A LIFE SENTENCE?
I don’t know whether anyone who is reading this will realise it, but some companies spend a lot of time explaining what they are doing, in articles, case studies, press releases and on their websites, and the type of products they are offering, whether new or old or for existing or potential customers, and also some of the services they provide, although these may vary in scope and type, as well as information about their company, which may include historical facts and figures as well as current events, and for some reason by the end of their explanation the reader is left wondering what on earth they’ve been talking about, mainly because they have used such long and convoluted sentences that you have to go back to the beginning again to try and understand what they meant in the first place. If you get my drift.
Okay, I hope I’ve made the point! Sentence length is crucial in writing. I’ve seen many examples of long, rambling sentences in corporate literature. Some of them have come from communications companies who should know better!
THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Generally speaking, try and keep your average sentence length below 20 words. Some years ago, I heard that a tabloid newspaper at the time aimed for typical sentence lengths of eight to ten words. Now, that might be stretching it a bit, but it makes the point. Shorter sentences enhance readability.
And don’t forget to vary your sentence length as well. A fellow author once told me that she was very aware of the ‘rhythm of words and sentences’ when she was writing. I thought she was barking mad at the time, but now I think she was right. When I’m writing a story or a long article, I can sometimes ‘feel’ the need for a sentence of a certain length that will help to emphasise a point.
Why not have a look at something you have written recently and try and break it down into shorter sentences? If you do it well, it should become much more readable.
Have fun.
Phil
Freelance copywriter
Web: http://www.phila
Email: info@phila.co.uk
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