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So, I should have kept reading... very next example, includes the opposite, AND both! Yes I know....
"Wrong: I ate cake, I played games.
Right: I ate cake, and I played games.
Right: I ate cake and played games."
Shutting up now!
That's good, because there are fine examples of writers bending the rules with wonderful results. Of course, any given piece of writing may have a different effect on different people. It's something I am struggling with at the moment, because an editor has asked me to rewrite something taking into account reviewer's comments. Fine, and I am grateful for the feedback. But there will come a point when, by trying to keep others happy, you lose sight of what you wanted to say. It's a difficult balance, and I think part of the issue is that everybody reads slightly different nuances into given words and expressions. For example: to an Englishman, the word 'river' might evoke the warm, gentle flow of the Wind in the Willows; whereas to a Chinaman, the same word might be associated with the capricious brutality of the Yangtse in flood. To a Hindu, brought up on the shores of Mother Ganga, the word might have different connotations again. So, as a writer, how can you hope to produce the same particular vision, the one in your own head, in the head of each of all readers? Perhaps it is not possible.
I'm certainly no expect Meerkat, but I think long sentences can be find where appropriate, as long as they aren't overdone, ie, don't use them too often. Again, all very subjective but in the end it should be what feels right to you.
I think one of the reasons I never had trouble reading works like Little Women or Jane Austen's novels is because I adore long, rambling sentences. LOL!! It's the way I think, and the way I write before I go back and trim some of those clauses into their own sentence.I agree that a series of short sentences sounds too choppy. In both journalism and technical writing, sentences are supposed to be no longer than 33 words, so for a long time, I would shorten my fiction sentences accordingly. The result was, indeed, choppy. I do try to mix it up now, but if I had my druthers, I'd probably write sentences paragraphs long. Of course, I suspect I am just bad at distinguishing between thoughts when I write.
