Rationale for dividing sentences into six sentence types.

There are a number of reasons for taking the English language, with its vast richness of sentence structure, and reducing it to a mere six sentence types.
This method of writing sentences is not meant to compete with any other models for writing sentences; it is a compliment to the others. It is, in effect a “niche model”, for use in certain circumstances. As is known to all, there are many “competing models” in use in the schools of
the English speaking education world, and many systems claim to be “the best and the only” way to teach something. This model is designed for those students, mostly EFL students in P.R. China and other similar countries, who have some background in English, but who might benefit from a super-simple framework for generating sentences.

There are three “levels” of written expression: (a) at the sentence level, (b) at the paragraph level, and (c) at the article level. Each level is a pre-requisite for the next level. That is, being
able to write an effective sentence comes before writing a good paragraph, and writing an effective paragraph comes before writing a good expository / narrative article. Therefore,
writing effective sentences is a very important skill. If you can write good sentences and paragraphs, then most of your basic writing needs will be solved.

There are many types of sentences in the textbooks and in literature, and they can be classified according to various criterion; these six sentence types were chosen for the sake of simplicity. They are a “starting place”, from which one can move on to other ways of writing sentences.
Although they are an artificial way to build sentences (after all, almost nobody uses them regularly in real life), learning to write this way does provide the writer with a good
framework for personal creativity and writing style. In a sense, these sentences are a bit like Fabergé eggs (the jeweled Easter eggs made for the Romanov court by Fabergé in the late 19th Century), in that they are ornate and sometimes complex. However, like the writings of calligraphy masters, they provide a foundation and a framework for future writing development (in structure), while allowing freedom of personal creativity. Therefore, this model may not be suitable for students who have trouble with being very creative: this issue must be examined.

The best way to improve one’s writing is to read a lot. If you read a lot, you will (indirectly) absorb and internalize the writing structure of various writers. Remember, if you want to read
widely, please read easy and interesting books–not just one or two difficult and boring books; the aim is to broaden your knowledge, and not just deepen it. Books such as the “Shu Chong”
(“Book Worm”) books, as well as many books for children, are very useful. Do not be ashamed to read children’s books, even if you are an adult; besides, nobody need know about it.

There are many writing styles in literature. In this book, I will often refer to the “neo-classical” style of writing, especially from mid-18th Century English literature. The novel “The Vicar Of Wakefield”, by Oliver Goldsmith, is the ultimate model for you to study. It can sometimes be found in the Wang Fu Jing Bookstore, as well as the Foreign Language Bookstore, both on Wang Fu Jing Street, in Beijing. In this novel, Oliver Goldsmith writes
some of the best sentences in the English language (there are others, of course). Various other writers will give you various aspects of what is useful in writing; you choose which authors are best for you.

Everyone is prejudiced, in terms of “favorite literature”, and so am I. In terms of good sentence examples, I like the following books: (a) “Heart Of Darkness”, by Joseph Conrad, (b) “The Old Man And The Sea”, by Ernest Hemingway, (c) “Typee”, by Herman Melville, (d) “Moby Dick”, by Herman Melville, (e) “The Vicar Of Wakefield”, by Oliver Goldsmith. There are others. I hope that you can find those writers which you like. The aim is to develop your
own style of writing, to foster and enable your own creativity, and to express yourself in your new language (i.e., English), and with your heart.

When using these six sentence types, there are, broadly speaking, two main groups of sentences, which I will call “noodles” and “walnuts” (mian tiao, and he tao). The first type, “noodles”, are long and extended. Like real noodles, they can be improved, step by step, longer
and longer. If you see a restaurant worker making “pulled noodles” (la mian), you can see how the flour dough is made longer and longer. The second type, “walnuts”, are relatively shorter, and they are balanced. The aim with these sentences is to be compressed, not long and strung-
out. Types One, Two, and Three are like the noodles, Type Four is like the walnut, and Types Five and Six are a bit of each.

