A valuable writing lesson.

I mentioned my brother Gary (1944-1995) in a previous post.  Gary, who was a well loved and greatly admired teacher of writing, has many books to his credit. Books on writing. Bios. And stories of true crime. Among his sage comments on creativity is this much-praised paragraph: "This sentence has five words." I include it here as excellent advice for anyone, whether they are writing a novel or just a letter.

“This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.”  Gary Provost