Building Great Sentences

 I recently participated in a workshop where we studied from the Building Great Sentences course by Brooks Landon, professor of English at the University of Iowa.  For one of the lessons, we had to craft a specific type of sentence, and then link them all together into one sentence.

We started off with something simple, like this: Big Al headed back into the bar, a goofy grin on his face, his hands swinging loosely at his side, hands big enough to crush your face, hands so gentle, they would never.

And worked up to something like this: (I don't remember what the specific requirements were for each individual sentence, but there were specific styles that each sentence had to be formatted in)

My original, simple sentence: She held a rock.

1. She held a rock, searching for the perfect target.

2. She held a rock, searching desperately for the perfect target.

3. She held a rock, the first rock she had seen.

4. She held a rock, a heavy, sharp edged one that promised violence.

5. She held a rock, high above her head.

6. She, a grimy little river girl, held a rock.

7. She held a rock, its smooth edges calming her down.

8. She held a rock, silently wishing it would turn to gold.

9. She held a rock, the crows overhead cawing raucously.

10. She held a rock, the very image of a female David, sizing up her Goliath.

and then the goal was to combine as many of those sentences as possible into one:

She, a grimy little river girl, held a rock, the first one she had seen, a heavy, sharp edged one that promised violence, high above her head, searching desperately for her target, the very image of a female David sizing up her Goliath, silently wishing instead that it would turn to gold, wishing for a different rock instead, one with smooth sides to help her calm down, the crows overhead cawing raucously on and on.