Have you ever heard of Gary Provost?
As it turns out, he was a highly thought of mentor and writing instructor. He died in 1995. Over the years, his name has cropped up relative to some aspect of my writing.
The one I remember like it was yesterday ironically came from another English teacher, a member of my critique group. After reading a few pages of my latest writing, which I thought was rather good, he began his critique. And the first thing he said was, “your sentences do not vary enough in length. The story you’re telling is good, but most of your sentences are about fourteen words long. You need to use some shorter sentences to add variety and interest, otherwise the reader will get bored.” I knew good advice when I heard it and I have patterned my writing accordingly.
That brings me to Gary Provost. I found out today that this sage advice came from one of Gary’s very famous quotes.
“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.”
― Gary Provost
