Parallel Power This points to one of the simplest and easiest tricks to help you say things with more impact: Recast the flow of your words into repeating patterns. Create a prime and a follow-up (or ...

“Plop plop, fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is.” You might have thought that only the pill that goes with that jingle creates relief. But science suggests the jingle’s wording itself elicits relief.

Faulty parallels come up in my editing work all the time, but I have yet to see a better example than a line from the movie “Rain Man.” In the 1988 film, Raymond, an autistic savant played by Dustin ...