A Short Digression on Long Sentences

We’re often enjoined to cut the fluff out of our writing. To use plain, simple language. To write short sentences. To worship the great god Brevity.

As Mark Twain noted, “A successful book is not made of what is in it, but what is left out of it.”

And there’s much to be said for this advice. But sometimes you just have to go long.

Immersing yourself in a writer’s vision

The marvellous Portuguese writer José Saramago was a huge fan of long sentences. He encapsulated his thinking in his novel the Stone Raft: “We have deemed all these words necessary in order to explain that we have been travelling more slowly than was predicted, concision is not a definitive virtue, on occasion one loses out by talking too much, it is true, but how much has also been gained by saying more than was strictly necessary.”

And that wasn’t even one of his longer sentences… By any stretch.

Saramago's experimental style often revolved around unfeasibly long sentences, sometimes more than a page long, spanning linked but identifiably separate ideas or actions. Based on loose flows of clauses joined by commas.

Of course, when we were young we were taught that a sentence is a grammatically complete expression of a complete thought. Saramago summarily dispensed with that particular rule.

But his style isn’t a barrier to the readability or enjoyment of his work. Far from it. His fiction has an immersive quality to it which inexorably draws you into his world. And it can seize our attention so effectively that the lack of full stops or capital letters doesn’t bother us.

Not least as you often need to read between the lines to fully grasp his meaning.

Saramago’s writing provides ample demonstration that the traditional strictures of grammar are there to be ignored when the content rises above them, or the narrative can dispense with them.

Making your words dance

Yes, I know. Short sentences have a punch to them. They grab your attention. But longer sentences allow you to express more complex ideas and add depth to your writing.

And, in general, good writing is based on a mixture of short and long sentences which add flavour, provide drama and retain your readers’ attention.

Crucially, you can use the mix to create a sense of rhythm. Speeding things up or slowing them down. Establishing a mood. Varying sentence length to find a rhythm that reflects your voice.

But if you’re still tempted to cut, cut and cut again, never forget what the Roman poet Horace said, “Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio.” (In trying to be concise, I become obscure.)

Photo by Mark Rasmuson on Unsplash