5 Style Tricks That Make Your Writing Feel Smooth as Silk

Your readers deserve better writing. This is how you give it to them.

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Smooth writing feels good.

It’s not just what you say. It’s how you say it. The right words. The right rhythm. The right structure. Get these right, and your writing becomes precise, powerful, and a pleasure to read.

But most new writers focus too much on what they’re saying—and not enough on how they’re saying it. That was me too. Until I upgraded my style.

Once I started using these simple writing techniques, everything changed. My words flowed better. My ideas landed harder. My writing felt good.

Here are 5 tools that helped.

Steal them.

1. Parallelism

Parallelism is a powerful sentence structure.

It lines up your words or ideas in a way that feels clean, clear, and satisfying. Like music, it’s the rhythm that makes the message land. Done well, it creates balance. It builds tension. It adds weight.

It’s familiar and fresh—because the structure is predictable, but the meaning evolves.

Two iconic examples:

→ Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. — Martin Luther King
→ That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. — Neil Armstrong

Same shape. Different punch. Aim for symmetry in your sentences. Your reader won’t know why they love it.

But they will.

2. Anaphora

Anaphora repeats the same word or phrase at the start of each sentence or clause.

It’s simple. But powerful. Repetition builds rhythm. Rhythm builds momentum. And momentum holds attention. Winston Churchill knew this better than anyone. When Britain faced collapse, he delivered a line that lit a fire under the nation:

→ We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills.

Same phrase. Rising force. Pure impact.

You don’t need a war to use it.

→ Get busy living or get busy dying
→ Stay safe. Stay well. Stay happy.
→ Go big or go home.

Anaphora sounds good. Feels good.

And it sticks.

3. Epistrophe

If Anaphora is repetition at the beginning… Epistrophe flips it.

The repetition comes at the end. It adds weight. Builds tension. And delivers a satisfying punch.

3 memorable examples:

→ The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come. (Nelson Mandela)

→ Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth. (Abraham Lincoln)

→ Easy to read gets read. (me)

These lines land hard because they finish strong. People hear writing in their heads. Repetition sounds good. People read with their eyes. Repetition looks good.

(See what I did there?)

4. Alliteration

This one flies under the radar.

Alliteration repeats the same starting sound. And when used well, it’s magic. It sticks in the brain. It rolls off the tongue. It feels good to read.

But here’s the catch:

Too much feels tacky. Like a tongue-twister. Too forced feels fake. Like you're trying too hard. The trick is subtlety. Choose words that fit. Words that matter. Not just ones that match the letter.

I often use alliteration in my headlines.

Notice how these feel:

→ 5 Reasons No One Is Reading Your Writing

→ The 'Raw Reveal' Template. Short. Sharp. Impossible to Ignore

→ The Secret Strategy I Used To Build A $60k Writing Business In 2 Hours/Day

reasons… reading...writing
raw reveal…short sharp…impossible ignore
secret strategy

They hum. They flow. They land.

Your reader shouldn’t notice the alliteration. They should just enjoy reading it.

5. Single sentences

This might be the easiest way to level up your writing.

Short sentences slow the reader down… in a good way. They break the rhythm. Add emphasis. Make your writing breathe.

Here’s an example from one of my intros:

There’s something odd about search engines. Google owns 85% of the market. Yahoo has 2%.But there is no difference in the quality of their results. Yahoo even had a head start. So why does everyone use Google? Have a look at their pages and you’ll see why.

Now, watch what happens when we add two single lines:

There’s something odd about search engines.

Google owns 85% of the market. Yahoo has 2%.
But there is no difference in the quality of their results.
Yahoo even had a head start.
So why does everyone use Google?

Have a look at their pages and you’ll see why:

See the difference? Clean. Confident. Compelling. Big blocks of text make readers work. Single lines pull them in.

I’ve found 3 kinds work best:

→ A bold statement
→ A strange or surprising idea
→ A thought-provoking question

Drop them in. Break things up. Keep your reader moving. They won’t just read your writing.

They’ll feel it.

Derek

P.S. If your posts aren’t getting read, it’s not you—it’s your structure. This free course fixes that.

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