Concerning “sentence plans”... even something as small as a sentence needs a plan! You may think this very strange, but a plan gives the sentence a structure, out of which raw
creativity can operate. (Structure and creativity are a kind of “literary symbiosis”, like that of the fungus and algae that co-operate to form lichen.) You should make a sentence plan before actually writing the sentence! Why? This will allow you to travel in the direction you want to go, and will help keep you away from some common writing mistakes, such as thinking in your
native language, and thus tainting the English writing process. Remember: “Failing to plan, is planning to fail.”

When you are writing your sentences, use different colored pens as you move from stage to stage in your drafting, so as to record your progress and change of thought. It is very useful to see how your editing process is evolving. There are many places where you can write
sentences: (a) the blackboard, (b) on sheets of paper, (c) on slips of scrap paper, and (d) on the computer. I think the blackboard is best, as it gives you a panoramic view of everything you are writing, what you write is easily altered, and it allows you to get “close” (in heart) to the text.

Here are some more ideas. You should have only one central idea for each sentence! If you want to say two things, then have two (or more) sentences. This one idea makes writing much easier.

It is better to “kill” a sentence that is not working, rather than try to repair a “hopeless cause”. Some sentences, especially those which were badly conceived, get worse and worse. Just delete it, and start again.

It is better for your sentences to be “lean” and “under-fed”, than “over-stocked” and “bloated”. For this skill, go and study Hemingway.

You must have the original thought or conception in English, not in Chinese! You may think this strange, or even offensive, but please consider the following information. Much of the “English writing” that takes place in China today is actually a translation of original thought processes that happened in Chinese. Therefore, it is not completely English writing, but Chinese-to-English translation, which is something different. It is very, very important that you
not create your sentence, by translating out of the original Chinese thought. If you originate in Chinese, then translate into English, you will get “Chinese English”, which is English that follows the essence of Chinese: this happens at the grammatical level, as well as at other levels
of the language process. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this, if you want to write in this way; however, if you want a form of written expression that is unaffected by “Chinese English”, then you need to exclude “Chinese-language-thinking” from your entire language process. Remember, the influence of “Chinese English” affects each and every level of the
language process, not just the grammatical level. Again, please remember that writing and translating are two different language functions (with different purposes).

As a means of illustrating this concept, please imagine two tall, stone towers; they are placed on either side of a valley. Many people who try to write in English think first in Chinese, mentally translate it into English, write it or speak it, and end up with “Chinese English”. (Or, in reverse, if I try it, I end up with “lao wai han yu”). This is like a person who is in an apartment on the tenth floor of one tower, and who wants to get from this apartment to the tenth floor apartment in the other tower. If he is a bird, he can fly directly from the one apartment to the other. However, we cannot do this; we must walk down the stairs, walk across the valley, climb the stairs in the other tower, and reach the other apartment. The first tower is called “Chinese”, and the second tower is called “English”. The tenth floor of the first tower represents the Chinese-language ability of you, a typical Chinese college student. (The twentieth floor is for Lu Xun.) In the “English tower”, the twentieth floor is for Shakespeare. When many Chinese college students write, they assume that they can “fly” from the Chinese tenth floor, over to the English tenth floor. Usually, this is just not possible. Rather, you should leave the Chinese tower, walk across the valley floor, and enter the English tower at the first floor... which is, of course, at the “baby language” level–from there, you work your way up, step by step, just like all the native-English babies did. This is how it should be in your writing process. Of course, this may sound offensive, but I believe that this will help you to write in a way unaffected (to a degree) by the influences of your mother-language.

To use another analogy, many college students are trying to take “la mian”, and turn it into “Yi da li mian”. If you want to make Italian noodles, you need to start with flour (“main fen”), not someone else’s noodles!
In short, you need to start from “zero” (i.e., SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT), and build up from there. Start with the “baby language” first, then move up from there.

Also, you should build the sentence according to some structure, and not according to chance or happen-stance. You may be averse to structure, but do not worry. Only the basic
structure is fixed; all the rest, like the ideas you have, is up to your inner creativity! In other words, the structure you will follow when writing these sentences (and paragraphs) will allow you the freedom to write in your own way: it is a form of “freedom within limits”.

This is the end of the “Rationale” section. There may be more ideas, but they will not be discussed. The main idea is this: If you write sentences according to these six sentence types, you will have a basic framework for your inner creativity to work within.