Writing pacing sentences

TotallyHuman

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I have this weird problem that I write in long sentences and then see that the aforementioned sentences are hardly readable and then add dots all over to break them up into smaller, more comprehensible sizes, which turns my sentences weirdly choppy and lacking in the pacing department, which makes it a lesser of two evils, I guess, but still, it's not that nice in the end. Do any of you face, or have faced such a predicament? If so, how did you solve it?
 

Candy_Man

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I usually limit myself to two/three conjunctions per sentence SO I don't find myself writing long, unwieldy sentences WHICH might be difficult to read.
This rule does have exceptions for when I feel like I can get away with an especially long sentence.
 

Herz

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I am the same with the long sentences.
I can't explain it well, but I have an urge to pursue a certain sound when reading. It is something like an intangible fluidity of the sentence that I unconsciously seek. This leads to forming long sentences, and sometimes I get intricate text, hard to read sentence, wordy sentence or unclear sentence alerts. Then when I try to rewrite it, the shorter expressions lack that fluidity and sound choppy and lacking.
 
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Derin_Edala

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Overusing ellipses or m-dashes in this way is a problem that a lot of fanfic writers have (since this is acceptable, or even standard, grammar in many types of fanfic). Do you come from a fanfic background?

I find that I'm constantly missing commas in my sentences, making them difficult to read, because I spend so much time on Tumblr, where that's standard grammar (for boring site architecture reasons).
 

Lloyd

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Read more good books to train your skills through osmosis.
 

Lord_Drakonus

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Separate them into smaller sentences as much as possible and then put those smaller sentences into small paragraphs.
 

Herz

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Separate them into smaller sentences as much as possible and then put those smaller sentences into small paragraphs.
But this doesn't sound good at all...
I don't know about the common standard of web-novel readers, but I think we shouldn't belittle them to the point that we need to chew and spit out simple sentences. The same goes for the paragraphs. I personally don't understand why people always recommend it.
 
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SailusGebel

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But this doesn't sound good at all...
I don't know about the common standard of web-novel readers, but I think we shouldn't belittle them to the point that we need to chew and spit out simple sentences. The same goes for the paragraphs. I personally don't understand why people always recommend it.
Op clearly stated that he\she has a problem with writing overly long sentences. He\she asked for advice, so he was given a valid one. Also, op clearly stated, that he\she doesn't like how the overly long sentences look\sound. So I don't know what are you talking about, belittle?
 

JayDirex

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I'm going to tell you a secret that none of these people are telling you:

You can start a sentence with the conjunctions "And and But"

Therefore, you can break all of those ridiculous sentences down into smaller sentences. And if you need examples just read my story.

If you don't believe me, Google it. It's proper grammar. @TrashyHuman
 

SailusGebel

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I'm going to tell you a secret that none of these people are telling you:

You can start a sentence with the conjunctions "And and But"

Therefore, you can break all of those ridiculous sentences down into smaller sentences. And if you need examples just read my story.

If you don't believe me, Google it. It's proper grammar.
Wow. :blob_shock: This does sound like a top-secret. Perhaps I should read your story as well and snatch a few of your secrets for myself.
 

Herz

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Op clearly stated that he\she has a problem with writing overly long sentences. He\she asked for advice, so he was given a valid one. Also, op clearly stated, that he\she doesn't like how the overly long sentences look\sound. So I don't know what are you talking about, belittle?
1. I was just wondering why is everyone recommending short sentences and paragraphs. I have seen quite a few people do this. Therefore, I stated my opinion. Sometimes, I am troubled by my long sentences too. But leaving them long sounds better than just breaking them down. I believe that my readers have the brains to understand longer unchewed sentences too.

2. So am I supposed to open a new thread when this one works fine? If I am not wrong, this is a discussion. This means that by quoting, you can converse with someone other than the Op. I wasn't quoting the Op, nor was I talking to them. Where is the problem?
 

SailusGebel

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1. I was just wondering why is everyone recommending short sentences and paragraphs. I have seen quite a few people do this. Therefore, I stated my opinion. Sometimes, I am troubled by my long sentences too. But leaving them long sounds better than just breaking them down. I believe that my readers have the brains to understand longer unchewed sentences too.

2. So am I supposed to open a new thread when this one works fine? If I am not wrong, this is a discussion. This means that by quoting, you can converse with someone other than the Op. I wasn't quoting the Op, nor was I talking to them. Where is the problem?
1.The problem here that OP stated that he didn't like long sentences. OP asked, specifically, how to solve this problem. OP thinks of this as a problem. That's it. OP said that long sentences, specifically his\her long sentences are hardly readable. You can't judge everyone equally, thinking that everyone has the same skillset as you. If OP COULD write decent long sentences, he\she won't start this thread. I think this is logical, no? You haven't seen his sentences, so perhaps they ARE hard to read. So your advice kind of useless.

2. If I'm not wrong, 'hijacking' the thread isn't welcomed. Also, I haven't stated that there is a problem with you discussing anything here. Heck, it was me who started a completely irrelevant discussion with you. Oh, and btw, simple isn't equal worse if we are talking about opinions.
 

