/lit/ - Literature

>>21566070
George Saunders has this technique that he uses so often it would qualify as a gimmick if he didn't always use it so charmingly: he'll have a long paragraph that sets up some kind of problematic situation then follow it with two paragraphs of one sentence each, which provide a solution/uplift then a twist/downbeat. Like: long paragraph about how a guy is struggling at work / 'But what did work matter, when he had the kids' / 'Not that he was allowed to see the kids' (my poor example).

I've found that my own writing has naturally settled on a style of short paragraphs all of a similar length. I think I'm good at the keeping the connections smooth, or at least making them interesting jumps, but I worry that the regular lengths mean I've trained myself to internalise an artificial constraint.

I think it comes from the insecurity that the reader will give up if they're forced to slog through a long paragraph. A tight four- or five-line paragraph feels invitingly bitesized, and the break gives the reader a chance to take a breath and get hooked back in with the opener of the next. It's like getting a baby, a little softbrained infant, to walk a metre at a time. And, to be honest, I enjoy the challenge of coming up with a new compelling hook every few lines.

By the way, yours is the kind of detailed craft-focused post I wish this thread had more of.