Compound subjects and predicates and the elements
of pairs or series usually appear as they come out of the writer's mind—haphazardly.
Rearranging those elements from short to long and from simple to compound
makes them easier for your reader to understand. Start by counting the
syllables of each word—and the words of each phrase—and try
arranging them from short to long. If there is another way to order the
list (such as chronology or increasing importance), short to long may
not apply.
They're smart, ambitious, and uncomplaining.
Compare this with the less orderly ambitious,
smart, and uncomplaining—and with uncomplaining, ambitious,
and smart, inverted for an emphatic, monosyllabic finish (which
would be even more emphatic without the and).
Bill Gates and his empire command fear, respect
and curiosity in the world he helped create.
When we say cliché, stereotype, trite pseudoelegant
phrase, and so on, we imply, among other things, that when used
the first time in literature the phrase was original and had a vivid
meaning.
That the cancer doctor's three main tools—surgery,
radiation and chemotherapy—are often of so little use is
no surprise: a disease caused by genetic instability requires a
genetic remedy.
