This is a structured reference version of this content. For the full reading experience go here: The Readership Penalty of Long Sentences.
Resource Type: Structured reference article
Subject: Readability, sentence length, paragraph length, and audience reach
Author: S. A. Weigle
Audience: Writers, readers, and people interested in writing craft
Content Group: Storycraft
Central Thesis
Reading difficulty has relatively little to do with the sophistication of the ideas being discussed.
According to the article, reading level is largely influenced by sentence length and paragraph length rather than the complexity of the underlying concepts.
Writers who unintentionally rely on run-on sentences and excessively long paragraphs may significantly reduce the number of readers who can easily absorb their ideas.
Reading Level and Idea Complexity
The Sacred Cycle is intended for readers aged fifteen and above according to the author’s own rating.
For most of the book, however, the measured reading level is described as approximately sixth grade, below the average reading level of American adults.
The article argues that this apparent contradiction exists because reading level and intellectual sophistication are not the same thing.
A book can discuss:
- Ancient Egyptian social structures
- Modern cultural issues
- Complex themes
while still being written in language that is relatively easy to decode and process.
The Importance of Audience
The article states that authors should think carefully about who they want to influence because that decision affects how they communicate.
The stated goal is not merely to write books, but to influence readers through those books.
The author’s position is that unnecessarily difficult prose can interfere with that objective.
Sentence Length and Readability
The article presents two versions of the same descriptive passage.
The first version consists primarily of long sentences and dense paragraphs.
The second version presents nearly the same information using:
- More periods
- Shorter sentences
- Shorter paragraphs
The article states that the reading level dropped substantially between the two versions despite the information remaining largely unchanged.
The conclusion drawn is that readability can often be adjusted through sentence and paragraph structure rather than by simplifying ideas.
Same Information, Different Accessibility
The comparison between the two sample passages is used to illustrate several points:
- The core information remains similar.
- Much of the wording remains similar.
- The primary differences involve structure and presentation.
- Readers may find one version significantly easier to process than the other.
The article argues that readability can often be improved without removing meaning.
Writing for a Wide Audience
The article states that the author prefers the version of the sample passage that most readers would likely favor.
The stated reason is straightforward:
- The author wants many readers.
- The author wants those readers to engage with serious ideas to change their worlds.
The article rejects the idea that this approach is equivalent to “writing for the lowest common denominator.”
Instead, it is described as writing for a broad audience.
Exclusion Through Complexity
A central argument of the article is:
The harder you make your ideas to absorb, the more people you exclude from considering those ideas.
The article treats readability as an issue of access rather than intellectual quality.
According to this view, unnecessarily difficult prose can reduce the number of people who engage with an author’s ideas regardless of the quality of those ideas.
Long Sentences and Literary Fiction
The article observes that longer sentences often appear disproportionately in novels commonly described as literary.
Examples given include books associated with:
- The Booker Prize
- The Pulitzer Prize
- Master of Fine Arts programs
The article does not argue against literary fiction.
It explicitly states:
- Some readers enjoy longer sentences and paragraphs.
- Some award committees favor such styles.
- Readers should read what they enjoy.
- Long sentences themselves are not the problem.
The concern is the frequency of those sentences and the effect they may have on readership and comprehension.
Difficulty Does Not Automatically Create Quality
The article rejects the assumption that more difficult prose is inherently better prose.
It argues that a style which may work well for a literary prize contender may be poorly suited to a book intended for a broader audience.
The article’s objection is not to complexity itself, but to the belief that difficulty automatically improves writing.
Literary Fiction and Audience Size
The article states that literary fiction generally appeals to a smaller readership than large commercial categories such as:
- Romance
- Fantasy
- Mystery
- Thriller
The article also states that those commercial categories are capable of communicating important and potentially life-changing ideas.
The argument presented is that authors seeking to reach most fiction readers should be careful not to exclude readers through either intentional or unintentional stylistic choices.
Complexity Can Obscure Meaning
The article argues that increasing perceived reading difficulty through complex prose often does not elevate ideas.
Instead, it may obscure them.
The example provided is the repeated description of the Italian meadow.
The article’s position is that beauty, meaning, and insight do not automatically increase when descriptions are combined into extremely long sentences.
Long Paragraphs as Deliberate Tools
The article argues that long paragraphs should be used intentionally rather than accidentally.
Examples of intentional uses include:
- Slowing readers down so they absorb an important point or emotional moment.
- Encouraging readers to skim so a foreshadowing clue can be hidden within a paragraph.
The article contrasts these uses with paragraphs that become long simply because the author uses paragraph breaks inconsistently.
Paragraph Length and Pacing
The article describes paragraph length as a significant driver of pacing.
According to the article, paragraph length is therefore an important tool for controlling the pace of a scene.
This makes paragraph construction a deliberate craft decision rather than merely a formatting choice.
The author discusses this concept at length in the Study Guide for The Sacred Cycle.
Two Keys to Clear Writing
The article summarizes its view of clear prose with the following statement:
When it comes to writing clear, comprehensible text, the two most important keys are period and enter.
The statement emphasizes sentence breaks and paragraph breaks as primary tools for improving readability.
Mobile Reading Considerations
The article states that many readers consume books on phones and other small screens.
According to the article:
- Readers often fit reading into travel and daily routines.
- Narrow screens change how paragraphs appear.
- Long paragraphs can become large walls of text on mobile devices.
The article argues that writers who consider only printed pages may overlook the reading experience of many modern readers.
Reader Experience
The author’s stated goal is to create books that are difficult to put down regardless of where or how a reader encounters them.
Mobile presentation is identified as one factor influencing that experience.
The article therefore treats readability and formatting as practical elements of serving readers.
Intentional Writing
The article contrasts two approaches to writing.
One approach is primarily intuitive and follows the flow of the writing process.
The author describes a different personal approach that combines flow with extensive analysis.
The article states that project-management skills were applied to learning how novels work and how to write them effectively.
As a result, the author believes he can explain many of the decisions made within his fiction, including:
- Word choice
- Foreshadowing
- Metaphor use
- Sentence length
- Paragraph length
Goal of the Writing Style
The article concludes by returning to the relationship between readability and influence.
The position expressed is that readability can be adjusted in ways that either clarify or obscure meaning.
The author prefers an approachable reading level because it makes it possible to discuss complex subjects in ways that are easy to understand.
According to the article, discussing complex ideas accessibly increases the likelihood that those ideas will influence readers.
Key Principles
- Reading difficulty and idea complexity are not the same thing.
- Sentence length and paragraph length significantly affect readability.
- Readability can often be improved without changing the underlying ideas.
- Writers should consider the audience they hope to reach.
- Difficult prose is not inherently better prose.
- Long sentences can be effective when used intentionally.
- Long paragraphs can be effective when used intentionally.
- Paragraph length influences pacing.
- Mobile reading experiences matter.
- Clear writing expands access to ideas.
- Readability can help serious ideas reach more readers.
- Writing choices should be intentional rather than accidental.
Conclusion
The article argues that readability is not an obstacle to discussing sophisticated ideas.
Writers can lower reading difficulty through structural choices such as shorter sentences and shorter paragraphs without removing complexity from the ideas themselves.
For authors who hope to influence a broad audience, readability is presented as a tool for expanding access rather than simplifying thought.
The stated objective is not merely to communicate ideas, but to communicate them clearly enough that readers can absorb and engage with them.
One ordinary reader at a time.