Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them

The craft of putting together a well-made sentence often goes ignored in favor of the more commercially viable aspects of writing, such as coming up with a pacy plot. However, Prose argues that the ability to construct a fine sentence is crucial for a writer. Reading across genres, Prose suggests, is a great way to discover and study powerful sentences. Writers of lyrical fiction can learn from journalists, who are tasked with delivering the most information in the least number of words. Journalists can learn from memoirists. Prose compares quotes from 20th-century British writer Rebecca West’s travel memoir Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (1941) and novel The Birds Fall Down (1966) to show how West’s memoirist’s ear for sentences informs and even slightly supersedes the writing in West’s novel.

Prose asks readers to consider what constitutes a beautiful sentence. The answer is evasive because taste is subjective. Perhaps a good sentence is one that makes the reader notice its beauty. While finding a single definition for a beautiful sentence is difficult, the very fact that a reader is paying attention to sentence construction means they are on their way to becoming a writer.