Most people know a good sentence when they read one, but New York Times columnist Stanley Fish says most of us don't really know how to write them ourselves. His new book, How To Write A Sentence: And ...

Writers choose and build different types of sentences carefully. There are three main types of sentence structure - simple close simple sentenceA sentence containing one clause made up of a subject ...

Stanley Fish says, "Some appreciate fine art; others appreciate fine wines. I appreciate fine sentences." I love the sound of that. And chances are if you love language you'll find something ...

Use adverbs sparingly. At their best, they spice up a verb or adjective. At their worst, they express a meaning already contained in the sentence: The blast completely destroyed the church office. The ...

I didn’t mean to kill him. I didn’t mean to kill him. I didn’t mean to kill him. I didn’t mean to kill him. I didn’t mean to kill him. Which one of these did I mean? This is a fallacy that goes all ...

In the previous chapters we discussed two basic rules for parallel construction, namely: a sentence that presents two or more serial elements should stick to the same pattern all throughout; and that ...

WE HUMANS CAN APPRECIATE many things. It is one of our most attractive qualities. How could Rodolfo not fall in love with Mimi as she sings her own rapture at the first sunshine after winter, the ...

Two-thirds of the way through Alexander Chee's How to Write an Autobiographical Novel, I abandoned my sharpened reviewer's pencil in favor of luxuriating in the words. Chee's writing has a mesmerizing ...