Emphasis

Simplicity to complexity

Placing your subject/character and verb/action at the beginning of the sentence makes it easier for the reader to understand complex information at the end of the sentence. If the reader gets through the character and action in a few words, they have enough momentum to carry them through the remainder of the sentence.

Readers want you to organize your sentences so they can manage two types of difficulty:

• long and complex phrases and clauses
• new information, such as technical terms

Start your sentences with relatively short sentences:

• (Optional) short introductory phrase or clause
• Short, concrete subject
• Verb expressing a specific action

This sets your reader up to handle the remainder of the sentence, which may stretch for several lines.

Emphasis and stress

The end of the sentence is not only unfamiiar and more complex, but it receives the most stress. Readers naturally stress the end of the sentence, so make sure you end the sentence with significant words that you want to sound loud to their mind’s ear. Otherwise, a sentence that ends with the wrong words is weak.

How to revise stress

To test your sentence for stress, tap your fingers on the table as you read the last three or four words. If the words do not deserve strong emphasis, revise.

Trim the end

The sentence might end with words that repeat a previous word or just aren’t necessary:

• Teachers claim that students do not possess good social skills with other students.
• Teachers claim that students do not possess good social skills.

Shift peripheral ideas left

If a sentence ends with a weak phrase or metadiscourse, move it left:

• Hide your phone, if necessary.
• If necessary, hide your phone.

Shift new information right

New information should always come at the end of the sentence:

• Musicians improvise melodies with chord scales. Harmonic minor is a difficult scale to understand.
• Musicians improvise melodies with chord scales. A scale that is difficult to understand is the harmonic minor.

Devices to emphasize the right words

These devices help you manipulate the stress in a sentence.

There shift

There are mixed opinions about this device, but many writers begin a paragraph with “There are/is” to introduce new topics and concepts. You can also use it to shift new information to the right:

• Groups like gamblers anonymous help you stop gambling.
• There are groups like gamblers anonymous help you stop gambling.

Passives

A passive verb lets you flip a subject and object so you can put new information later in the sentence:

• Gamblers behave according to the context. The pot influences their demeanor.
• Gamblers behave according to the context. Their demeanor is influenced by the pot.

What shift

Similar to the There shift, this device shifts information to the right and adds emphasis:

• We need a new refrigerator.
• What we need is a new refrigerator.

It shift

When a sentence begins with a long noun clause, move the clause to the end of the sentence and start it with It:

• A rookie pitcher throwing a no-hitter was unbelievable.
• It was unbelievable that a rookie pitcher threw a no-hitter.

Not only X, but Y as well

The word “but” can emphasize the last element of a pair:

• You must create safe passwords and store them in a secure location.
• You must not only create safe passwords but also store them in a secure location.

Pronoun substitution

Replace a word or words with a pronoun so you don’t repeat a word at the end of a sentence. When you repeat a word at the end, the end of the sentence loses its power.

Topics, stress, themes, and coherence

After you find your topics, signal the passage’s key concepts in the stress position of its opening sentence. This makes the passage more coherent.