Run On Sentences

Long sentences are something I come across when copy editing others’ work, and it can lead to quite a bit of confusion, especially when it comes to trying to explain complex ideas and strategies, and given that we have such incredibly complex technological subject matter, it’s increasingly important to make sure you don’t run on and on with sentences that have superfluous wording, and tend to make the reader incredibly tired, tuning out to your very important message — a message delivered with authority and drive, therefore; even though this sentence is perfectly grammatically correct, it’s probably not ever a sentence I would want to send out in an email because everyone needs a break, and we should always be ensuring we aren’t turning people off to our message by creating a long sentence that could be better suited as a short, terse, informative little clause which allows the reader to focus in on exactly what you want them to know (and if you made it this far, you deserve a gold star).

Here are some ways to shorten your sentences.

You could also try this Auto-Checker out. When I checked the sentence above, it came up with the following:

Now, I don’t know about the plagiarism. That text was 100% my own. As with any tools, use them with an eye that they are not always 100% accurate. The point is that it’s always a good idea to check your copy, rather than have run on sentence issues. Keep it short and simple, especially in this day and age where attention spans are becoming shorter and shorter.

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