Best of the Week: Keep it Short

The best idea of the week was that of contrasting long, often over-bearing sentences with short ones, to add meaning, emotion, and emphasis. How novel. It seems like we often lose sight of how useful these sentences can be, and would rather pack as many complex-looking thoughts into as little room as possible. In a way, it makes me resent many of the things I read in my daily life. Newspapers. Novels. Scholarly books. For the most part, they stick to longer sentences. Why haven't they seen the light? Why do I have to read through those elaborate phrases? Shorter sentences are clearer. More poignant. Expressive. You can't really be complex in eight words.

Still, like all things, short sentences should be used in moderation. Observe: I like English class. English class is fun. I have friends in English class. My favorite part of English class is reading books. We're reading The Kite Runner. (The blog won't let me underline, so I italicized.) As opposed to: I like English class, because it's a fun class I have friends in class with me, who's, like mine, favorite part of class is reading books like The Kite Runner. Or the lesson's: My favorite part of an enjoyable English class is spent talking and discussing a book like The Kite Runner. It's a good time.

I plan on integrated this idea into my toolbox of expressive writing wonder, although I certainly will overuse the technique as I get used to emphasizing it. You see that. I think.