How long a sentence is too long?

[mnicol22]

Hello!

I am a newbie here on CC but I have been writing articles for two years now. While I consider myself a decent writer, I have trouble with keeping my sentences manageable. I mean I try to keep them well-structured and use the appropriate conjunctions; however, they always come out too long, making the text baffling to read at times.

I know that this is a result of a slight disability I have. My speech also consists of long sentences (usually unstructured, but I try to pay attention to that in my writing!) and I wouldn't have noticed if a friend didn't point it out simply because I have always been that way, so it seems normal to me. Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone could tell me whether there is a way to know that a sentence is too long, such as a maximum number of words I can use in a single sentence. Or anything of that nature. I try to read every article again and again, but that doesn't really help either because my brain refuses to perceive long sentences as mistakes.

I really love writing and I'm struggling to become better at it because it has helped me improve my language skills a lot. Sometimes I spend endless hours on a single piece trying to get it as good as I can (disability and perfectionism do not mix well! ) but I know that maybe I'm not cut out for this. I just don't feel ready to throw in the towel yet. So, if you have any advice to offer, it will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for your time!

[Celeste Stewart]

Hello and welcome! I think many of us struggle with conciseness. Since you know you tend to be wordy, set a goal of cutting the total word count down by 30 percent. Write the article as normal and then go through it with this goal. If your original article is 500 words long, then you need to cut 150 words! This is a great exercise for all of us. Not only will you find needless words, you may find a simpler way of expressing each thought. Plus, if you cut the excess, you'll have room to add additional information.

Another thought is to look at each compound sentence and consider whether it can be broken into two simpler sentences. With Web writing, sentences generally tend to be shorter because of the way people read (they scan) online.

For example, here's a long sentence we can rework using both of the above strategies:
"My speech also consists of long sentences (usually unstructured, but I try to pay attention to that in my writing!) and I wouldn't have noticed if a friend didn't point it out simply because I have always been that way, so it seems normal to me." (One sentence - 46 words)

"A friend pointed out that I speak in long sentences (usually unstructured, but I try to pay attention to that when writing!). I have always done this, so it seems normal to me."
(Two sentences - 33 words -- about 28% fewer words than the original)

This is a good exercise

[jellygator]

You may find this tool helpful. http://www.standards-schmandards.com/exhibits/rix/

I was taught in my public relations courses that most television shows are written for a 6th grade level of comprehension.

[mnicol22]

Wow! Thank you Celeste! This tip seems practical enough for me to implement, although I think I might have to raise the percentage a bit! I'll start with your suggested 30% and work it up from there.

My two first articles came back rejected and I was actually relieved that they did because i would have been mortified to see them published anywhere looking like that! The editor's comments are a great wake up call in my opinion, as they draw your attention at mistakes you may not have noticed that you make. One of them mentioned "phrasing" problems and, when I read the article again, I realized that some of the sentences were too confusing. When you start reading a four-line sentence it's highly likely that, by the time you reach the end of it, you have already forgotten what it was that you read in the beginning of the sentence. I'll have to keep an eye on that! I tried to cut the sentences shorter (and actually had to make lots of changes to the original text because of that) but I think it came out better! Fingers crossed!

And thank you, jellygator, for the useful link. I had a good laugh passing one of my sentences up and finding out that it's practically unreadable! It felt a bit embarrassing, but it helps to know. Definitely a keeper!

[mnicol22]

Just a quick update!

The article I resubmitted has been accepted! I'm really excited about it because I thought that maybe resubmitting a rejected article wasn't such a good idea! It's really so sweet to see that short message that says "Your article has been accepted" instead of that long "you have to fix this and that"! I also started reworking my second one. I'm pretty much finished, but I'm stuck at the conclusion, so I'm going to give it a rest, go to a couple of concerts that I wanted and then come back fresh!

Yaaayyy!! Good start!

[Judith]

Just a quick update!

The article I resubmitted has been accepted! I'm really excited about it because I thought that maybe resubmitting a rejected article wasn't such a good idea! It's really so sweet to see that short message that says "Your article has been accepted" instead of that long "you have to fix this and that"! I also started reworking my second one. I'm pretty much finished, but I'm stuck at the conclusion, so I'm going to give it a rest, go to a couple of concerts that I wanted and then come back fresh!

Yaaayyy!! Good start!

Wonderful!! It will only get easier from here

[jellygator]

Congrats!

[DennyK]

Congratulations on getting accepted! It is a really great feeling to see those lines, "Your article has been accepted."

One other site that you might want to try is, http://www.paperrater.com/free_paper_grader This will give some additional insight to what your article is doing.

Again, congrats and good luck on your other rewrite.

[mnicol22]

Thank you, DennyK, I already submitted the second article and it was accepted too! I guess it's just a matter of getting the hang of it, as different sites have different requirements. I used to get assignments from Freelancer, so my writing pretty much depended on the type of assignment I had to do. The pay was awful, though, and I'm no longer willing to work for 2 bucks per 500 words, but I guess it was ok for a start. I like it better here on CC because the high standards drive you to actually improve yourself, not just chase words to fill up the count.

I took a peek at the website you're suggesting. Wow! if these features it mentions actually work, then it's definitely going at the top of my list! Thank for letting me know, I'll try it as soon as I can!