Use short(ish) sentences

Lengthy sentences are often convoluted, hard to follow, and weaken your message. Conventional best-practice for Plain English writing is to limit your sentences to 25 words or less, but there’s more to it than that.

Recently a woman I know was called into a meeting at work, during which the company CEO decreed that all sentences must be written between 15 and 20 words long. Can you imagine the massive time-suck of constantly having to count your words and pad or cull your sentences accordingly? Not to mention the uncomfortably rhythmic and monotonous paced content that is now likely to come out of that company. Somehow, I suspect that rule won’t last.

Despite this, my friend’s CEO isn’t entirely wrong. While she might be taking the guidelines around sentence-length a little more literally than is necessary (or helpful), at least she’s paying attention.

Because here’s the deal:

Very long sentences make your content drag out, they’re hard to understand or follow, and they’re just frustrating to read. Very short sentences, especially when placed one after another, give your content a staccato effect that make it hard to build momentum.

So, where does that leave you?

  1. Try to vary the length of your sentences depending on what information you are trying to convey, and to maintain ‘rhythm’ and ‘flow’ in your work

  2. However, as a general rule, try not to let your sentences get any longer than 25 words

How to shorten your sentences

If you’re finding it difficult to keep the length of your sentences down, a simple technique is to stick to just one idea per sentence.

You’ll frequently find that if your sentence is too long, you can look at it a second time and break it up so that each idea has its own sentence.

For example:

“I went to Grandma’s place to find out what type of brick was used on her house because I received a big enough bonus from work to build my own home, and I’ve always loved the bricks at Grandma’s.”

What’s wrong with this sentence? It is too long, and combines too many ideas. But we can easily simplify it, by breaking it up according to the different ideas in the sentence.

“My bonus this year was enough for me to build my own home. I had always loved the bricks on Grandma’s house, so I visited her to find out exactly what they were.”

Homework

Rewrite each of the following sentences (these are real examples) so that they only contain one idea per sentence. If you’re unsure, click on the sentence for my suggestions (but try it yourself first 😉)

  • Step 1: Identify each idea or thought…

    • Homeless people live many places other than the streets

    • Most Australians underestimate the extent of homelessness

    Step 2: Create a new sentence for each idea or thought…

    “Homeless people don’t just live on the streets. A homeless person may stay in a park, at the beach, in a refuge, in a car, a caravan, a tent or a garage, in a squat, in unaffordable private rental accommodation or with friends. Due to this ‘hidden’ nature of homeless in our nation, most Australians vastly underestimate the extent of homelessness in our own backyards.”

  • Step 1: Identify each idea or thought…

    • Abdulla is surprised at Olsen’s defence of conservative landscape art

    • Olsen’s own paintings are abstract

    • Abdullah thinks Ken Done’s (or his own? It’s unclear) cultural contribution is stronger than Olsen’s

    Step 2: Create a new sentence for each idea or thought…

    Abdullah has expressed surprise at Olsen’s strident defence of the conservative tradition of Australian landscape. After all, Olsen’s own paintings are very abstract. But he continues, “his cultural contribution doesn’t hold a flame to Ken Done, who is very good at painting ‘place’.”

  • Step 1: Identify each idea or thought…

    • There are many businesses and programs championing underrepresented voices

    • They rely on our support

    • They have the capacity for sharing, discourse, and storytelling

    Step 2: Create a new sentence for each idea or thought…

    Literary prizes, grants and publishing initiatives like Penguin Pride, and venerable queer bookstores like London’s Gay’s The Word and Tokyo’s Okamalt, all champion underrepresented voices. These businesses and programs rely on our support to share the word and join in the discussion. With support, they may even be empowered to make a contribution to the growing canon of queer stories, should inspiration strike.