Wordweaver
Dreamer
I remember 5th grade English Class, and a specific worksheet in which we had to take a really long sentence, such as:
He tried to answer aloud, but much of his face had been smashed to an unrecognizable bloody mass, and his jaw was naught but bone-dust and ragged meat, and all that came out was a garbled mess of groans and murmurs.
(yeah, my homework was pretty gruesome)
...And break it down into a bunch of bite-sized pieces, like so:
He tried to answer aloud, but much of his face had been smashed to an unrecognizable bloody mass. His jaw was naught but bone-dust and ragged meat. All that came out was a garbled mess of groans and murmurs.
Even then we would break them down further, each independent clause getting its own capital and period.
Problem is, I thought then, as I do now, that this exercise is garbage. I liked the sentence how it was! So my question is this: Is the idea that really, really long sentences are bad grammar a thing of the past? Or is it just that I tend to ignore it because I think it's a garbage rule?
Which leads to a related question: Since I tend think long sentences are OK, I tend to use a lot of commas. How many commas is too many commas? When you're really writing, would you add commas in places that are not technically grammatically correct or necessary, just because it gives the narration a more dramatic, or even just cooler-sounding effect?
He tried to answer aloud, but much of his face had been smashed to an unrecognizable bloody mass, and his jaw was naught but bone-dust and ragged meat, and all that came out was a garbled mess of groans and murmurs.
(yeah, my homework was pretty gruesome)
...And break it down into a bunch of bite-sized pieces, like so:
He tried to answer aloud, but much of his face had been smashed to an unrecognizable bloody mass. His jaw was naught but bone-dust and ragged meat. All that came out was a garbled mess of groans and murmurs.
Even then we would break them down further, each independent clause getting its own capital and period.
Problem is, I thought then, as I do now, that this exercise is garbage. I liked the sentence how it was! So my question is this: Is the idea that really, really long sentences are bad grammar a thing of the past? Or is it just that I tend to ignore it because I think it's a garbage rule?
Which leads to a related question: Since I tend think long sentences are OK, I tend to use a lot of commas. How many commas is too many commas? When you're really writing, would you add commas in places that are not technically grammatically correct or necessary, just because it gives the narration a more dramatic, or even just cooler-sounding effect?