Writing Short Sentences
When I first started an editing/writing job at an international humanitarian organization, I enrolled in a long distance course on how to write effectively. As a non-native English speaker and writer, I have learned so much from it and I will share some of what I have learned in a ‘learn how to write’ article series. This is the first of the series.
The first key to writing effectively is to write short sentences. It is not always obvious to everyone, but short sentences are so much easier to understand. When writing a sentence, just remember that the basic structure of a sentence consists of a subject and a predicate. The subject expresses the doer of an action and the predicate is a verb which could express action or state of being/existence. You can then add a (short!) phrase to explain your sentence further.
Compare the following two paragraphs to see the difference and judge for yourself which one is easier to read.
Although the alleged perpetrator of sexual harassment has been temporarily suspended as a preliminary result of a negotiation between his legal representative and the human resources department, the overall working environment has not yet returned to normal, as the final result of the negotiation which will determine whether the alleged perpetrator will be able to keep his job or not will also be a key factor in the deterioration or improvement of the working environment.
The above sentence consists of 75 words and it could actually be rewritten in several shorter sentences. The following is just one way of doing it.
The alleged perpetrator of sexual harassment has been temporarily suspended. This suspension is a preliminary result of a negotiation between his legal representative and the human resources department. Despite of this progress, the overall working environment has not yet returned to normal. The final result of the negotiation will determine whether the alleged perpetrator will be able to keep his job or not. This outcome will also be a key factor in the deterioration or improvement of the working environment.
Although the latter version is longer by five words, it’s much easier to understand, don’t you think so? 
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