In 2016 Anna Zoe Hearn wrote a column for the Center for Teaching and Learning titled “The Last Shall Be First”. She cited Roy Peter Clarck’s “Writing Tools”:
“Pay attention to where you put your words in each sentence! A simple rule is to put the words that carry the most meaning at the end of your sentences.
Roy Peter Clark explains why this works in Writing Tools,* where he advises us that “for any sentence, the period acts as a stop sign. That slight pause in reading magnifies the final word.” That means the last word in every sentence stands out because there is a mental pause right after it. When chosen carefully, the last word in a sentence can provide a bridge to the next sentence, emphasize meaning, and even create a liveliness of tone. Clark calls this “emphatic word order,” which is a small edit for a writer, but a huge improvement for the written piece.”
In this question, Tolkien’s first sentence uses all familiar words until that last one, his creation, the characters of his book: Hobbits.
Putting that new word last empowers it.
