Writing Development Deep-dive
Come chat with us in this week's Community Corner - 2.17.25
This week’s workshop topic is all about crafting your sentences to create emotional resonance and flow. A whole vibe, if you will.
As an unashamed word-nerd, I’ve been geeking out at all the super fascinating technical aspects of sentence structure Nina’s been sharing. (And I hope you’ve been joining in too — there’s so much good stuff here.)
But even if you’re not into the technical aspects of grammar and syntax, ALL writers have a natural ‘ear’ for narrative flow, voice and tone and rhythm, right?
Toni Morrison says, “Rhythm and sound is the deep structure of fiction.”
Julie Otsuka says, “Rhythm is the secret underground grid that draws the reader into the book without the reader realizing it.”
We can create sentences that have the rhythm and sound of a nursery rhyme. You can make sentences that are hard-edged, soft-edged, flowing, jagged, on and on. Should the sentence feel heavy, like a drum beating? Or light and flowing like water? Words not only have logical meaning but sound meaning.
Perfect Sentences Sound Like This — Nina Schuyler
Such a great quote. Doesn’t it make you want to read everything out loud?
Ok, so, with all that in mind, here’s your thinky-talky point for this week:
Discuss!
What tone is your story? Light and fluffy? Deep and thoughtful? Unnerving?
How do you achieve this in your writing? Share your techniques, tips and rhythmic skills!
(Or if you’re not sure, ask for help in finding your tone and let’s brainstorm together…)
I have just posted a question about tone/style in the comment section of last week's lesson. I am writing what might be a memoir, but also blog/essays here on my Substack page. I find myself writing in what seems to be a colloquial, conversational, non-flowery way. I am pretty sure I have internalized the efficiency of rap lyrics and how screenplays are written. Sometimes I can get too sing-songy. I like one-word paragraphs and variations in sentence length. It seems like I have adopted elements of sound, rhythm, balance, etc that are being discussed this week (without knowing it). Here are two short sections of Substack blog My Bruised Resume, as an example:
"I've spent most of my time on Earth in my head. I use my eyes and ears more than my mouth by a factor of ten. And by the grace of good sense and good genes, I've made it to the raggedy end of this mortal coil, way over here, on the far right of most graphs."
and...
"Why Substack now?
Honestly, too much has been too hot to handle for a very long time, and reacting is distracting. Plus, patterns only reveal themselves after mistake number three.
I know you know what I mean.
Do you remember that cute high school crush who hurt your feelings? Your asshole first husband? The second divorce that ruined you alive?
"Done!" you exclaimed. Only to realize it was you all along.
Lesson learned. And boy, do they pile up."
This is an excellent conversation starter! I have one novel that is about a young woman leaving a fundamentalist church. All of the characters are working class and either midwestern or southern so that one feels (one hopes) salt-of-the-earth and plain spoken and a little funny. My other novel, which is undergoing a monster rewrite, is a speculative fiction story set on a parallel but basically-identical-to-earth planet. Very urban, except for a defunct monastery and castle-turned-prison on a nearby island. It's a class war story, with a group of artists who are looking for a crack in the system, and an elite ruling class which uses their private business language to keep the castes in place.
I wanted it to have fun genre elements, an old code, subtle mystical power, embezzlement, galas and a prison break, but wanted those things to be told in a gritty, realistic way. So there are a fair number of factories and industrial details, all of it soaked in rain. Best time ever.
I'm on my fifth revision and it has changed quite a lot. It had good bones before but was a sprawling mess. I think this rewrite has a much more consistent tone. At first I tended to have sections that sounded a little too formal and distant, and then sections that were a lot more earthy, and neither was done in an intentional way. I stopped in the middle to write the other novel, and the two years spent on a literary fiction book definitely improved my ability to understand character but also how to notice pacing and tone.