), but little variation beyond the “Subject-verb” combos of basic sentences. And that got BORRRRRING!
Don’t be boring.
In combat or quick action, short and sweet sentence structures work. On the other hand, narrative should have longer structures, with phrases and additions at the beginning or end.
WRITING EXERCISE:
  • Write seven sentences describing a task you did today.
  • Now figure out which parts of speech each of the words within the sentences are – noun, verb, adverb, adjective, etc..
  • Review the nouns of the sentences and figure out the subject and the objects.
  • How many of the sentences have just basic sentence structure?
  • How can you vary the sentences to mix up the pace of the subject-verb sentences.
Additional Help
Not every teacher is effective at teaching sentence structure to every type of learner. If sentence structure is not a lesson which was taught in a manner you could grasp when you were school age,  you may want to look at the below. They are written in three different styles so hopefully one will click with you.
Basic Sentence Structures in the English Language – https://www.really-learn-english.com/sentence-structure.html
The Write Life – How to Vary Your Sentence Structure (And Stop Boring Your Readers) by Ali Luke (2019 Sept 21) –

Flash: Peacock

Erin Penn

Acquired from the internet

The guys always gave John shit about all the product he had for his hair. Shampoo, conditioner, detangler, mouse. A regular visit to the hair dresser to touch up the hair color – never a cut, but sometime a wave or curl when he felt frisky. He preened once more time in the mirror, making sure everything was perfect for the double date. Can’t cut corners with a Leo and his mane.

(words 71, first published 4/30/22 – created from a Facebook writing group prompt with aim about 50 words)

Geeking Science: Written in the Ice

Erin Penn

Photo by Sophia Simoes on Unsplash

History is written in many different ways. It’s written down in books. It’s written in graveyards. It’s written in tree rings. And it’s written in the ice.

Tree rings gave a mystery to scientists, showing poor summer grown for about a decade in mid-500s. Written records indicates nearly 18 months with the sun hidden behind clouds in some areas, killing two years of harvest. Searching the ice shows volcanic eruptions about that time.

Using new technology of ultraprecise analysis of ice from a Swiss glacier, a team of scientists narrowed it down to a volcano in Iceland erupting in early 536, with followup eruptions in 540 and 547. Scientist understand the link between volcano eruptions causing dust and debris in the atmosphere dropping temperatures because the sun is blocked, resulting in harvest failures and famine. With the one-two-three hit of eruptions, the starvation marked humanity with malnutrition, leaving it open for a plague. The Justinian Plague ravaged the Roman Empire, killing one-third to one-half of the eastern population, likely contributing to the Empires eventual fall.

Volcanos -> light/cold -> harvest & food failure -> plague -> population loss -> war and political upheaval.

Everything is connected. Tread lightly. Mother Earth writes history in ice and it’s been a while since she replenished her scribal parchment.

Bibliography

Gibbons, Ann. “Why 536 was ‘the worst year to be alive'”. science.org. 2018 Nov 15. https://www.science.org/content/article/why-536-was-worst-year-be-alive (last viewed 3/31/2022)

Author Spotlight: Larry N. Martin

Erin Penn

Amazon Cover

Larry N. Martin is part of the Gail Z. Martin and Larry N. Martin writing team. Together they have created the steampunk Jake Desmet Adventures, the urban fantasy monster hunter Mark Wojcik – a mechanic out of Pennsylvania, the post-apocalypse Wasteland Marshals, the historic fantasy steelworker Joe Mack, and I am going to stop there for brevity. I know there is more; this team is so prolific they have their own imprint: Sol Publishing … and they still create works for other medium and small presses. 

For the most part, Ms. Martin runs the social media and marketing end of the post-production while Mr. Martin takes care of the editing and uploads. Watching them churn words is like watching a waterfall, the magic never ends.

Even with all of that, Mr. Martin creates books on his own including the fantasy The Splintered Crown and the science fiction novel Salvage Rat.

Of all the many genres he works in, I’m going to say Mr. Martin loves Steampunk the best. He even cosplays in steampunk at conventions. I’m not sure it’s his favorite genre to write in, but his eyes sparkle the most when he gets on the Steampunk and Costuming panels.

Flash: Sand Hill

Erin Penn

Photo by raouf bedrani on Unsplash

Grit stuck to my tongue after I licked my dry lips. Reaching up to brush the sleep from my eyes, I discover every inch of me is covered in granulated materials. Trying to focus past the glare at the endless horizon was a task in and of itself, not helping with my confusion or headache. Wasn’t I just … where? Where am I now?

“Where in the sand hills am I?”

“Dune,” says a flat voice above me, dropping a black rubbery pile beside me. “Put on the stillsuit, and remember to walk without a pattern. I’ll explain once we get to stone.”

“Safety.” I nodded, reaching for the suit. Most of it made sense, after all I watched all the movies and the TV show, and made it through three of the books.

The person snorted around the tubes, impressing me with that feat. “Yeah, that ain’t happening. Just safer from here on out, never safety.”

(words 157, first published 4/24/2023)