Elements+-+Power+in+Numbers

Your teachers tell you to add detail and examples to support your writing. Consider the power of numbers when doing so. (from //Writing Tools,// Roy Peter Clark)


 * 1) Use one for power. Adding one element or example creates power. Emphasize your point by keeping the sentence as short as possible. Trust me.
 * 2) Use two for comparison, contrast . Use this especially if you want your reader to weigh two ideas against each other.
 * 3) Use three for completeness, wholeness, roundedness.
 * 4) Use four or more to list, inventory, compile, exand.

Look at this example from Jonathan Lethem's novel //Motherless Brooklyn//:

Context is everything. Dress me up and see. I'm a carnival barker, an auctioneer, a downtown performance artist, a speaker in tongues, a senator drunk on filibuster. //I've got Tourette's.//

from //Writing Tools// by Roy Peter Clark.