“I've been accused of not really paying attention to a sentence unless my name comes up in it twice.” NamesAttentionCome UpSentencesPay AttentionAccused Author:Matthew Perry
“I go through the text making sure I haven't used any big words. If I find any fancy adjectives have crept in, I replace them with small words like 'nice' and 'big'. I've liked these words ever since I was told not to use them in English class at school. After that, I check that the sentences are short so as people won't get confused and I shorten all the chapters so they won't get bored. I can't read anything complicated these days, my attention span is too short. Everyone else probably feels the same.” PeopleIfsFeelsI CanUseBigsSchoolUsedAttentionClassNiceHavensComplicatedSentencesChecksThese DaysBoredConfusedFancyChaptersToo ShortAdjectivesAttention SpanEnglish ClassSmall Words Author:Martin Millar
“You have to seduce the reader, manipulate their mind and heart, listen to the music of language. I sometimes think of prose as music, in terms of its rhythms and dynamics, the way you compress and expand the attention of a reader over a sentence, the way the tempo pushes you towards an image or sensation. We want an intense experience, so that we can forget ourselves when we enter the world of the book. When you are reading, the physical object of the book should disappear from your hands.” ThinkingWorldWayWantShouldWritingMindHeartBookSometimesHandsReadingLanguageTermForgetAttentionObjectsReaderSentencesDisappearIntenseRhythmProseSensationsHeart And MindManipulateTempoDynamicsSeducing Author:Carlos Ruiz Zafon
“The conscious mind is a maelstrom of fleeting thoughts, images, sensations, feelings, conflicting desires, and doubts; barely able to confine its attention to a single clear objective for a microsecond before secondary thoughts begin to adulterate it and provoke yet further trains of mental discourse. If you do not believe this, then attempt to confine your conscious attention to the dot at the end of this sentence without involving yourself in any other form of thinking, including thinking about the dot.” IfsThinkingMindBelieveEndsFeelingsAbleFormDesireAttentionClearDoubtConsciousTrainIncludingSentencesObjectivesSensationsProvokingDiscourseFleetingInvolvingDotsConscious MindMaelstrom Author:Peter J. Carroll
“I am to consider the many advantages arising from a frequent use of oaths, curses, and imprecations. In the first place, this genteel accomplishment is a wonderful help to discourse; as it supplies the want of good sense, learning, and eloquence. The illiterate and stupid, by the help of oaths, become orators; and he, whose wretched intellects would not permit him to utter a coherent sentence, by this easy practice, excites the laughter, and fixes the attention, of a brilliant and joyous circle.” WantFirstsHelpingUseEasyAttentionPracticeWonderfulStupidLaughterAdvantageIntellectSentencesBrilliantCirclesCurseAccomplishmentPermitDiscourseWretchedJoyousOathEloquenceGood SenseSuppliesIlliterateSwearingOrators Author:Mary Collyer
“I grow very impatient with prose writers who don't pay attention to the cadence of the sentence. If you start as a poet, you're wooed by the music of language; you want to put that into your practice.” IfsWantLanguageGrowsPayAttentionPracticePoetSentencesPay AttentionProseImpatientCadence Author:Alison Hawthorne Deming
“The stories I respect most aren't those with the rich, dense prose, but those which achieve a rich, deep effect with simple little nothing-sentences, lines I won't possibly remember, because they simply functioned, didn't draw attention to themselves, were properly humble.” LittlesStoriesRememberLinesSimpleAttentionRichAchieveEffectsDrawsHumbleSentencesProseDense Author:Stephen Graham Jones
“Sometimes if I really want to get someone's attention, I'll start a sentence with something like, "I'm not racist, but..." I say, "I'm not racist, but you look great today." They say, "That wasn't racist at all." I said, "I know. I said I'm not racist. You never listen. Typical Mexican."” IfsKnowsWantLooksSaidSometimesTodayFunnyAttentionComedySentencesRacistTypicalMexican Author:Demetri Martin
“I don't think of any sentence as a "one-liner", but I do pay attention to how people actually speak when they are being funny. Rhythm is key.” PeopleThinkingSpeakPayAttentionKeysSentencesRhythmPay AttentionOne LinerBeing Funny Author:Lorrie Moore
“If you directly try to write about an idea, it will never be what you imagined. But if you're imagining through the building of sentences, through the characters, and paying attention to avoid ease and comfort yet still thinking about making the sentences work, you will get a shot at some real interesting stuff.” IfsThinkingWritingTryingStillsIdeasRealCharacterStuffInterestingAttentionBuildingComfortShotsSentencesPay AttentionEaseInteresting Stuff Author:Dana Spiotta
“Sentences are not different enough to hold the attention unless they are dramatic. No ingenuity of varying structure will do. All that can save them is the speaking tone of voice somehow entangled in the words and fastened to the page for the ear of the imagination. That is all that can save poetry from sing-song, all that can save prose from itself.” DifferentEnoughSongVoiceImaginationAttentionPagesEarsStructureSentencesDramaticToneProseIngenuity Book:The Collected Prose of Robert Frost Source: The Collected Prose of Robert Frost