While browsing Reddit, I’ve come across a great tip for writing. “Vary Sentence Lengths”:

This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety.

Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.

So write with a combination of short, medium, and long sentences. Create a sound that pleases the reader’s ear. Don’t just write words. Write music.

It is a terrific tip. More vitally, it comes with a example that makes its point.

The thing is I’ve read this particular tip before. But since I didn’t put it into practice, it didn’t stick at all. I mean to remedy that.

By the way, the tip is a quote from a book called 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing by Gary Provost. Maybe I’ll read that sometime. First I’ll make a habit of writing regularly before I get serious about improving it.

Here’s the other tip. Paul Graham writes:

As for how to write well, here’s the short version: Write a bad version 1 as fast as you can; rewrite it over and over; cut out everything unnecessary.

In my estimation, both tips helped with this post.