Are short sentences "a thing" now?

[darwin1859]

I have read here, and agree (at least to a degree) that the medium matters. It's amazing to me how different the same text looks on a phone, or a tablet, or a desktop screen. Something that looks good on one, looks less good on another. And it's been argued that shorter sentences and shorter paragraphs look better on a mobile device. It's too easy to have a "wall-of-text" look on a mobile device.

I also find that if I take a long sentence and break it up into 2-3 smaller sentences to convey the same meaning, that I feel the shorter sentences are clearer. I'm not talking about run-on sentences, but just feeling the need to put lots of things into a single sentence and finding that if I focus on the one main issue, then add a second sentence conveying the emotion (or action or whatever) that works better. Hmm. When I type it out, it seems apparent.

BTW, I'm a huge fan of Austen's work, but I don't know that I love her long sentences. I think I love her wit, her plotting, the way she creates memorable characters, etc. Sometimes I admire a well turned paragraph-sentence, but I suppose most of the time I just read them because I love the story she's telling.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Sentences and paragraphs should both mirror a roller coaster, rotating between short, medium, and long. A person's mind will keep engaged with the material that way. Having too many long sentences or paragraphs, you'll lose the reader. That's why Grammarly said, "vary sentence length." It didn't tell where or how, just that you should do so.

I grew up in the era where books were the norm. And I find myself reading a lot of books even older than I am. It seems like sentences, even in fiction, are getting shorter and shorter. I just tried using Grammarly for the first time and it barked at me to "vary sentence length." This mirrors a general trend I've noticed - sentences have shrunk to the point where a sentence may be no more than three or four words. Is this the 160 character "twitter effect," or are attention spans getting shorter, or is it just "style?"

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I only use short sentences in Spanish, because I don't know that many words. "La tienda es cerrado. El pez esta muerto."

Are you trying to say whether the store is close, or the store is closed? If the store is close, "La tienda está cerca." If the store is closed, "La tienda está cerrada." Still, keep practicing! I guess it's difficult coming from English to get used to having two different verbs for the verb "to be."

I thought it said Pez is dead.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I thought it said Pez is dead.

One way to say "fish" in Spanish.

 

[spankmytentacle]

Are you trying to say whether the store is close, or the store is closed? If the store is close, "La tienda está cerca." If the store is closed, "La tienda está cerrada." Still, keep practicing! I guess it's difficult coming from English to get used to having two different verbs for the verb "to be."

Not to mention accented vowels. I tried putting the accents on the verbs and it took me a while to get the sharpie marks off my screen.

 

[SimonDoom]

I think another factor is the current view on commas. People don't seem to like a lot of them, but they are necessary to make longer sentences flow. Also, em dashes and other ways of avoiding commas are known to cause problems with AI detection, so the "solution" is shorter, choppy sentences that don't use multiple clauses.

I think you are right. I'm a member of that camp. I tend to dislike the comma splice, which is the joinder of independent clauses by commas but no conjunctions. So, I tend to cut up my sentences and end them with periods. ElectricBlue is the opposite sort--he likes those long, flowing sentences where commas pop up like weeds. It might have something to do with all that leisurely time he spends at cafes trying to woo strange women.

 

[TheLobster]

What you're pushing back against is "short utterances (or sentences) are natural" in speech.

The parenthetical is doing a lot of work here.

What I was actually pushing against is that people even speak in actual sentences in the first place, other than on rare occasions. The fact that we as writers phrase our characters' speech in mostly full sentences is (1) largely for the ease of reading, and (2) because literary dialog is by convention stylized, making it more well-formed not only compared to actual speech, but even the filtered perception of said speech that other people hear. (You automatically elide all the uhhs and aahs when listening to another person speak).

What it means in the end is that when you're writing dialogue, you have a choice of either going realistic, with ellipses and such, which can serve to enhance certain parts of it but is generally tiring to read in long stretches; or you can use the literary convention and have your characters speak in mostly full sentences.

But if you do neither, and have them spit out short, choppy, pseudo-sentences, all punctuated with full stops, you'll make them sound like drill sergeants barking orders. It's neither realistic nor literary.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

but also yes

but no

Wait.


What?

 

[Britva415]

Wait.


What?

They've always been a thing, including now. So, "yes."

But they're not a new thing. So, "no."

 

[Britva415]

They're a thing but they're not "A tHiNg"

 

[Bramblethorn]

Sentences and paragraphs should both mirror a roller coaster, rotating between short, medium, and long. A person's mind will keep engaged with the material that way. Having too many long sentences or paragraphs, you'll lose the reader. That's why Grammarly said, "vary sentence length." It didn't tell where or how, just that you should do so.

As with the em-dash discussion, I think it's important to distinguish between "good writing varies the sentence length" and "varying the sentence length will make your writing better". A writer who just sets themselves a quota of long vs. short sentences and edits to that quota is not doing themselves any favours.

Some things are more effective as long sentences, others as short sentences or even fragments. In the Hemingway example I quoted, the long sentence at the start creates a mellow, unhurried kind of mood, like one of those glorious days that feels like it's going to last forever. But then "But those that will not break it kills" is a gut-punch of a sentence, and the brevity is part of that. The first one wouldn't work as a short sentence, and the second one wouldn't work as a long one.

If a story has a range of moods, and if the writer is crafting their sentences to support the mood, they will almost inevitably end up with a mix of short, medium and long sentences. But if the sentences are all the same length, rather than going straight to tweaking the length, an author might do better to trace that back to find a cause: is the mood too monotonous, or do the sentences not fit the mood?

 

[designatedvictim]

Also, em dashes

Well... I'm porked.

