Two Simple Writing Devices Anyone Can Use

In May 1980, Texas Instruments' new personal computer arrived in the stores, chiefly J.C. Penney's, where there was no one who knew how to sell it, and the few computer shops of the day, where no one wanted to sell it.
--George Gilder, The Spirit of Enterprise

No, this isn't exactly the greatest sentence ever written. Yet it's notable thanks to two simple devices:

Parallelism: The parallel phrases where there was no one who knew how to sell it/where no one wanted to sell it give cadence to the sentence, making it more memorable and interesting.

Reversal: Readers get a surprise when they stumble on the reversal phrase where no one wanted to sell it. You'd think computer shops would want to sell computers, but not in this sentence. Clearly, this new personal computer from Texas Instruments is headed for some drama... and readers will want to keep reading about it.

Parallelism and reversals aren't sophisticated writing devices. Anyone, including you, can use them to produce more forceful and memorable writing.