Clarity Improved by Simplicity: Be Concise | saukvalley.com

Why is it that writers who seldom breathe a sentence longer than a dozen words are not the least bit reluctant to write 30- and 40-word sentences?

And so the blogger begins. He/she writes that people often speak in sentences with fewer than 10 words. But writers struggle to write sentences with the preferred average sentence length of 20 words.

And the blogger's key, accurate point:

Tight, concise writing has the singular goal of promoting clarity.

The blogger provides a few brief tips, with clear examples:

Use active voice ...

Avoid expletives ... [no, not swear words of the Nixonian variety]

Limit participles ...

Write the positive ...

[Eliminate] useless words ...

For more advice on concise writing, check out Garbl's Fat-Free Writing Links and Garbl's Concise Writing Guide.