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Short, Long And Sentence Length

Good Essays

The issue of sentence length leaves many writers scratching their heads. Short, long, medium length sentences - which are better? Does it make a difference? Why should we pay attention to sentence length anyway?

For one, it adds as much meaning to a text as the words you choose. Sentence length conveys a specific mood and rhythm and matches the actions being described. For example, if you were writing a tense car race, shorter sentences may help heighten the suspense of the scene. On the other hand, longer sentences may work better when writing about complex philosophical abstractions.

Let’s look at a couple examples.

“As the number one car slammed its brakes around the turn, my foot hit the gas, and I swung around him, crossing the …show more content…

The longer sentence length creates a nice, flowing structure that leads logically from one idea to the next.

Let’s look at more examples in which short and long sentences can be problematic, followed by some strategies for correcting them.

SHORT SENTENCES

Short sentences are useful for supplying small bits of information. They cut to the chase and emphasize one, maybe two, points. But, their stop-and-start rhythms can make them difficult to read:

“Short sentences are hard to read. They stop and start. What happens when you read them? You feel like you’re stuttering. They break up the thought process. Sometimes they’re useful. Other times they’re not. They’re frustrating. Right?”

How do we stretch out these short sentences so they’re not so clunky? Try lengthening them with conjunctions, which are words that join two sentences, or independent clauses, together.

Specifically, let’s look at coordinating and subordinating conjunctions. Coordinating conjunctions include words like and, but, or, nor, for, yet and so. Common subordinating conjunctions include although, because, once, unless, wherever and many, many more. Read a complete list of them …show more content…

Although they’re useful for breaking up the thought process, they can be quite frustrating to read. What do you think?”

See how conjunctions create a simple chain of ideas to help round out the sentences’ rhythms? Try using them the next time you find yourself writing sentences that are too short or do not reflect the proper

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