Whenever I think of the word structure, I think of building and businesses. Never thought that this would apply in this specific way in writing.
Parallel structure in writing is not referring to how your paper is organised and structured, but rather the use of words within your paper.
When describing or listing things, they have to be similar (parallel). Imaging how bad it would be if you mix rocks into a salad, I would not eat it, similarly your reader will not want to put that into his/her mind or even read it.
Something else that can lead to this is having a noun or a very awkwardly placed in the sentence.
Example:I need to go to the house, drop off the children and the hiking trip needs to be planned.
- I need to go to the house.
- I need to drop off the children
- I need to the hiking trip needs to be planned
See how he base of the sentence "I need to" does not fit in with the last section. To fix this it is best to always list things, this will help you get back on track and make things parallel again.
I need to go to the house
I need to drop off the children
I need to plan the hiking trip
Parallel: I need to go to the house, drop off the children and plan the hiking trip.
Remember that you can fix this anyway you want (any form) as long as the form stays the same throughout the writing. Do not confuse the reader by not being consistent in your form of writing.
Resumes
Items in separate lists should also be parallel. This problem often occurs in résumés, and reflects poorly on the applicant.
Not parallel: Leadership Experience
• Volunteered as a reading tutor at Sunnyside Elementary
• Served as student body president
• I have worked as a mentor at a school for troubled youth
Parallel: Leadership Experience
• Volunteered as a reading tutor at Sunnyside Elementary
• Served as student body vice president
• Worked as a mentor at a school for troubled youth
Source: Link(Download)
There are some lovely exercises on this work at this Link I am not sure if you will be able to access it, but let me know if you can't and I will try upload the PDF in the comments for you.
Just on a little side note for self improvement. I will be doing pushups, situps and squats for the amount of $$$ (ratio;$2:1) I earn on this post and will give a short feedback every day at the end of each post. This will be split in equally between all 3. Any not done will carry onto the next day.
Hahaha, I have been taking that advice for years. It's so damn funny to wake up and find a diatribe on my computer from the night of drinking before. So many rants. So little time.
The post is very necessary. I try to choose different words. Very many synonyms in the language. And the text often changes the meaning when you don't care about the purity of the language. Recommendations wise. Thanks, I will try. To improve my English.
Lovely gif thank you.
Write drunk, edit sober, I'll definitely apply that one! :') thanks for the tips @dragonslayer109!
Surely it works better the other way around. This is the entertainment business!
Hmmm, maybe LOL. But writing drunk = improves creativity, sober editing = makes it understandable in a way :'). But maybe it's difficult to understand your own story once you're sobered up.
How about we just do both drunk.
Hahaha I don't think that would work.
I tried writing drunk once. Couldn't understand shit when I saw it the other day lol.
Well I don't drink so that will not be happening.
Maybe write on coffee and edit on even more coffee? ;)
good advice :)
what is people don't drink, what should those writers do in the mean time @dragonslayer109 , eat ice cream in the summer and drink coffee in the winter...
lol :)
Nice one...keep it up mate...
very good and useful
It is realy a good post. It helps many people .
Thanks so much for this very useful post. I am always looking for different ways to improve my writing skills. I will definitely make sure that when I write items in a list they will follow a parallel structure.
Glad you liked my tips and will be using them :)
Seems like you have to do a lot of situps ad squats. :D
very helpful post, thanks! For me it's hard to write a good article because English is not my first language and I didn't write in it since school (~15 years ago). So I need every help I can get ^^
The most important lesson I learned from your post is that I need to get drunk now. ;-)
Keep up the good work!
Followed and upvoted. Love your writing tips:)
Hey @dragonslayer109 :) I am also a writer and I have a personal blog. Take a look :) Resteem if you like it!
https://steemit.com/blog/@kellyjaneturner/blog-inspiration-kelly-jane-journeys-intertwining-photography-videography-audio-and-writing
I will have a look at it :) I am not a writer though.
Haha I love writing after a few drinks, but combine that with a j and I start hitting at least two, if not three keys with each finger :)
I am sure that writing looks amazing :)
great work
,https://steemit.com/boxing/@abbeymelchizedek/conor-mcgregor-vs-floyd-mayweather-who-do-you-think-will-carry-the-night
please kindly upvote
yeah believe in yourself <3 ty
I write lists to make it easier to read, comprehend and plan hiking trips. ;)
Always great tips and easy to understand posts.
