Keep Sentences Short

Perhaps the reason I wanted to talk about this topic is for one very important reason, I get long winded and I'm sure you do, too.

Take a look at the above sentence. How might I shorten it and still keep the meaning?

How about:

I love this topic. It keeps me from being long-winded.
Long winded? Keep your sentences short.

Keeping sentences short doesn't mean we think that others are stupid. It doesn't mean we are stupid, either. Short sentences give clarity to our writing. Short sentences cause others to think.

Got milk?

What does that slogan do for you? How many folks have duplicated the saying with their own spin?

Photo by: Matti Mattila, courtesy of Flickr

Photo by: The Paperclip, courtesy of Flickr

I often have to go through my sentences and shorten them. Kind of like shortening a length of rope, extraneous words are cut out. One sentence becomes two, like this one and the sentence before it. I try to make my writing a little better by weeding.

Got scissors?

Photo by: James Bowe, courtesy of Flickr