What Does It Take to Write One Good Sentence?

A cautionary tale

Photo purchased by the author via iStock

A persistent question of the writing process is this: How do you write a single good sentence?

Last week, I was struggling with that exact question while writing a piece about the transition to self-employment. I thought it might be helpful to show you my exact process for editing ONE SINGLE sentence.

Be warned, what you’re about to read is a live peek at a writer’s brain…

It is a dark and scary place.

I write this sentence:

I read it and think “this feels wrong.” Whenever that thought stabs its way into my consciousness, I strip down the individual elements of whatever I’m looking at. My first move is to break this single sentence apart into separate sections.

I’m fine with the lead in (“I could have been”) so I immediately drop down. This sentence demands parallel structure, so I look at the verbs first.

This works. Each word has three syllables and ends with “-ing.” Although their stressed syllables do not match (TUM-te-te, and then te-TUM-te), I’m okay with it.

I stare at the middle section of each phrase.

Ugh.​