Shortening sentences: a simple guide
When I lead a writing workshop with a sizeable group of engineers or business people,?I notice that many of them write sentences that are way too long.
What’s too long?
The answer may surprise you.
Measure in?averages?rather than absolutes
You want an average sentence length of?just 14 to 18 words. Some people argue with me when I make this suggestion. They think they’ll end up sounding like the dumb reading books we used back when I was a student in grade school.
In those days, the main characters were always white, of course, and their names were Dick and Jane. They had a dog named Spot and the plot development featured mind-numbing plot twists like, “See Dick run.”
Perhaps because of the trauma of early exposure to such works,?many writers don’t understand the value of short sentences. In fact, I always have clients who say things like, “Dostoyevsky [or any other famous author] wrote long sentences and everyone praised him for it. Why can’t I?”
Well, you can, but are you convinced you can write as well as Dostoyevsky??And even if you can, are you aware that even as general literacy has increased, our ability to read and understand long sentences has?decreased?over the last four centuries?
I posted about?this decline?several years ago, but here’s a summary of how preferred sentence word-count length has evolved…
Not ALL long sentences are problematic
That said, not?every?long sentence needs to be short.?The best writing always shows a?variety?of sentence lengths,?ranging from 60 words to as few as one. You simply should?attend to the?average. And there’s no need for you to calculate this number yourself.
Instead, use an online tool to help you. I’ve road-tested most available pieces of software doing this, and I favour?ProWritingAid. It costs (I am?not?a reseller), but it’s not expensive and there is a free version you can use for up to 500 words. I also like no-cost?Count Wordsworth. (Words per sentence is the second measure on the chart.) I no longer like the?Hemingway App?because it regards?every?long sentence as a problem, which is untrue.
If your average is more than 20,?here’s how to shorten your sentences:
Split super-long sentences in two
Here is an example, as easy as simply adding an extra period in the middle of the sentence:
becomes
Cut redundant words?
We’re often inefficient with our language, using more words than necessary. Consider the following phrases:
Focus on cutting?out?unnecessary words?and you’ll be using a relatively easy way of trimming your sentence length.
Avoid adverbs?
Adverbs clutter up your copy. You can usually live without them. Here are some examples:
领英推荐
Just delete all those italicized words and you’ll be able to shorten your sentence.
Use the active voice?
We sometimes fall into the passive voice, where the “actor” of the sentence goes into hiding. Here is a famous example:
Who made those mistakes? We don’t know! Thus, the sentence is passive. The only good thing about this example is that it’s short!
Typically, however, passive voice makes sentences?longer, usually including a clause with the word “by.” For example,
This sentence is easier to read and understand if you shorten it by making it active:
If you make the habit of preferring active voice, you’ll usually have shorter sentences. Given that it’s sometimes challenging to identify passive voice, I usually like to let software do the work for me. ProWritingAid does a good job of identifying passive voice.
Avoid words ending in –tion?
What do the words “creation,” “rumination,” “abbreviation” and “collaboration” have in common, besides ending in –tion? They all started their lives as perfectly good verbs:
But when you turn them into nouns you need to add a new verb to the sentence to make it work. Usually, this verb is boring, like “to be” or “to do” or “to make.” Instead of adding these unnecessary words, try to return to the original verb. Here’s an example:
I like to use my search key (Command + F on a Mac) to look for words ending in –tion. Whenever I find one, I work to see if I can turn it back into a verb.
Strive to add additional shorter sentences?—?really short ones
If you ever want to drive down an average, add some items that are dramatically shorter, less expensive, or less significant. With writing, you need some sentences with a one-to-five word-count. How do you do that?
I just did!
“How do you do that?” is a five-word sentence. And, “I just did” is a three-word one. Here are some other super-short sentences you can consider:
Always try to work some of these super-short sentences into your writing,?and you will see your average tumble to more reasonable levels.
Learning to shorten your sentences?is one of the best tricks you can use to turn yourself into a dramatically better and more effective self-editor.
This post first appeared on The Publication Coach blog.
--
6 个月There are some responsible causes that lower the efficiency of autoconer machine if we eliminate those causes no such problem will occur .Technical or non-technical adjustments cannot solve those problems.During the internship I conducted study on Autoconer and found an effective way to improve the efficiency by using simple device with the lowest possible cost and effective working action.My guide at the reputed textile mill in India supervises the calculation of the efficiency of these devices, and the study was successful.
--
6 个月The freshly picked cotton goes to the ginning industry, where the inspection of seeds and unwanted foreign matter like leaves, sticks, dirt, etc., takes place.
--
6 个月Manufacturers previously performed this step by hand and traditional machines, including the "Foot Roller" and later its improved version, the "Churka”.
--
6 个月Blowing allows you to open compressed fibres, clean them, blend or mix them, remove micro dust, and feed them uniformly into the following process.
--
6 个月During the carding process, we wind a wire around a series of cylinders to transform loose, unoriented cotton fibers into slivers.