Sentence Length

[Vaz]

Just write what feels natural to you, obviously short sentences can generate pace when you need it but if your long sentences come naturally and they fit the rhythm and tone of your book then stick with it!

Like has been mentioned its about finding a balance that suits you

 

[Ursa major]

I'm rubbish at proof reading.

Join the club (one with an awful lot of members).

 

[J Riff]

Long sentences were the way. I was just perusing some William Morris and there's many 75+ word sentences. They are very logical and one never notices it.

 

[J D Foster]

Long sentences were the way. I was just perusing some William Morris and there's many 75+ word sentences. They are very logical and one never notices it.

I'm sure my other hero Wilkie Collins wrote long too, might check later. That's why I wondered if it was a dated way of writing. Though I dream of being the sort of wordsmiths Dickins and Collins were.

 

[J Riff]

I don't think it's so much dated... it just seems to make sense when imparting INFO... you see more semi-colons as facts are piled up. As long as there is logical consistency a sentence can easily go to 150 words and the reader doesn't notice because it's put together such that it reads like a bunch of shorter sentences. Or something. I bet we could find 150-200 word sentences in many classical works.

 

[Vertigo]

That sounds amazing! Is it a record for modern writing (for thousands of years people didn't bother much with punctuation, hence people in ancient Rome wouldn't read something out loud, cold. They'd practice it privately to see how to phrase/ pause it etc.)

Well he does (did) construct pretty long sentences anyway, however that one was an exception used, I believe, to convey that sense of the dream. He changes his style a lot to convey different feelings, emotions, pace etc.

 

[HareBrain]

I think there was a thread a couple of months ago about short, staccato sentences... Or was that to do with the openings of books? Might be worth looking into to follow the trains of thought in the thread.

Indeed there was, and here it is:

https://www.sffchronicles.com/threads/560720/

 

[prizzley]

One of my beta readers told me a two line sentence was too long. I ignored that suggestion. Just don't overdo it. I once started a Booker listed novel, but didn't finish the first sentence. It covered more than two pages!