Short Sentences can be a powerful tool.

"Short sentences can deliver a big "bang" that long sentences cannot. They also help emphasize a point that might get glossed over in a longer sentence, and help create contrast by breaking up a series of longer sentences. The short sentence in the following example achieves all three of these effects:

Charlotte new the time had come to tell her boss how she really felt, to let him know that she wouldn't take it a second longer. She slammed open her door and marched down the hall, past the unbelieving faces of the secretaries, and into her boss' office. She looked into his eyes, summoned all her courage, and took a deep breath.

She couldn't speak."

Noah Lukeman, A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation, Norton, 2006 p. 22

Why is the short sentence above so effective? It takes four long sentences to build the Charlotte's emotions in the reader's mind. Then boom, like the air exploding from a pin pricked balloon, only three short words perfectly describe Charlotte's, and the reader's, deflation when Charlotte looks into her boss' eyes. In this case, less is more.

The same effect is captured in the shortest verses in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. "Jesus wept," (John 11:35) and "And my father dwelt in a tent" (1 Nephi 2:15). The words "Jesus wept" evoke deep emotion in the reader's heart that couldn't be reached with more words. The description of Lehi dwelling in a tent captures all the faith and humility of this wealthy man and the sacrifice he was willing to make in order to obey and serve the Lord. Again, less is more.

We have to be careful though, according to Lukeman, not to overuse the period -- meaning creating to many short sentences. Otherwise we can introduce amateurish choppiness into our writing.

That's the thoughts for today. What are your thoughts? Let me know what you think!

Insights

It's now been over a month since I last posted. I've got my blog up and working - though it needs a lot more work. Still it's there with some links to books that have been a big help.

I've been away on vacation and family life has caught up to me. Since I last wrote, I've gained some interesting insight. Alma 37:6 states: Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. I've learned a lot over the last month about that scripture and how it applies to me. I've learned that top priorities have to take precedence over everything else. I want to write, and I am, but is taking a lot longer than I thought it would. That can't be helped when you work full time, are married and have four children. Trying to balance everything -- me time, wife time, children time, family time, work time, writing time, reading time, play time -- is a tremendous challenge, especially for someone like myself who has never been really organized. Bottom line, I'm learning that I can't do it all and do it well. I have to start out small and work up from there. I'd like to take the LDS market by storm. I can't. I would love to be able to post every day, and write tons everyday, but I can't do that and still do all the other things I need to. Still, I'm going to try to post as often as I can.

Have any of you been through this? What do you do to balance things. I'd love to hear from you.