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Writing Resources

Research has proven that the most readable sentences are from 10 to 17 words long. To increase the readability of your work, use simpler sentences whenever you can. Excess adjectives, adverbs and prepositional phrases clutter up your sentences. Also, the longer your sentence is, the more likely it is that you yourself will become confused about what your point was when you started writing. Since complex sentences lend themselves so easily to convolution, avoid them whenever possible.

Your task, should you decide to accept it, is to transform the more complicated sentence types into the simpler types. This does not mean that every sentence must be a simple one -- your reader needs to feel some variety in the cadence and rhythm of your sentences. A collection of "See Jane," "See Jane run," sorts of sentences would get pretty boring. Just make your sentences shorter and simpler than they were!

This month, we will look at the simplest sentence simplification technique: Break the sentence apart at conjunctions. Since many long sentences are glued together with conjunctions, it's easy to break them apart where you initially stuck them together. Here's how:

• Look for conjunctions like "and," "or," "but" and others.
• Cross out the conjunction.
• Do what's necessary to give you two complete, shorter sentences in place of the longer one. You may have to restate the subject for the second sentence.
  

In the next few months, we will explore several other ways you can simplify your sentences.

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WORKTALK has produced great results for businesses nationwide. We can train your people to write, or do your writing for you. In our customized on-site training programs, you'll learn to write quickly, concisely and correctly. Through our consulting services, we expertly plan and write your work. Our team of editors can rewrite even your most irritatingly unclear documents.

Our satisfied clients include Transamerica Life, Southern California Edison, US Treasury Department/Customs Service, US Department of the Interior, Kenneth Leventhal and Company, Ernst and Young, and Thomas J. Lipton Company. Call Elizabeth Danziger at (310) 396-8303 to learn more about how WORKTALK can help you. Let us help you get to the point!