The sentence is the building block of writing. It is the component we use to, block by block, assemble a document, story, essay, letter or any other type of writing. But how do we learn to write lucid, effective sentences?

One of the students – and teachers – of writing good sentences is Stanley Fish, literary theorist, legal scholar, academic and author of How to Write a Sentence. He argues that the key is to put the elements of a sentence into logical sequence. And there is an exercise, espoused by Fish, that develops the skill required to write sentences with proficiency and far greater ease.

In his book, which was the subject of numerous talk shows and sold many copies, Fish puts it this way: “You learn how to write sentences by performing exercises, like the exercise of making a sentence out of a random list of words. Everyone can do it. …As with any skill, this one develops slowly. You start small, with three-word sentences, and after you’ve advanced to the point where you can rattle off their structure on demand, you go on to the next step and another exercise.”

So let’s try this exercise. Let try it by using some of the terms I use when conducting this writing exercise with the business people I train. Let’s start by having you write a sentence by putting these four objects into a logical sequence of words: baby, Mercedes, sunshine and window. You must, of course, add some addition words to connect these objects and to make a sentence out of them. Give it your best shot. When you’re done, here is an example of my own making…

It had become apparent to Roberto that the Mercedes SLK was his baby, even more so than his infant son in the backseat being brightly illuminated by the sunshine slanting through the side window.

Obviously, I used my imagination and dressed it up a bit. Nothing wrong with that. That’s how sentences get written. We put our imagination to work. Yours might have been more basic than mine. Given that you’re just getting started with this exercise, that is to be expected.

Let’s try this exercise again. This time, integrate these five words into a sentence: blood, faster, pale, thin, skin.

This time I made a shorter, simpler construction, something more straightforward…

The blood ran faster beneath her thin, pale skin.

Let’s give this exercise one more shot before you head off to do this exercise on your own. Here are the five words I would like you to use: capital, cloud, computing, intellectual, money.

How did that go? You might have assembled something along these lines…

The company’s cloud computing technology proved so innovative that a group of venture capital firms rushed in waving large sums of money and promising lots of intellectual support.

So there you have the exercise, which can (and should) be repeated over and over again to achieve proficiency. Make it a daily affair. Your enthusiasm will build as your writing ability improves.

But there is one more stage to this exercise. Fish explains it this way on the pages of his book: “The hard part – and the part that will firm up your sense of the logical structure of sentences – is explaining what it is that you have done. The general answer is that you have inserted the words into a structure of relationships. But the general answer is too general to be useful. If the exercise is to be helpful beyond the moment of its performance, you have to step back reflectively and specific what role each word or phrase you have added to the list plays in the formation of a logical structure. You have to be able to say (if only to yourself) things like, ‘When I added this verb, I made this previously random and stand-alone word into the object of an action,’ or ‘When I added this prepositional phrase I located the action in a particular space.’ Turning this corner will be difficult; it’s a lot easier to form sentences than to produce an analysis of your ability to do so. But after a little while and a lot of practice, you will have internalized a grammatical ‘sixth sense’ that enables you first to sense that something has gone wrong and then to zero in on it, and finally to correct it.”

I really like Fish’s reference to a “grammatical sixth sense.” It’s a great phrase, and one that makes our writing all the more mysterious and insightful. In truth, though, writing is about practice, and the right kind of practice.

The above exercise can make a powerful difference to your writing skills. Do it daily. Make it a habit and watch your writing skills grow.

Mike Consol is a professional business writing coach. He conducts writing seminars and workshops for business professionals at large and mid-sized companies.

Mike Consol is a professional business writing coach. He conducts http://www.mikeconsol.com/business-writing-seminars writing seminars and workshops for business professionals at large and mid-sized companies.

Author Bio: Mike Consol is a professional business writing coach. He conducts writing seminars and workshops for business professionals at large and mid-sized companies.

Category: Writing
Keywords: Sentence, writing, exercises, Stanley Fish, how to write a sentence, business, workshops, seminars