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Craft 1 min read Eliza Marsh

The case for shorter sentences

I used to admire the long sentence β€” the kind that uncoils across half a page, gathering modifiers and qualifications like burrs on a coat. I still do, sometimes. But increasingly I find myself trusting the short one more.

The long sentence

There is a particular kind of pleasure in a sentence that takes its time. Henry James knew it. Marilynne Robinson knows it. The reader is held inside the thought, suspended, until the verb finally arrives like a key turning in a lock.

The short one

But the short sentence does something different. It asks you to look at one thing. Then the next. It refuses to hide behind its own music.

I have come to believe that most prose is improved by cutting it in half and seeing what survives.

A rule of thumb

When in doubt, end the sentence. You can always start another one. The period is free.

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