CATPAW

The Long and Short of Sentences

In 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing, Gary Provost writes this brilliant little demonstration of the importance of sentence length:

This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety.

Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.

So write with a combination of short, medium, and long sentences. Create a sound that pleases the reader’s ear. Don’t just write words. Write music.

Provost's advice is excellent, but it can be hard to follow when you do the hard work of writing. CATPAW is here to help! To help you hear the music of writing that Provost describes, CATPAW has a visualization tool that will help you see the music. I have entered Provost's text into that tool, and here is the result:

This sentence has five words. (5) Here are five more words. (5) Five-word sentences are fine. (4) But several together become monotonous. (5) Listen to what is happening. (5) The writing is getting boring. (5) The sound of it drones. (5) It’s like a stuck record. (5) The ear demands some variety. (5) Now listen. (2) I vary the sentence length, and I create music. (9) Music. (1) The writing sings. (3) It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. (9) I use short sentences. (4) And I use sentences of medium length. (7) And sometimes when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important. (53) So write with a combination of short, medium, and long sentences. (11) Create a sound that pleases the reader’s ear. (8) Don’t just write words. (4) Write music. (2)

The CATPAW tool sorts sentences into four categories of word length: under 9, 9 to 16, 17 to 24, and 25 or more. It displays each type of sentence in a different color, and it adds the number of words in parenthesis at the end of each sentence.

When you put your own text into CATPAW, you will see a similar visualization, and you can ask questions about it. What kind of word-painting have you created? What changes would help your text sing to your reader?