I Help Good Writers
Become Great
Keep The Best For Last:
Backloading Technique
Here is a nifty technique to give your writing style more impact: Structure your sentences so the most powerful word comes at the end. .
The last word touches the reader's psyche more than any other, so make it count.
Short, evocative nouns, adjectives and verbs are best. Here's a list for your inspiration: death, dead, kiss, lust, treachery, blood, fear, die, kill, deep, cold, heat, dark, boil, pull, grave, grip, grasp, hope, sear, scream, thrill, scar, bone, flesh, skull, wound, pray, pain, soul, child, flee, trap, teeth, curse, escape, safe, love.
These words, on the other hand, have no particular effect: it, then, them, across, through, there, somehow, around, under, of, off, for, that, be, others, his, her.
Often, restructuring the sentence is all it takes, or perhaps adding, deleting or replacing one word.
​
I recommend backloading the last sentence of most paragraphs - but only if it suits the contents. If possible, backload the last sentence of every scene and story, because that's where the impact is greatest.
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EXAMPLES
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Before
She knew she had to kill it.
After
She knew she had to kill.
Before
She had a painful headache.
After
Pain pounded in her skull.
Before
He felt the pain then.
After
Then he felt the pain.
Before
A child was in there.
After
In there was a child.
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