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And that's why I don't like this concept. Let's be honest, that passage sounds like crap. I'm all for brevity, and I think nowadays people tend to write with to

And that's why I don't like this concept. Let's be honest, that passage sounds like crap. I'm all for brevity, and I think nowadays people tend to write with too much formality and bureaucracy, but this app is not the way to go about fixing the problem. Arbitrarily capping sentences to ~20 words (I assume that's what they do) makes your writing really choppy and more verbose, ironically. That last paragraph probably could have been just 1 long yet focused sentence.

outsidejoke 6y ago
What about something like google-docs-highlight [0]. It's inspired by the Gary Provost quote "This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It's like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with the energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals - sounds that say listen to this, it is important." [0]: https://github.com/ojoven/google-docs-highlight https://github.com/ojoven/google-docs-highlight
- davidivadavid 6y ago
  That's interesting, but also kind of underwhelming. I mean, if you understand the concept, why doesn't it provide: a) A paragraph-level analysis to account of sentence length variety b) A document-level analysis of the same type c) Suggestions for where sentence length needs to be varied, for example where long sentences should be broken, and so on. There's a LOT of books with guidelines to improve writing, but it seems like 99% of the tools are only brushing the surface at best.
- jamiek88 6y ago
  That quote is fantastic. I could feel the pace and rhythm change. Sometimes I wish poetry other than rap music was popular. I know no one I can share poems with or equally show me their finds like we do with music and memes. I’m forever sending an mp3 or Spotify link to friends and vice versa. Nobody ever iMessages a sonnet.

outsidejoke 6y ago

What about something like google-docs-highlight [0]. It's inspired by the Gary Provost quote "This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It's like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with the energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals - sounds that say listen to this, it is important." [0]: https://github.com/ojoven/google-docs-highlight https://github.com/ojoven/google-docs-highlight

davidivadavid 6y ago
That's interesting, but also kind of underwhelming. I mean, if you understand the concept, why doesn't it provide: a) A paragraph-level analysis to account of sentence length variety b) A document-level analysis of the same type c) Suggestions for where sentence length needs to be varied, for example where long sentences should be broken, and so on. There's a LOT of books with guidelines to improve writing, but it seems like 99% of the tools are only brushing the surface at best.
jamiek88 6y ago
That quote is fantastic. I could feel the pace and rhythm change. Sometimes I wish poetry other than rap music was popular. I know no one I can share poems with or equally show me their finds like we do with music and memes. I’m forever sending an mp3 or Spotify link to friends and vice versa. Nobody ever iMessages a sonnet.