Be Like Hemingway, Not Faulkner
When I was a pretentious college student, my favorite novel was “The Sound and the Fury.” All those complex sentences = good taste and sophistication, right?
I still love that book. But if you want to be clear in your communications, simplicity is best. Be like Ernest Hemingway, not William Faulkner.
People don’t have much time. Lots of text is daunting. To make your message stand out:
Use plain words.
Stay away from jargon.
Write in short sentences.
Mix in the occasional longer sentence to break up the rhythm and create some interest.
Use active voice.
Avoid adverbs, unless they’re necessary. Consider: Will the meaning of your sentence change without the adverb?
Use bullet points to keep ideas organized.
A simple tool to help you figure out if your writing is too complicated is the free Hemingway App website. Paste your copy in the site. The app will identify long sentences that your readers may have trouble understanding. It also will suggest words and weak phrases to replace or drop.
The app also will mark sentences written in passive voice. Change them to active voice to improve comprehension. Generally, active voice sounds and reads better.
Another benefit? The app will assess the reading grade level of your copy. For example, it found the first draft of the copy in this post to be suitable for grade seven. That's good. Editing the copy with the app's help brought the grade level to five. That's even better for ease of comprehension.
Short and sweet sentences are some of the most memorable — and effective. Here’s one of the best last lines of an English-language novel (Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises”):
“Isn’t it pretty to think so?”