That's my go-to punctuation in longer sentences.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Momentum and pace are determined by how you write. If you write well, naturally varying the structure as you go, it will have the right mixture to support the piece's mood and pace. If you try to chop up longer paragraphs and sentences without concern for the action or emotion, you just fuck it up.

As with the em-dash discussion, I think it's important to distinguish between "good writing varies the sentence length" and "varying the sentence length will make your writing better". A writer who just sets themselves a quota of long vs. short sentences and edits to that quota is not doing themselves any favours.

Some things are more effective as long sentences, others as short sentences or even fragments. In the Hemingway example I quoted, the long sentence at the start creates a mellow, unhurried kind of mood, like one of those glorious days that feels like it's going to last forever. But then "But those that will not break it kills" is a gut-punch of a sentence, and the brevity is part of that. The first one wouldn't work as a short sentence, and the second one wouldn't work as a long one.

If a story has a range of moods, and if the writer is crafting their sentences to support the mood, they will almost inevitably end up with a mix of short, medium and long sentences. But if the sentences are all the same length, rather than going straight to tweaking the length, an author might do better to trace that back to find a cause: is the mood too monotonous, or do the sentences not fit the mood?

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I have read here, and agree (at least to a degree) that the medium matters. It's amazing to me how different the same text looks on a phone, or a tablet, or a desktop screen. Something that looks good on one, looks less good on another. And it's been argued that shorter sentences and shorter paragraphs look better on a mobile device. It's too easy to have a "wall-of-text" look on a mobile device.

The words and prose are (far) more important than how it looks.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I think you are right. I'm a member of that camp. I tend to dislike the comma splice, which is the joinder of independent clauses by commas but no conjunctions. So, I tend to cut up my sentences and end them with periods. ElectricBlue is the opposite sort--he likes those long, flowing sentences where commas pop up like weeds. It might have something to do with all that leisurely time he spends at cafes trying to woo strange women.

It's true. It means ; has force, and : more force. And a . is when you start over with a fresh cup of coffee.

[Edit typo. eans = means]

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Due to a very short attention span and the likelyhood of getting lost in the words, I tend to stay short. There are times when my fingers don't cooperate though and a string of words tumbles out. Then I have to decide if I want to bother to go back and split them up or add a comma or six.


(Eight edits to correct so far and probably still missed a couple.)

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Who writes short shorts
We write short shorts
They're such short shorts
We like short shorts
Who writes short shorts
We write short shorts



Betcha don't remember that, do ya? Only one word was changed above to protect the innocent ... fit into the AH.

Written and released in 1958 by The Royal Teens. Bod Gaudio was 15 at the time and would go on to write for The Four Seasons, a group he founded.

The song was used in the 70s and 80s for Nair TV spots

 

[TheWritingGroup]

It's true. It eans ; has force, and : more force. And a . is when you start over with a fresh cup of coffee.

True also: I just spent 30 seconds trying to figure out what the Australian slang word "eans" ... means.

Then I thought, "Maybe I should finish my coffee before I read any more."

--Annie

 

[IWroteThis]

Who writes short shorts
We write short shorts
They're such short shorts
We like short shorts
Who writes short shorts
We write short shorts



Betcha don't remember that, do ya? Only one word was changed above to protect the innocent ... fit into the AH.

Written and released in 1958 by The Royal Teens. Bod Gaudio was 15 at the time and would go on to write for The Four Seasons, a group he founded.

The song was used in the 70s and 80s for Nair TV spots

I do remember that, although more from the Nair commercials than regular air play.

That said, I think your version would be the perfect theme song for the 750 Word Project.

 

[spankmytentacle]

Who writes short shorts
We write short shorts
They're such short shorts
We like short shorts
Who writes short shorts
We write short shorts



Betcha don't remember that, do ya? Only one word was changed above to protect the innocent ... fit into the AH.

Written and released in 1958 by The Royal Teens. Bod Gaudio was 15 at the time and would go on to write for The Four Seasons, a group he founded.

The song was used in the 70s and 80s for Nair TV spots

It's depressing to me that I remember that Nair TV spot. I'm old.

 

[ElectricBlue]

True also: I just spent 30 seconds trying to figure out what the Australian slang word "eans" ... means.

Then I thought, "Maybe I should finish my coffee before I read any more."

--Annie

Oops, typo! Curse you, not spell check!

 

[MillieDynamite]

My adoptive Father's first wife Naired his face because he had (and still does) such a fast-growing and rough stubble. He only let her do it once. He said, it was great to not need a shave for a few days, but wasn't worth the pain of how she achieved it.

It's depressing to me that I remember that Nair TV spot. I'm old.

 

[SmilingLez]

I grew up in the era where books were the norm. And I find myself reading a lot of books even older than I am. It seems like sentences, even in fiction, are getting shorter and shorter. I just tried using Grammarly for the first time and it barked at me to "vary sentence length." This mirrors a general trend I've noticed - sentences have shrunk to the point where a sentence may be no more than three or four words. Is this the 160 character "twitter effect," or are attention spans getting shorter, or is it just "style?"

I adore short sentences. Long sentences bore me. YMMV

See for yourself - https://www.literotica.com/s/fragments-first-love

 

[spankmytentacle]

I adore short sentences. Long sentences bore me. YMMV

See for yourself - https://www.literotica.com/s/fragments-first-love

I've nothing against short sentences. What I'm finding as I go back through my stories is that it's largely a matter of punctuation choices. English is very flexible as a language, I think.

 

[MillieDynamite]

No, it really isn't, we just play loosey-goosey with the rules.

I've nothing against short sentences. What I'm finding as I go back through my stories is that it's largely a matter of punctuation choices. English is very flexible as a language, I think.