Some people like long, fanciful sentences that flow on and on, poetically, almost. Other people prefer a short sentence. Why? A short sentence packs a greater punch. It doesn't meander. It gets straight to the point. This article will teach you to write shorter, clean-cut sentences.
Steps
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Know the idea you want to communicate. Before you put pen to paper, know what you are about to say. If you're vague on your subject, think it out. If you don't, your thought process will end up cluttering your writing.
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Write a draft of your sentence. Don't worry about brevity yet. Get your idea and any important points down so you will not lose them.Advertisement
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Cut out the fluff. Many writers say in twenty words what they could in five. Take this sentence, for example In this day and age, many students find themselves faced with a seemingly insurmountable number of homework assignments. Maybe it sounds intelligent, but as Shakespeare once said, brevity is the soul of wit. This sentence can be cut down to Today's students are overwhelmed by homework. How?
- Some phrases can be replaced by a single word. In this day and age was replaced by today.
- Modifiers like very and most are often unnecessary. Many students became students.
- Many verbs can be made more active. Find themselves faced with a seemingly insurmountable became overwhelmed.
- Often people use redundancies without realizing it. Homework assignments, for instance, can be cut down to just homework or assignments.
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Focus on nouns and verbs. Short sentences focus on actions. The most basic sentences consist of a noun and a verb/subject and predicate Jane walked or Max barked, for example. While a whole passage of these sentences would be awkward and childish-sounding, they serve as a basis for quality short sentences Jane walked to work that day, or Max barked at something outside.
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Practice and perfect your skills. Brevity is something you need to develop. One exercise you could try is limiting yourself to a certain number of words the six-word story is one popular variant of this. As the name implies, you must tell a story, usually your life story, in exactly six words. Reading the work of masters of the short sentence, such as Ernest Hemingway, could also help. And above all, practice.Advertisement
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References
- The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing. Michael Harvey, 2003.
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