- Average sentence length should be below 20 words
The reason long sentences are hard to read is that your short-term memory gets overloaded before you reach the end of the sentence and you forget what was said at the start and have to go back and re-read earlier parts of the sentence, or start putting in additional punctuation such as commas to try to make it easier to understand.
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Long sentences are harder to read. This is because your short-term memory is overloaded before you reach the end of the sentence. You forget what was said at the start. You have to go back to re-read earlier parts of the sentence. Writers may add additional punctuation, such as commas, to try to make it easier to understand.
