Lie One: "Real Writers Never Start a Sentence With 'The' or a Subject!"A Lesson by Mark
This is so unbelievably wrong.
Like, I realize not every sentence should be: "The dog ran. The dog was fast. The tree was brown."
But a paragraph should also most definitely NOT be: "With gale-force winds undulating through the canine's mud-brown fur, he galloped through brush. Wacking him with every footfall, the cold floor of the forest was unforgiving, ruthless, and daunting to the poor caninal unit. Surely reaching his end, the canine panted, certain death was on his doorstep. As he approached the tree as mud-brown as his fur, our canine friend couldn't help but think: 'The end is nigh.'"
If you do that, stop it. Just stop.
The key is to combine those two lessons. You need not always start with 'the' or the subject of the sentence, but please do not start every sentence with a dependent clause. It makes readers consider joining a cult.
You need to use an even mix of 'the,' subjects, and independent and dependent clauses to begin sentences. Also, don't start every sentence with an adjective or adverb. Certainly, it makes me cry. Seriously, not good. Annoying are the sentences that start like this.
Make sure you get to the point of your sentences. If you find more than three unnecessary adjectives in a paragraph, it's probably useless to the plot and/or character development.
Tl;dr: Vary your sentence beginnings. Your teacher was at least right about that part.
Added on December 26, 2011
Last Updated on December 26, 2011
AboutI'm a young writer. Ember is my fifth or sixth book and the second one I actually plan on completing. I write YA humor, realistic fiction, dystopia, romance, and occasionally action or sci-fi.