Friday, August 27, 2010

A Reader's Guide to Author's Jargon 12

Fragmenting

An incomplete sentence (sure to get you a D in Miss Bartlestein's English class), is an encouraged technique in the creative writing world, although it sometimes drives grammarians to drink (hemlock, I hope). This is removing the verb from the sentence, thus making it an incomplete sentence. It is most effective with single words and needs to be used judiciously. It is particularly helpful in turning passive measures into active measures by eliminating stative verbs, such as is and was. Creative minds treat fragments as an opportunity to use words poetically - that is, for the sound and image quality, thus getting quite a bang for their money. Fragments can also be used as an intensifier for hastening the pace. Speed it up. <---- fragment. (the larch). <----- another fragment.

Edward C. Patterson

No comments: