Great essay. One thing I would add. Many writers believe, correctly, in the many decisions they make when writing a story, they should consider their audience. Whatever audience that is (academic, YA, kid's books, cookbooks, etc.), the material should be accessible. Meaning the reader reads words, not the writer's mind. But I believe there's a third party to consider (okay, a 4th if you count God) and that's the editor's decisions/guidelines. The length of sentences decisions, ultimately, will determine word count, and that's important if writer's want to get published. An anthology I submitted to wanted stories of 4000 words. As a writer of flash fiction, I queried whether I could submit a 3500-word piece I thought was a good fit. Yeah, good fit, no on the word count. That meant I had to ADD words! Good grief, how could I do that without experienced readers recognizing padding? For the first time in my life, I was re-editing to add length. Of course, part of the solution was longer sentences that delivered more information, backstory on another character for instance, but not always easy to do and keep style consistent throughout. Don't know if you've covered that angle, but I thought about it when I finished the essay.
You have captured the essence of meaning through conquest the short sentence, but as an editor, let me tell you .... it’s still too long. It should be: True that.
Great essay. One thing I would add. Many writers believe, correctly, in the many decisions they make when writing a story, they should consider their audience. Whatever audience that is (academic, YA, kid's books, cookbooks, etc.), the material should be accessible. Meaning the reader reads words, not the writer's mind. But I believe there's a third party to consider (okay, a 4th if you count God) and that's the editor's decisions/guidelines. The length of sentences decisions, ultimately, will determine word count, and that's important if writer's want to get published. An anthology I submitted to wanted stories of 4000 words. As a writer of flash fiction, I queried whether I could submit a 3500-word piece I thought was a good fit. Yeah, good fit, no on the word count. That meant I had to ADD words! Good grief, how could I do that without experienced readers recognizing padding? For the first time in my life, I was re-editing to add length. Of course, part of the solution was longer sentences that delivered more information, backstory on another character for instance, but not always easy to do and keep style consistent throughout. Don't know if you've covered that angle, but I thought about it when I finished the essay.
So very true.
You have captured the essence of meaning through conquest the short sentence, but as an editor, let me tell you .... it’s still too long. It should be: True that.