7.1 Keep sentences under about thirty words, three lines or so
A sentence that is too long will lose your reader, cloud your intention, and force you into awkward grammar. Some business writing courses suggest that seventeen words is long enough for any sentence. Yet, a series of seventeen-word sentences would have a machine-gun or breathless effect. Vary your sentence length. Use short sentences for emphasis. Your sentences should not go over thirty words, or about three typewritten lines.
You have two easy ways to shorten a sentence that has, in first draft, gone on too long.
- At the conjunctions such as and, but, however,
or therefore, put down a period. Then begin a new sentence.
- Try to cut down on the wordiness of the sentences remaining
by removing not only needless words but also needless ideas.
==>Guidelines ==>Flow