Write drunk and don't edit at all. Probably what some would accuse me of being guilty of!
Hahaha well I do not drink so that will be something I will enjoy watching others do.
I rarely drink. Just trying to second guess what some of my readers think with my ramblings, lol.
But yes, I think editing is key, especially sober.
Hahaha oh okay. Mmm wonder what my readers might think at times.
The link to the pdf worked great! For some of us writing and grammar does not come naturally, I should know as I am dyslexic. It took me many many years to learn how to spell and at least write somthing half decent. I appreciate the info thanks for sharing. Cheerz
I am really happy that it works. I was really worried that it would not. That is a great experience thank you for sharing and all the best of luck to you.
Very amazing and helpful...thanks for sharing....Theres always that one person out there who will possibly find something so precious in what you keep posting which you are personally not aware of...continue to share great ideas...More and more africans are in the cue to steem..We are bringing them in...Gospel according to steemit is on..lets help make STEEMIT a better place..thanks
To the moon with steemit :)
This is so true. At times I believe I lose my sense of grammar after reading things that are so badly written. Especially on a wide network like Facebook or Twitter( I'm not listing steemit because it's still new so, let's give it an opportunity hehe) But I guess that's reality. You can't run away from it. However, I like what you did here. Educating the masses would do good for the whole community as a whole. Nice work! Cheers!
#follow4follow
I think those networks have lost actual English writing and are now moving to Text or message writing and that is where the problem comes in.
Thank god for steemit, perhaps?
thanks for your insights!
Your writting tips are very useful. As i m
somebody who is trying to improve my writing and communication skill i found your post very helpful. There is nothing irrelevant so i it s worth the time that i took to read your post. Keep supporting with more such useful tips. Thankyou.
I will keep them coming :)
No hope for me, I don't drink!
Idea of writting is not easy for me. Thanks for your tips. I'll follow your blog maybe i can get more knowladge from you.
very positive (: cool post! thanks for sharing
Thanks so much for the tips, for those like me with engineering/scientist background writing is still sort of magic! FOllowed and upvoted!
The same also applies to using the same tense of verbs, and the same person. I really like your top 6 writing tips. #4 thru #6, plus the bonus could apply to life itself!
Thanks for these tips, they will surely help me!
love this feel free to check out my post maybe it can help follow me and upvote please :-) @sebastiaanhol
Tanks for sharing really great content...will apply this on myself...
Great post @dragonslayer109 I love tip number 2! Fantastic, Thanks
good tips
thank you so much @dragonslayer109
Informative post. I bet that you are a professor or a teacher, right? I'll be following you. Kindly do the same with me. Thank you :)
LOL! I love the write drunk; edit sober bit. That might be kinda fun actually.
Good tips for many of us who's new to blogging :) thanks a lot! Would it ever be possible to get feedback on my most recent post? I dont require any upvote or anything, just a quick look and a small feedback :) cheers!
Well I am not a professional writer or editor, but I will take a look :)
That's cool, no need to be professional! I see the way you write that it's good quality and obviously got some good qualifications for a little bit of judging! :)
Thank you for this. I would rather not even write when I am drunk. I might just post by accident! I have been keeping a journal for years. Sometimes I write late at night, after a few glasses of wine, and when I read it the following morning, I am utterly embarrassed.
I upvoted earlier and came back to pick up the download and thank you! I really enjoy your posts. Be sure and update us on the situps.
This was actually very helpful! Following. Thanks!
What!?! Rock salad is my favorite dish! haha Thanks for all the writing tips :) #2, going to have to try that :P
Try to remember this.. i am drunk now ;-)
Thank you for the lesson, it is useful. Resteem
Notice how valuable posts are so crisp and to the point, just like curt comments 😉
I like Hemingway's take on tip #1: Write the truest sentence you know.
Very helpful, @dragonslayer109. Thanks a lot. Cheers from Barcelona.
Thanks your article is very useful and helpful
I hate writing but this article can help a lot to people who dont know to write. Im inspired. This will surely make me the right thing.