Every sentence should matter

I recently made the switch back to literary fiction after it took me around 25 years to overcome the bad memories of high school teachers forcing me to read this genre against my will.

Reading these books showed me just how empty corporate language is. Over the years I have developed a pretty high speed-read rate. Non-fiction books, annual reports, PowerPoint bullets can all be digested in very limited time without missing a beat of the content.

So, when I tried to apply this to literary fiction I was forced to back up. Every sentence actually matters. The world would be a much better place if corporate language stuck to this principle.

7 comments

Nathan Schor2011-09-22 00:46:28

Nevertheless, have a look at
Francis Christensen work, especially "Notes Toward a New Rhetoric". It consists of a collection of short papers that will give you a whole new way of viewing how sentences are constructed.

Jan Schultink2011-09-21 10:16:47

I actually read a few Hemmingways recently.

Jan Schultink2011-09-22 04:57:29

Thank you for all your suggestions. Shira, yes I am interested.

Mr. Burke2011-09-21 23:50:54

Of course I had to respond as high school English teacher... I appreciate your post here very much. Different focus, but Seth G. posted a blog a month back or so about the importance of even one word and how much that matters on an application, etc. Have you seen Christopher Johnson's new book Microstyle? Highly recommend it. Working on fourth edition of my book The English Teacher's Companion and found your ideas very clarifying while working on speaking (and presenting!) chapter last summer. jimburke.typepad.com or If questions arise you think an English teacher can help with, send a note.

Jim Burke ([email protected])

Oliver (Rethink Presentations)2011-09-21 08:28:09

Very true - I just thought about this a few days ago as well. Each sentence is meaningful and has a purpose.
In business-speak... you say the same things 3 times with different words.

Nathan Schor2011-09-21 10:10:37

Coincidentally, I recently recognized how much more impact a well-constructed sentence makes. Like you, I regret not having appreciated that decades ago.
As corporation realize that beautiful sentences are also more memorable, hence more persuasive, they too will come around to slowing down as they both read and write.
In this regard you may find Francis Christensen work interesting, especially his "lesson from Hemingway".
Nathan Schor [email protected]

shira2011-09-21 18:44:07

I have a list of books I can recommend if you're interested...