: Re: What can I do to make my writing less choppy? Recently and in the past I have been practicing writing as a hobby. I enjoy the creative pleasure it provides, but am hitting major road blocks

@Sue2132873

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Read the classics.
Read poetry. Force yourself. I didn't want to, but it helped a lot.
Diagram your sentences. Not literally, but in your head. Using the same sentence structure over and over gets dull. When you spot this, you can correct it.
Adjust sentence length to pace. In an action scene, use progressively shorter sentences. Also, when making a big point at the end of a passage, a short, pithy sentence packs more emotional weight.
Put cause before effect.
Avoid passive voice. Rephrase so that most actions spell out the actor.
Study the use of scene and sequel to improve flow and show how a character makes and alters plans in response to events, improving the illusion of agency. See writershelpingwriters.net/2015/01/writing-patterns-fiction-scene-sequel/
A scene has the following pattern:

Goal—what the character wants. Must be clearly definable
Conflict—series of obstacles that keep the character from the goal
Disaster—makes the character fail to get the goal

And a sequel has the following pattern:

Reaction—emotional follow through of the disaster.
Dilemma—a situation with no good options
Decision—character makes a choice (which sets up the new goal).

A story is a string of pearls: scene-sequel-scene-sequel-scene... This is the fine structure, smaller than 3-Act or 4-Act or Hero's Journey, the coarse structure.

Conflict, conflict, conflict. When one character asks a question, will the other person tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Or will they leave out details, fudge, forget, misremember, alter, lie, exaggerate, flat out refuse without payment?

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