Day 251: 10 Strategies for writing a sloppy sentence

You may think that writing a sloppy, weak, confusing sentence is difficult, but it is not. To do so, use these strategies. If you can use them all in one sentence, you will have a very sloppy sentence.

VERBS:

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  1. Use the verb to be, especially as the main verb of the sentence.
    These include is, are, was, were, and am.
  2. Use the passive voice.
    For example: “The rules were developed without considering enforcement strategies.”
  3. Use many -ing verb phrases
    For example: “When he was taking a shower, she was chasing the cat.”

NOUNS:

 
  1. Take your most interesting and active verbs and change them into nouns (i.e., nominalizations).
    For example: “The elucidation of the subject by the author was diminished by his distraction.”

DESCRIPTIONS:

 
  1. String together prepositional phrases.
    For example: “In the morning of the first day of the year, the new product rolled off the assembly line in the factory on the outskirts of town.”
  2. Use descriptive terms that provide obvious or implied information.
    For example: “Before noon on the morning of his birthday, he quickly chased his cat around the house.”

SENTENCE STRUCTURE:

 
  1. Use there and it as the subject, not the rhetorical subject.
    For example: “It was unclear to us whether we needed to upgrade our customer database.”
  2. Separate the subject and main verb with many descriptive phrases.
    For example: “The processing power of the new dual processors now being installed in current models available to customers who are willing to spend the extra money is useful.”
  3. Interrupt yourself.
    For example: “Checking accounts, such as those offered by credit unions, as opposed to those offered by regular banks, meaning commercial banks, offer, or rather, provide, benefits.
  4. Use nested subject-verb combinations.
    For example: “The president, addressing a group of businessmen at the conference the foundation set up eating lunch, dropped his notes.”

ONE MORE:

Here’s one last strategy for writing a sloppy sentence. This strategy is not about what you do while writing, but what you don’t do after writing.

 
  1. Publish your rough draft. Don’t edit.