The Ardeon Writer's Exercise List

Sentence Fragments
© Erick Emert 2001

Richard Kobel of our Writer's Exercise List asked:

"How does one identify those portions of the
story where fragments aren't permissible?
Is there a subtle nuance of the rule regarding fragments
that I am missing perhaps?"

 

This from Fowler's Modern English Usage, 3rd Edition:

(under the subtitle - Sentence)

Verbless or otherwise incomplete sentences (stylistically acceptable in context).

 

The key to using fragments is CONTEXT. According to Fowler's, if in the context of what you are writing you use a sentence fragment and it works, it is usually acceptable. However, as stated in Essentials of English, 4th Edition, if it seriously dislocates the continuity of the writing, it's a sentence error. Who's call is it? First, yours. Second, your editor's. Here are some examples from Fowler's:

She only spoke to me once about her private life and that's what I've told you. As I remember it.
- G. Greene, 1980

They ate what was in front of them. While it was hot.
- M. Drabble, 1987

Max played ping-pong with the children. Then records.
- Encounter, 1987

Dionysiac release? I suppose so. A rehearsal for the release of seeds. An invisible embrace. The motion of the mountainside.
- H. Brodkey, 1993

Still, it had been a good party. An unforgettable party, actually. And still was.
- A Huth, 1992

Most writers use sentence fragments in dialogue or in quick action sequences because the context of their writing calls for it. There's a very good section on using sentence fragments in dialogue in Renni Browne and Dave King's, Self-Editing For Fiction Writers, pp 64-67. The authors list quite a few examples and basically conclude that, "If not overused, this technique captures remarkably well the rhythms of real speech."

Bibliography

Portions of the above excerpted from the following sources:

The New Fowler's Modern English Usage, 3rd Edition
Edited by R. W. Burchfield

Self-Editing For Fiction Writers
by Renni Browne and Dave King

Barron's Essentials of English, 4th Edition
by Vincent F. Hopper; Cedric Gale; Ronald C. Foote; Benjamin W. Griffith