Long sentences in personal statement Forum
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Long sentences in personal statement
What do you guys think? Im finding that in order to be both concise and insightful, some long and descriptive sentences are inevitable - do you think this will have any impact on the overall effectiveness of the statement?
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Re: Long sentences in personal statement
If you don't know how to effectively use sentence length in your writing, then something is wrong.
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Re: Long sentences in personal statement
So are you saying that as long as the sentences themselves are effective, whether or not they are too long will not matter from the point of view of the reader?
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Re: Long sentences in personal statement
It's syntax. You can use longer (or shorter) sentences to convey different emotions/meaning to the reader. Good writing is good writing. You can just generally say long sentences are bad.Anonymous User wrote:So are you saying that as long as the sentences themselves are effective, whether or not they are too long will not matter from the point of view of the reader?
- basedvulpes
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Post removed.
Post removed.
Last edited by basedvulpes on Thu Nov 12, 2015 4:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Long sentences in personal statement
Got it. Just to clarify, in your last sentence you meant - one can't just generally say...LSATclincher wrote:It's syntax. You can use longer (or shorter) sentences to convey different emotions/meaning to the reader. Good writing is good writing. You can just generally say long sentences are bad.Anonymous User wrote:So are you saying that as long as the sentences themselves are effective, whether or not they are too long will not matter from the point of view of the reader?
Thanks
- PoopyPants
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Re: Long sentences in personal statement
Generally, series of long sentences are bad. Think about it. When you read a novel, or even a research paper, what happens when you see dense paragraphs of extremely long sentences? Your eyes glaze over, and your natural inclination (at least for most people--and particularly people who must read hundreds or thousands of these essays) is to skip to where the prose gets shorter.Anonymous User wrote:Got it. Just to clarify, in your last sentence you meant - one can't just generally say...LSATclincher wrote:It's syntax. You can use longer (or shorter) sentences to convey different emotions/meaning to the reader. Good writing is good writing. You can just generally say long sentences are bad.Anonymous User wrote:So are you saying that as long as the sentences themselves are effective, whether or not they are too long will not matter from the point of view of the reader?
Thanks
The length of your sentences are a huge part of pacing. Is something exciting or dramatic happening? Short sentences can create a sense of urgency and action. But, long sentences can also create a sort of stream-of-consciousness kind of thing when done correctly, though this is definitely more difficult to do, and should be used sparingly (for a great example of pacing in general, but specifically the stream of consciousness pacing during an action scene, read American Psycho).
Just in general though, keep your sentences relatively concise. Better writing makes for better reading.
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Re: Long sentences in personal statement
OP here. Many thanks for the above response. I read this after making some edits in my PS and I found pacing very applicable in the cases where I ended up either splitting or combing sentences. I plan to anonymize and post it once it's complete...or maybe even before to see if I get any objections as to the topic and directionPoopyPants wrote:Generally, series of long sentences are bad. Think about it. When you read a novel, or even a research paper, what happens when you see dense paragraphs of extremely long sentences? Your eyes glaze over, and your natural inclination (at least for most people--and particularly people who must read hundreds or thousands of these essays) is to skip to where the prose gets shorter.Anonymous User wrote:Got it. Just to clarify, in your last sentence you meant - one can't just generally say...LSATclincher wrote:It's syntax. You can use longer (or shorter) sentences to convey different emotions/meaning to the reader. Good writing is good writing. You can just generally say long sentences are bad.Anonymous User wrote:So are you saying that as long as the sentences themselves are effective, whether or not they are too long will not matter from the point of view of the reader?
Thanks
The length of your sentences are a huge part of pacing. Is something exciting or dramatic happening? Short sentences can create a sense of urgency and action. But, long sentences can also create a sort of stream-of-consciousness kind of thing when done correctly, though this is definitely more difficult to do, and should be used sparingly (for a great example of pacing in general, but specifically the stream of consciousness pacing during an action scene, read American Psycho).
Just in general though, keep your sentences relatively concise. Better writing makes for better reading.
- PoopyPants
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Re: Long sentences in personal statement
Glad to help. I haven't been accepted yet (haven't even applied yet), but I have been published over a hundred times (fiction, trade nonfiction, and scholarly papers), so I try to help out when I feel I can.