AliceShiki

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But this doesn't sound good at all...
I don't know about the common standard of web-novel readers, but I think we shouldn't belittle them to the point that we need to chew and spit out simple sentences. The same goes for the paragraphs. I personally don't understand why people always recommend it.
Generally speaking, text flows better in small paragraphs. It's not belittling the readers, it's simply trying to make your novel the best it can be, and that includes making your paragraphs be of small easily digestible sizes.

To give an extreme example, back when I was in uni, it was common to see pragraphs that lasted from half a page to one page and a half. Those paragraphs sucked. You often lost the train of thought and had to re-read because the author lost you.

That's horrible garbage-tier writing that no editor should have ever allowed, but that was the norm for the books I read in uni. Really long paragraphs that flowed horribly and didn't lead to a smooth reading experience.

Writers of academic texts can make do with being garbage-tier writers because the people reading their books don't care about the quality of the writing itself, but about the content of the book... Webnovel authors don't have this luxury. If you write garbage, people won't read what you write, no matter how interesting the content might be.

Granted, this is an extreme example, I never saw anyone making a webnovel paragraph that was as long as one and a half pages of a book... We aren't that insane and have a basic notion of what is too much... >.>

Still, fact is, your book will generally flow better if you avoid excessively long sentences and paragraphs. Use them if necessary, but avoid it whenever possible.
 

Herz

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Generally speaking, text flows better in small paragraphs. It's not belittling the readers, it's simply trying to make your novel the best it can be, and that includes making your paragraphs be of small easily digestible sizes.

To give an extreme example, back when I was in uni, it was common to see pragraphs that lasted from half a page to one page and a half. Those paragraphs sucked. You often lost the train of thought and had to re-read because the author lost you.

That's horrible garbage-tier writing that no editor should have ever allowed, but that was the norm for the books I read in uni. Really long paragraphs that flowed horribly and didn't lead to a smooth reading experience.

Writers of academic texts can make do with being garbage-tier writers because the people reading their books don't care about the quality of the writing itself, but about the content of the book... Webnovel authors don't have this luxury. If you write garbage, people won't read what you write, no matter how interesting the content might be.

Granted, this is an extreme example, I never saw anyone making a webnovel paragraph that was as long as one and a half pages of a book... We aren't that insane and have a basic notion of what is too much... >.>

Still, fact is, your book will generally flow better if you avoid excessively long sentences and paragraphs. Use them if necessary, but avoid it whenever possible.
This is a good explanation. Although I wouldn't call it garbage just because you need to flex your mind and think while reading. Especially in academic texts, I don't think short paragraphs will work so well. You not only have to state a fact but explain in depth why that is the case. Perhaps, I am used to this type of writing and don't really find it so tedious.

1.The problem here that OP stated that he didn't like long sentences. OP asked, specifically, how to solve this problem. OP thinks of this as a problem. That's it. OP said that long sentences, specifically his\her long sentences are hardly readable. You can't judge everyone equally, thinking that everyone has the same skillset as you. If OP COULD write decent long sentences, he\she won't start this thread. I think this is logical, no? You haven't seen his sentences, so perhaps they ARE hard to read. So your advice kind of useless.

2. If I'm not wrong, 'hijacking' the thread isn't welcomed. Also, I haven't stated that there is a problem with you discussing anything here. Heck, it was me who started a completely irrelevant discussion with you. Oh, and btw, simple isn't equal worse if we are talking about opinions.
It isn't your job to tell me this. Only the Op and the one I was talking to can make such a remark. Otherwise, you are not any different than me in "hijacking" the thread.
 

SailusGebel

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This is a good explanation. Although I wouldn't call it garbage just because you need to flex your mind and think while reading. Especially in academic texts, I don't think short paragraphs will work so well. You not only have to state a fact but explain in depth why that is the case. Perhaps, I am used to this type of writing and don't really find it so tedious.


It isn't your job to tell me this. Only the Op and the one I was talking to can make such a remark. Otherwise, you are not any different than me in "hijacking" the thread.
Yeah, I know. So what?
 

SailusGebel

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You seem bored and searching for someone to have a fight with. Sorry, but I don't have time to play with you. :blob_evil_two:
I am bored, but I'm not searching for a fight. You stated your opinion, I stated my opinion on your opinion. Both of us can do this. What's the problem here?
 

AliceShiki

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This is a good explanation. Although I wouldn't call it garbage just because you need to flex your mind and think while reading. Especially in academic texts, I don't think short paragraphs will work so well. You not only have to state a fact but explain in depth why that is the case. Perhaps, I am used to this type of writing and don't really find it so tedious.
You can still explain things in depth over multiple paragraphs though? I actually found a handful of writers that did that, and I was like... "OMG! Someone that knows how to write!!!"

Like, you just need to create proper links between your paragraphs, it's not suuuuper hard to do that... >.>

I could understand the writer's point when they made a gigantic paragraph, it just took way longer than it would have if they had split their line of thought better. So uhn... I really don't see any point in regularly making big big paragraphs, especially because I found a handful of authors that were able to split their point out and still deliver their message properly.

So, to me, making a text that is hard to understand not because of the content, but because of the way it was written, can be called nothing but bad writing. At least that's how I view it~
 
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