ClearTips: Edit yourself
5. Shorter Sentences
Long sentences—those of more than, say,
twenty words—are often hard to read. Short sentences usually are
not. Successions of long sentences are even harder to read. But broken
up by the occasional short sentence, successions of long sentences are
easier to read.
So it is that the appeal of every writer on
style is: be brief! And so it is that the retort of every writer who lacks
style is: it's not possible. Along with such corollaries as: complicated
ideas call for complicated sentences. Or: short sentences lack style because
they are choppy. The idea, however, is not to be brief all the time or
even most of the time. The idea is to be brief unless you have a reason
not to be. Even if you have a reason not to be brief, there are ways of
handling a sentence that make it easier for your reader to follow what
you are trying to say.
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