Sensational Sentences, Part Six
Photo by Fendy Pradana (unsplash)
At a recent meeting of my monthly writer’s group, one of the newer members showed us how she crafts her pieces-under-construction on the page. Every page contains a series of single sentences, each on its own line. Every sentence has it's moment under the lights. And as a storyteller, her visual memory of individual lines helps her remember it.
It reminded me how every sentence matters, no matter the length. They move the story, thought, or moment forward, or hold us still within it. Words and sentences are the tools of our work.
Put together in just the right way, they can illustrate a scene, a detail, an emotion or thought, words of wisdom, solemnity, irony or hilarity. They come in quotes, bumper stickers, captions or punchline.
But more often than not, we rush and hurry through them to get to, what? The next sentence? The end of the story? Our phone?
Last July, I began writing prose poetry, a form I hadn’t touched since elementary school. Searching for the right words and rhythm slows the writing process, pushing me to concentrate on the selection of the words and sentence structure and pacing. It has been a compelling creative experience that I encourage you to try. I think of words as the bricks. Sentences are the floor boards and high beams. You can find some of my prose poems here.
I’ve been collecting sentences for a while now, from scripted lines of TV shows to historical figures.
Here are a few I’ve recently gathered:
You see an old basement of chatty old women playing mah jong. I see a complex network of relationships, favors and debts.—Michelle Yeoh in “The Brothers Sun”
Just because you had a failure doesn’t mean you are a failure. - unknown
Don’t mistake my kindness for weakness. – Al Capone
For people who are blind, the individuality of things announced itself long before the unity. – Frank Bruni, The Beauty of Dusk
Hungry for more sensational sentences? Check out Parts 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5:
Coming Up:
“Dispatches to the Divine: Soliloquys to Spirit” A single session online workshop. Ritualwell. 11 am CT. September 18.
“The Jewish Spirit of Hope,” single session online. Ritualwell. October 23. Details to come.
“The Dig: Memoir as Personal Archeology,” CG Jung Center, single session (online). November 2, 2024. 10 am to noon.