Sentence Variety

As far as I can tell, the notion that you need "sentence variety" is vague and perhaps more closely related to magic than it is to notions of "style." How do we measure "sentence variety"? What exactly constitutes "sentence variety"? Can you change three sentences out of ten and be various? How do we know how much variety is good? If every sentence we write is different from every other sentence, how do we develop rhythm?

Don't worry about sentence variety. The minute you start worrying about the length and the shape of your sentences, you stop worrying about what you're saying and that's a mistake. Concentrate on what you're saying and the sentences will come. Work on your lists; work on your commas and semicolons; work on your easy, simple sentences; work on your parallel constructions, your and good things will happen.

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