variation is essential

In writing, variation is essential. I don’t mean variation of genre. I mean variation of the text the writer creates. The words, the sentences, the paragraphs, the chapters. If a writer does not have variation the writing becomes tedious to read.

If the writer uses a word repeatedly, like more than once in a sentence, more than once in a paragraph, in every paragraph, etc., then the writing gets smaller and more closed off. The exception is certain figures of speech like Anadiplosis, example from Star Wars “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Repetition of words should be a conscious choice, not indicative of lazy writing. There are many online thesauruses that one can use to eliminate this issue. Another thing about words: it is best to use words that are simple and direct. Words that are not commonly used by your readers will attract attention and pull the reader out of the story. This, of course, depends on knowing your readership. If you are writing for academics your vocabulary will differ from writing for six-year-olds. Yet another thing: many of us, maybe most of us, have words or phases that we use continually and somewhat unconsciously. A writer needs to make these rhetorical ticks conscious and eliminate them.

Sentences can be long or short. Short sentences pick up the pace of the narrative, can be more emotionally jarring, and creative of a more vigilant attention in the reader. They are often used in action sequences. Longer sentences slow the pace and can be more thoughtful and lyrical. But restricting the writing to all long or all short sentences becomes monotonous and any impact the length once had becomes diluted. A mix of both works best. After many long sentences, a short one or several short ones have greater impact than continual short sentences. Even sequences of long, thoughtful, slower paced sentences benefit from some short sentences and vice versa.

As with words and sentences, paragraphs and chapters must also vary. A whole chapter of paragraphs all with long sentences can be tiresome to read. But even if a writer can make this work surely many chapters like this will not. If one chapter primarily has long thoughtful paragraphs the next one should be different. Think of the different types of writing in a novel: dialogue, action, description (of person, place, culture, etc.), inner thoughts. These should be interspersed in writing to increase readability.

Look at your favorite writers and check out their work. How do they place the different types of writing in their work? Do they repeatedly use the same words? What is the pacing of their sentences?  How alike are their sentences? How do they create variety?