One sentence, taken seriously.
A recurring close-edit. Each entry admits a single sentence, finds what it is trying to do, and rebuilds it in three moves — then names the principle that transfers to the next page.
- Rhythm is emphasisHow to vary sentence rhythm
A monotone paragraph rebuilt in three moves — why same-length sentences flatten meaning, and how rhythm decides what a reader feels is important.
- Evidence over verdictHow to show, not tell, in a single sentence
A telling sentence rebuilt in three moves — what 'show, don't tell' means at the scale of one sentence, and when telling is the right call.
- Cut toward the pointHow to cut an overloaded sentence
An overloaded sentence rebuilt in three moves — how to find what a long sentence is protecting, and cut everything that isn't it.
- Specificity is interestHow to make a flat sentence interesting
A flat sentence rebuilt in three moves — why 'boring' usually means 'general', and how one specific detail does the work of five adjectives.
- One clause, one jobHow to fix a run-on sentence
A run-on sentence rebuilt in three moves — where the joins fail, what a full stop buys, and when a comma genuinely earns its keep.
- The verb carries the sentenceHow to choose a stronger verb
A sentence propped up by adverbs, rebuilt in three moves — why the verb is the load-bearing word, and how to find the one that needs no help.
How the Clinic works
Every sentence admitted here is trying to do something good — the Clinic’s standing rule is that the sentence is never mocked. The sentences themselves are composites, built from patterns that recur across many students’ pages rather than quoted from any one of them; no real student’s sentence appears here.
The three-move format is deliberate. A single “corrected” version teaches nothing — it shows a destination without the road. Three moves show the order of operations: what to find first, what that decision unlocks, and what to check at the end. The moves, not the finished sentence, are the thing worth keeping.
The Clinic works at the scale of a sentence. For the same moves across a whole piece, the Readings collect consented student work by text type: poetry, narrative, persuasive, and text response.
The checklist.
Twelve questions to hold one of your own sentences against — the same lenses the Clinic uses, arranged so you can find which entry your sentence needs.
Run a sentence through it