Tighter Writing With Dependent Clauses

Most writers merrily run from one independent clause to the next, either joining them in one sentence or letting them stand apart as two. Doing this, they miss the opportunity to link two ideas more closely and build a more compelling structure--one with a touch of suspense.

--Stunning Sentences by Bruce Ross-Larson

Ross-Larson goes on to share four examples of what he means, including:

Struck by an annual outbreak of filial sentiment, Americans make more long-distance calls on Mother's Day than on any other day of the year.

Notice the deliberate reordering of ideas. If we were to guess at what this sentence looked like in first-draft form, we'd probably arrive at a more linear arrangement of the two thoughts:

Americans make more long-distance calls on Mother's Day than on any other day of the year. Clearly they are struck by an annual outbreak of filial sentiment.

Therefore, one way to create more compelling prose is to try different arrangements of the order of your ideas--while you connect them.

A warning. Nearly any style rule can be misused. Like this gem from the very same book:

Neither quite this nor altogether that, terrifically itself yet perpetually ambiguous, Turkey stands alone among the nations.

Never make a preliminary clause so long that it disrupts the reader's focus. Keep that clause short, sweet and blunt. Don't make it the center of attention.