Disrupting the Traditional Conjunction

The standard conjunction form is... well, standard. It's simply two clauses connected by and, or, but or yet. On occasion, however, you can add extra flair to a standard conjunction to create far more memorable prose.

This example, from Bruce Ross-Larson's useful book Stunning Sentences, shares a highly creative distortion of the standard conjunction:

Marketing and consumer-products firms like to know who buys what--and where and when and how.
--from The Economist, February 10, 1996

Imagine how this sentence might have looked in first draft form:

Marketing and consumer-products firms like to know who buys what, and they like to know where, when and how.

This sentence is acceptable, clear and grammatically correct. It's also forgettable. Readers will read it, move on to the next sentence, and they won't think twice.

Don't be forgettable. Craft sentences your readers will notice.