Short Sentences: The Key to Writing Interesting Content

The link between short sentences and readability is not debatable. It’s pretty simple — sentences with fewer words are easier to follow and understand. 

What is a Sentence?

A sentence is the building block of every written English. One of the ways humans communicate is writing, and being able to shorten sentences in writing is of great importance. 

A sentence is also the combination of different words that make complete sense — having a subject and predicate.

Conciseness In Sentence Writing

Does conciseness in writing matter? Do readers care about how lengthy or complex your sentences are?

Yes, it does matter, and readers care a whole lot. Common wisdom holds that shorter sentences are preferable in general and scientific writing.

The brevity of words in a sentence is essential. A long sentence can be concise when each word is relevant and adds meaning. Writers of the English language, especially non-native speakers, should pay attention to the length of their sentences to avoid wordiness. 

A sentence should not contain unnecessary words, paragraphs, or sentences. It’s the same way that a drawing should not have unnecessary lines. 

It means we need to write in a way everybody will understand. People dislike jargon, so being straightforward and direct helps a lot, as do shorter sentences. 

Tips for writing good short sentences

  • Write your content with action words that depicts emotion or can create scenarios.
  • It is expedient for each sentence to communicate an idea. 
  • Let there be breaks between sentences as it can help readers understand the content before they continue reading. 
  • Shorter sentences help readers save a lot. The whole thing is more precise and less deviating, so we get to the point quicker.

Features of a short sentence

  • A Group of words makes up a sentence.
  • Sentences contain subject and verb.
  • Sentences contain more than one clause.
  • A sentence makes complete sense in itself.

Long explanations can make readers lose interest, and short sentences does the opposite. In addition to containing no unnecessary words, a sentence should use concise phrases.

It sounds unlikely, but short sentences are more challenging to write than long ones. Writing short sentences requires you to understand your subject. 

Some writers may feel that adding extra words or phrases lends sophistication to their writing. However, it creates clutter and can confuse readers. 

As such, recognizing wordiness, repetition, and unnecessary language is a vital skill. Such ability ensures your writing expresses your ideas as clearly and concisely.

The key to writing clear sentences is recognizing your grammar gets. It knows what filler words look like and how passive voice sounds.

Image of a book page showing really long sentences
Photo by Finn Mund on Unsplash

Conclusion

It’s pretty clear that the longer the sentence, the greater the risk of losing the reader. Content writers for professional websites generally recognize this as self-evident, so why do they write too long sentences? Nobody has a definitive answer, but we can consider a couple of solid possibilities.

The longer the sentence you write, the greater the chance that your readers will prefer shorter sentences to longer ones. However, many writers try to prove their intelligence by writing unnecessarily long sentences. 

Hopefully, this article has helped you understand how to shorten your sentences. 

Pam is an expert grammarian with years of experience teaching English, writing and ESL Grammar courses at the university level. She is enamored with all things language and fascinated with how we use words to shape our world.

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