You need to cut the watermelon and peel the bananas and oranges. It s important also to remember where your list begins. For instance, in the previous example, the list begins with cut, meaning the lead-in phrase was you need to. You need to cut the watermelon, the pie, and the swordfish. In many instances, where the lead-in ends and the list begins is a judgment call.
Many drivers try switching to a better car or hiring a more experienced crew.
Knowing you have these kinds of options in writing your sentences while still maintaining parallelism gives you a certain amount of control as a writer. One last parallel structure consideration is the order in which you put your grammatical items. Try saving your most powerful or important item till the end of the list. This creates a sense of building up to the most crucial point, and, as it is the last part of the sentence the reader will read, it is the part of the sentence most likely to stay in the reader s mind. To be a professional athlete, one needs great physical skills, courage, intelligence, and, perhaps most of all, an unflinching desire to succeed.