FINAL COMMENTS ABOUT SENTENCE WRITING.

 
     I hope you will enjoy the process of writing various sentences, from start to finish.  Writing good sentences is the most fundamental, and perhaps the most important, part of writing.  Writing good sentences is the act of creating logical language; writing good paragraphs is more about structure and logical order.  If you can write good sentences, and arrange them into a paragraph in a logical way, then most of what you need in writing has been achieved. 
 
     Should you have a friend, a critic, an editor of your sentences?  It might be better not to.  Perhaps, if you are alone, you will have the freedom to develop your own style.  Remember, the writing style should be yours; only these sentence structures come from outside, for you to follow.  In time, these structures will be modified to suit your development as a writer, but they will never fully disappear. 
 
     Each sentence type has its own unique character (like six children), and they can be used according to different writing needs.  The world of writing is like a big kitchen, and the six sentence types are like different kitchen knives–for many different vegetables. 
 
     When you are writing, if possible use one of the blackboards in your school, for the best results in sentence-writing.  When you are doing this, do not let other people put you down!  The end result of a better sentence is more important than being worried about what other people think you are doing.  If your “face” (mian zi) is very sensitive, then go to a quiet room where there are no other people.  Do not let other people put you down!  I really believe that using the blackboard and various colored chalks is the best way to develop your sentence-writing skills.  It is better than paper, or the computer.   If you have no blackboard, then of course use scrap paper, or a computer.  Do not be afraid to “make mistakes”.  A “messy” piece of paper is the sign of thinking, and of the “writing process” taking place.  Please remember, “Writing is a process”.  You need paper, or the blackboard, to experience the “progressive creating” aspect of writing. 
 
     When an idea comes into your head, write it down at once!  Otherwise, you will lose it.  Try to write in English, but if there is some special word that you do not know how to say in English, then write it down in Chinese, for you can look it up in the dictionary later.  Above all, do not look up a strange word in Chinese as you are in the process of creating!  To do that will “kill” the creative process.  Therefore, your brainstorming paper might look like this (the topic is “goldfish”): 
 
       Color–gold, red, bai si de–like to eat mian bao, special food–easy to die–children, mao–lovely. 
Later, you can write in “white”, “bread”, and “cat”. 
 
     When you are brainstorming, in order to write down “sudden ideas”, write down the key words and capture the essential structure.  You can fill in the “language gaps” later. 
 
     Again, you must avoid the English-to-Chinese dictionary!  You must think logically in English, and any words which you do not know, you can write in Chinese, to look up later. 
 
     Above all, study the sentences of those writers who you like.  I have my own preferences: you choose those writers you like, and want to become your literary models.  You need to go out into the book world, and find out what you like.  I like many–Hemingway, Hardy, Melville, Conrad, Goldsmith, Cather, Thucydides, and others.  You should discover, enjoy and learn from the writers you like. 
 
     Remember, these sentence structures only serve to help you to express what is in your heart, and which needs to go on paper.  Ultimately, writing is about what you want to say, in your way, with your words, through your eyes.  The final aim is this: to be able to express yourself in your way, using the help of these sentence types.  If you want to “out-grow” then, then fine!  Good writing is the art of taking what you see in the world around you, and compressing it into intricate dew-drops, which fully express what you first saw.  (In this respect, please refer to the “Dew-drop” poetry of Andrew Marvell.) 
 
     If you write sentences well, then you can do this.  I hope you will enjoy your writing!