Sentences

Are your sentences too long? The best test is to read your writing out loud, and see where you need to put in a break to separate your ideas.

Do you have a long paragraph that is all one sentence? If so then it’s likely you need to break up your sentences. You can use commas, but also don’t be afraid of writing short sentences.

Look at this example of a very long sentence and see how hard it makes it to understand.

My brother lives with my aunt near to his college, when I see him he always teases me about how I wear bright colours and he calls me silly names and says that cars will crash when I walk because the driver won’t be able to see and then I get angry and we fight but he doesn’t really hurt me and of course he always wins because he is much stronger than me but he doesn’t tease my little sister so much and sometimes I realise I miss him when he isn’t around.

Now here it is in shorter sentences. The commas tell you when to pause.

My brother lives with my aunt near to his college. When I see him he always teases me about how I wear bright colours, and he calls me silly names and says that cars will crash when I walk because the driver won’t be able to see. Then I get angry and we fight, but he doesn’t really hurt me and of course he always wins because he is much stronger than me. He doesn’t tease my little sister so much. Sometimes I realise I miss him when he isn’t around.

Paragraphs

Just as sentences can be short, paragraphs can be short too. One paragraph should just have one main focus.

Look at your writing. Do you have a paragraph that takes up most of the page? You need to read it carefully and divide your ideas into separate paragraphs.

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