Thomas Haensgen

Instead of self-congratulation: here is a text by me!

A text about sentence lengths – or – Why short sentences are not always necessary.

These here are five words. And here come another five. Five-word sentences are good. At least that is often claimed. When it comes to "sentence lengths". But the constant repetition is annoying. Do you notice what is happening here? The writing sounds increasingly dull. The tone of the sentences is boring. The inner voice wants variety. Watch out: I vary the sentence length and create sound. Music! The words suddenly sound. Rhythm, its own beat, harmony is created. I use short sentences. And I use medium-length sentences, which I extend, for example, with commas. And sometimes, when I notice that the reader has easily gotten through the introduction, I write sentences of considerable length, which unleash their energy in a crescendo of drum rolls and fanfares, thus emphasizing the importance of the content with full force – and making it audible, tangible, and experienceable, without the reader noticing how long the sentence actually is. Five-word sentences are good. Not always, but sometimes. To catch your breath. Message received? 1A! ;)