If you are looking to improve your writing, my strongest recommendation is to read Joseph M. William’s book Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. This was the text for my advanced philosophical writing class in undergrad. I’d like to mention one of my favorite grammatical tools mentioned in this book—modifiers. I like to use resumptive, summative, and free modifiers. They help mix up the flow and pack more information into a sentence without becoming awkward. Resumptive modifiers are created when you “repeat a key word close to the end of a clause and then resume the line of thought with a relative clause, elaborating on what went before.” Style at 140. For example:
The recent downturn in the economy has many people troubled, people who rely heavily upon the low cost of fuel for their businesses.
Summative modifiers are created when you “end a segment of a sentence with a comma, then sum up in a noun or noun phrase what you have just said, and then continue with a relative clause.” Id. at 141.
This last week, one of Obama’s campaign volunteers offended a muslim supporter by not allowing her to wear a hijab where it would be seen on television, a mistake that will likely cost him a few voters.
Free modifiers are those that “follow the verb but comment on its subject. It usually makes more specific what you assert in a preceding clause.” Id. at 142.
The answer to the question “what is the meaning of life?” is one that I have spent years contemplating over, reading many books and taking long walks at dusk.
I probably use free modifiers the most. In fact, I used them quite a bit for the law review write-on competition. In that context, it worked well because a case note requires alot of summary. I found myself using these modifiers to give context to the facts described without having to begin a new sentence.