Maintain Parallel Patterns

Imagine if Julius Caesar had reported, “I came. I saw. Gaul was conquered by me.” It just wouldn’t have had that imperial sound. No, Caesar wrote, “I came. I saw. I conquered.” He took advantage of a powerful writing tool that you can use too: parallel sentence structure.

 

Humans are pattern-making creatures. Our earliest learning involves patterns: cause leads to effect. Our earliest reading involves patterns: subject-verb-object. When we write sentences, we can take advantage of the powerful urge for patterned structure. The technique of using repeated patterns for comparable  parts of a sentence is called parallelism.
You can create a pattern based on almost any element of a sentence:

Words:              He is slow but thorough.

The American flag is red, white, and blue.

Phrases:           Her routine was always the same: first she went to the pool, then she went to the beauty parlor, and then she went to the club.

Dependent Clauses:    He doesn't care what we think of him, or what anyone else thinks of him, either.

Independent Clauses: But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow this ground. (Abraham Lincoln, “The Gettysburg Address”)
When you establish a pattern at the beginning of a sentence, your reader longs for you to carry it through the remainder of the sentence. If you do not do so, you jar the reader at a sub-conscious level and sometimes, horror of horrors, force him to re-read what you have written. For example:

We had a wonderful time, swimming in the ocean, strolling on the beach, and we ate in great restaurants.

This should read, “swimming …, strolling… and eating in great restaurants.”

They list the premiums collected for each subscriber and the total monthly amount of premiums sent to each carrier.

This should read, "They list the premiums collected for each subscriber and the total premiums … for each month."

Parallelism lends symmetry to your work and communicates that you are in control of your message. Remember: When you start a pattern early in a sentence, carry it throughout the sentence. Satisfy your reader’s need to have similar structures for similar ideas. Then you, too, can write like Caesar.