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I have some tips for U. I will separate my advice into the categories: sentence structure, dialogue, emotions

SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Ok so for sentence structure. Personally, focusing in on sentence structure to change not what I’ve said, but how I’ve said it, is something I do during editing. When I’m actually writing my first draft, my primary concern is getting words on paper. They don’t have to be good words, they just have to communicate the correct information. Once that’s done, I can go back in and edit for things like repetitive sentence structure and other such things. This does not have to be your process, but it is what works for me

If you’re concerned that your sentence structure is repetitive, I’d keep track of what exactly feels repetitive and when you’re using it. Are you using the same structure every time you describe the environment? Or when you describe physical actions? Are all of the characters moving in the same way all the time? Is it just the same individual words over and over? What is being repeated, when, and what are you trying to communicate to the audience when you resort to the same sentence structure over and over again?

Once you figure out where this is happening and what you’re trying to say, you may have an easier time varying your structures.

Some things I pay attention to are the words I use to start sentences; the lengths of my sentences; and the punctuation I use.

I try not to start multiple consecutive paragraphs with the same word, for example. Sometimes it’s fine, but I want to do everything in my power to keep a reader engaged. If I’m repetitive without an intention behind the repetition, the reader might think oh wow she started the last three paragraphs with “however.” Now they’re thinking about my word choice instead of my story, which I don’t want.

Similarly, I try to vary sentence lengths as well. Even though your writing is prose, it should have a rhythm to it. If every sentence is the same length, the reader might get bored. If you just wrote a few longer sentences, try throwing a short one in there to shake things up. If your sentences are usually an average length, try writing a sentence that’s so long, it’s a paragraph (I do this specifically to convey anxiety all the time).

And with punctuation. If you’ve used an em dash in your paragraph already, try a comma. Or parenthesis. Maybe break your sentence into fragments. See what happens. Could be cool. The more variety you offer your reader, the more it keeps their brain engaged

If you struggle to determine where your writing does and does not have rhythm, read it out loud. You’ll be able to both feel and hear when a sentence is clunky, or when a paragraph is repetitive.

That said!!!! Repetition can be a very useful tool that conveys a lot of meaning and emphasizes important information. Don’t be afraid to be repetitive. I’m repetitive as hell in my fics

DIALOGUE

For dialogue, I’m going to quickly define “punchy” to make sure we’re on the same page as to what that means. For me, I consider punchy dialogue to be fast paced and impactful. That impact could be humorous and witty, or it could be emotional (like a gut punch). So that’s the type of dialogue I’m going to give advice on

I don’t know what your process is like, but for me, I’m a huge planner and outliner. My outlines contain every single line of dialogue that will occur in my fics. When I have a scene in mind, the first thing I do is figure out the dialogue between the characters. I do this because my stories are mostly character driven, so what they say to one another is the primary thing that’s going to move the plot forward. It’s the most important (and usually most entertaining) thing on the page

My outlines are bullet pointed, so all of my dialogue is structured in bullet pointed lists without anythingggg else attached to them. No quotation marks, no dialogue tags, no actions. Just what is said by character A on one line, character B on another line, alternating back and forth.

Outlining like this allows me to see the conversation the way it would be if it was happening in person (aka, nothing taking away from what’s being said). When it’s just the words, you can get a better idea of if what’s being said is communicating the correct information and tone. This + reading it out loud also helps you determine if your dialogue sounds like something a real person would say, like it has rhythm, etc. Read it out loud and hear what it actually sounds like

In the actual writing process, I will add in additional prose wherever needed to control the pace and rhythm of the conversation. When it needs to be fast, minimal action and dialogue tags. When it needs to slow down, more action and dialogue tags

When something needs to be punchy specifically, we are using mostly just short pieces of dialogue and nothing else. That keeps it quick.

If you are specifically trying to be funny in your punchy dialogue, I recommend finding people who you think are funny and mimicking their speech patterns. For me, I am frequently mimicking the McElroy brothers, miles bonsignore, Brennan Lee mulligan, ally beardsley, Caleb hearon, Becca Moore, and my irl bff

EMOTIONS

There are a lot of ways to make your story emotionally impactful. What I specifically do when I want to make something land emotionally is I pull from personal experience. I haven’t experienced all of the things the characters in my story have, but I’ve felt the resulting emotions.

For example. I am frequently. Frequently killing parental figures. Both of my parents are alive and we have good relationships. But! I know what it feels like to lose a loved one anyway (through death, through breakups, through drifting apart—loss is loss). I know what it feels like to fear losing someone, to lose part of yourself when they’re gone, to struggle to find yourself again but to do it anyway. So I can take those feelings and put them into my characters because even though our situations are different, our feelings aren’t

So maybe you haven’t experienced (let’s say) a devastating breakup and you need to write one. You know what it feels like to care for someone. You know what it feels like to be scared, lonely, to resist change, etc. That’s what a breakup is. So you can write that breakup with emotional honesty if you just break it down into emotions you personally understand

Also, if you’re struggling to write something that’s emotionally impactful, consider whether or not the story has earned the emotional impact yet. Do we care about the characters? Are we invested in their wellbeing and relationships? Do they have something to lose or to gain? Have we foreshadowed the emotional moment? Have we built up to it? If the answer is no to these questions, the audience probably won’t care that your characters are going through something hard. Tell the audience what your characters want, and then make them struggle to achieve it. Tell the audience what your characters are afraid of, and then make them face those fears

And some technical advice. If you feel like your scenes aren’t hitting, look at how you’re describing things. Try describing the scene or the character without specifically calling out their emotions. Instead of saying Character A is depressed, say Character A crosses the street and doesn’t notice when a car has to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting him. Character A eats half of an apple before realizing that it’s molded, then continues eating it anyway. Character A is scared of heights but now he can lean over a railing five stories up and he doesn’t feel a thing.

If you need/want to call out their emotions, consider where those emotions exist. When you’re scared, where do you feel it? Does your stomach detach itself and float around? Does your chest feel hollow? Do your finger tips go numb?

Please feel free to DM me! My DMs have been sorta kinda weird lately so if I don’t respond please lmk that you have messaged me lol idk we’ll have to cross that bridge if we get to it

Thank you for this question!!! I appreciate you 🫶