Complex sentences vs. run-on sentences

Gaze

Gaze

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MBTI
INFPishy
So, I'm writing papers for my class and I have an issue with grammar rules today.

Coming from a very theoretical background, my writing has always been a little bit on the wordy side I admit. And I probably smush ideas together.

I do appreciate that we are focused on simpler, more direct, and straightforward writing styles today because it makes writing more effective and efficient in most cases. However, when writing about literature, theory, etc. writing is more likely to be dense. It is difficult to think simply when the much of the readings on theory are very wordy and theoretical.

Anyway, my issue is with the confusion of complex sentences with run-on sentences. It seems that simplicity rules but sometimes too much simply in writing and literature waters down the thought or idea. Sometimes, an idea is better expressed in a complex sentence. But yet, any type of complex sentence because it is not a simple sentence is called a run-on sentence. These sentences are not run-ons. They are simply sentences which require a little more wording than most to transmit an idea.

Thoughts
 
Language has a rhythm and a feel to it. Read lots and you get a "flavor" for the muscial, lyrical quality of good writing. I always "listen" to my sentences and you can find natural breaks in the sentences which keeps you from having overly wordy sentences. Know your strengths and weaknesses well. Most people think they don't need to edit as much as they do. Unless you are an accomplished writer, you should follow a rule of 3--3 times editing/drafting before you consider it even closed to finished. Then proofread 3 times.
 
Write your sentence. Then edit it. Removing all unnecessary words without altering meaning yields simplicity and clarity.

Read the classic, The Elements of Style by Strunk and White at least every six months.
 
Norton said:
Write your sentence. Then edit it. Removing all unnecessary words without altering meaning yields simplicity and clarity.

Read the classic, The Elements of Style by Strunk and White at least every six months.
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Some people do not embrace a spartan writing style though and consider it prosaic. I think that a wordier style is fine, but there is a tendency to create these long, convulated sentences that do need to be edited.
 
Sonya said:
Some people do not embrace a spartan writing style though and consider it prosaic. I think that a wordier style is fine, but there is a tendency to create these long, convulated sentences that do need to be edited.
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To me, "wordier style" means unnecessary words. These are words that add sound, but not meaning, to a sentence. It's not only in poetry where every word counts.

Hemingway was right: "All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know." There's beauty in simplicity. Art, too.
 
Norton said:
To me, "wordier style" means unnecessary words. These are words that add sound, but not meaning, to a sentence. It's not only in poetry where every word counts.

Hemingway was right: "All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know." There's beauty in simplicity. Art, too.
Click to expand...

But this presumes the idea that people have concise thinking....rather than a convoluted way of expressing their ideas/thoughts. You have to start somewhere as a writer. Typically as humans we tend to think that everyone will be enthralled with our thoughts...it takes time to learn to be direct and sparse.
 
I fear I may be a classice example of the run on sentance. . .oops. .just like this one. . I guess I write like I talk. probably not a good thing. I'd try to fix it, but I know it wouldn't do any good, I'd revert back at the first opportunity. .
 
Sonya said:
But this presumes the idea that people have concise thinking....rather than a convoluted way of expressing their ideas/thoughts. You have to start somewhere as a writer. Typically as humans we tend to think that everyone will be enthralled with our thoughts...it takes time to learn to be direct and sparse.
Click to expand...

Just as one reduces an equation to its simplest algebraic form, one should reduce a sentence to its essential meaning.

I like this: Those who can't write, can't think. Those who can't think, can't write.

Thus, writing is as much for the writer as it is for the reader.
 
I don't know why people would purposely revise a run-on sentence just because of convention. William Faulkner may have been a grand exception to the rule, but a famous one. Sometimes, you want to attach more than one independent clause in a sentence, because it's actually part of "completing the thought", which is the whole point of sentences, so I'd say if it makes sense, keep it.

Run-on's will probably have to be balanced out with shorter, incomplete sentences. Like this one. Or this one. Makes perfect sense to me.
 
I have this problem.

The more information And thoughts that I'm trying to get across, the more likely I am to err with a run-on sentence (see my first post in my introduction). I do believe that there is a time and place for complex sentence structures though. I'm just not very good at figuring out that time and place.
 
I am a very good writer and I have been blogging for several years. The ideal post is somewhere between 800 and 2,000 words, so it pays to be economical with your sentence structure.

First, to avoid run on sentences, but still have complex sentences, the semicolon is your friend. Use it when you need two complete sentences to form one complete thought; that will keep everything clear. Commas are to put an idea that belongs in a sentence, but doesn't quite fit. (Such as the first sentence in this paragraph.)

One full idea per sentence, generally.

Re-read and re-write your stuff. The more you do this, the more likely you are to not continually make the same mistakes over and over again.
 
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