Simplify Your Sentences

Keeping your sentence structure simple communicates your ideas more clearly and effectively to readers. A common problem with writers is being too wordy and having complicated sentence structures. Along with this problem is an overuse of unfamiliar words. This can confuse readers and turn them off. A wordy, complex writing style makes readers have to work harder to understand your writing. And remember, your primary goal as a writer is to communicate, not to confuse. Readers' goals are to have their reading time be educational, enjoyable, enlightening, relaxing and entertaining. They don't want to have to work at reading. You can accomplish this for readers by avoiding convoluted, compound sentence structures and instead write in a clear, concise manner that presents one major idea per sentence. This will keep your sentences relatively short and simple in structure. You want to strive for maximum impact with your sentences, so choose words that will get to the point quickly and effectively. Eliminate extraneous words that don't contribute to the overall point of the sentence. You don't want your writing to be so short that it's choppy; you just want to have writing that is reader-friendly. A lean, mean sentence structure will help you achieve the goal of clear, effective writing and will be a style your readers appreciate.