Do you know what happens when your sentences are longer than 40 words?
Long and complex sentences are harder for our brains to process, especially online where we tend to scan, skim and dip in and out.
Short sentences are easier to digest.
In fact, US writing coach Ann Wiley cites an American Press Institute study that shows reader comprehension declines dramatically as sentence length increases:
- At 8 words, reader comprehension is 100%.
- At 14 words, reader comprehension is 90%.
- At 43 words, reader comprehension dives below 10%.
Below 10% … that means 9 out of 10 people won’t understand what you’ve written!
Best practice is to aim for an average of 20 words per sentence.
But since variety is the spice of writing, mix it up with a range of sentence lengths to keep your readers interested.
| Cinden Lester has more than 25 years’ experience as a professional writer, editor and communications specialist. She worked as a broadcast journalist, in private sector marketing and public relations, and in government communications before establishing her own Canberra-based communications consultancy in 2000.
Contact Cinden if you’d like help with your writing. |
