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Sometimes, it will happen when you are reading a blog or an article, but it often occurs with academic content. For some reason, while you are reading, your eyelids droop, your heartbeat slows, and you start to slip into a dreamy lull. The content isn’t the problem. In fact, the subject matter is interesting, so why are you feeling increasingly comatose?

The mysterious factor may be the sentence length. Writers can feel anxious about having choppy phrasing that makes them sound like third-graders, or they hew down their sentences in order to chase down that writer’s workshop principle of “conciseness.” Then there is the third type of writer who believes that avoiding both “extremes” will bring about a balance that will enhance the readability of their subject. Unfortunately, too many medium-length sentences together create an unchanging beat that tranquilizes the reader. Avoid a constant rhythm unless you’re writing poetry or lyrics.

It is not required to count how many words you have in each sentence. The best two guidelines are to vary the sentence length while you are composing the article, and then go over it with these considerations in mind:

• If it sounds abrupt or childish, your sentences may be too choppy. Try combining the sentences. Take a quiz to practice your sentence fusion skills.
• If you find yourself stumbling over wordy sentences, there are two things you can do. First, attempt to split up a single sentence into two. Second, trim down the sentence by taking out unnecessary verbiage. One good method is using action verbs. If you notice that you have a lot of descriptive verbs such as is, are, was, has been, etc., replace them with action verbs. For example, change “Hand sanitizers may not be beneficial to you” to “Hand sanitizers may not benefit you.” There are fewer words to trip over when you use action verbs. Take an exercise in writing concisely.
• If the copy strikes you as monotonous, you have the mid-tempo affliction. Vary your sentences’ lengths to jump-start your writing.

To newer writers, this may seem a little finicky. Think of it as a subtle approach in increasing the readability and attraction of your copy. Your readers will thank you.