How do I write only five-word sentences?

Question

How do I write with sentences of five words or less?

That was a way to master brevity suggested in an answer to my question What aspects of flow are necessary for good writing?

Answer 1

You should disregard bad advice. Shorter sentences are not better. Dogmatism is not a solution. But also, do practice brevity. Some hard things feel impossible. With practice, they feel possible. With more, they feel natural.

Answer 2

People are different. Some like to get their thoughts out first in whatever way and edit them in the form they want. Others like to plan out how they write first. Consequently, there are two main approaches that end up with short sentences.

Strategy 1: Draft and edit

Write a first draft. Ignore all rules. Is it too long? Too unfocused? That doesn't matter yet.

Extract your main idea.

Have it? Remove everything that doesn't contribute.

Is it understandable? No? Then add more information. Look at your original text. What is needed for understanding? Add that back in. Idea for idea. Use short, focused sentences.

What I started with:

The first one works by first getting your thoughts down on paper whichever way you want. You can then go over it and identify the main idea you want to convey. Once you have that, extract that idea into a single sentence. Ignore everything around that for now and make that sentence as clear and concise as possible. Of course, the idea might not be understandable from one short sentence alone. Look at your original text: what other information is necessary for understanding? Take that out and use it either as build-up for your main idea (if it is something you have to understand first) or add it afterwards (if it is expounding upon the idea in some way, e.g. giving examples). Pare these sentences down just as you did for the main idea.

Or work with the original. Break the text down iteratively. That takes more discipline, however. What supports the idea stays. Nothing else. Not even your favourite phrase.

With the previous iterations:

Instead of moving the ideas you are keeping to a new text, you can also break down the original text. But that takes more discipline because you have to force yourself to cut away parts that you like but that don't support your idea.

You don't need to move everything into a new text. You can break down the original text instead. But that takes more discipline. You have to force yourself to cut away parts. Some parts you probably like. But they don't support your idea.

Strategy 2: Plan and build up

Writing is about communication. So think about your goal.

What should the reader learn?

Start with that. Write it down concisely.

Maybe that is not enough. The reader might miss context. What more is needed? Add that information. But do not add fluff.

Repeat.

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Personally, I have a tendency to ramble on ... juust slightly. So I find myself using the first approach much more often. Of course I don't limit myself to five words per sentence, but the overall approach is useful whenever I notice that my writing is becoming unfocused.

I use something similar to the second approach when preparing a presentation about a topic I know relatively well. Although there "writing it down" can mean creating an illustration, too.

Answer 3

Practice. Lots of practice is needed.

The results are not serious. They are a writing exercise. Do not expect something usable. Only test results.

Answer 4

It is a challenge. But it's not impossible.

I'm forced to weigh words. Can't drag out my thoughts. Brevity and directness are key.

(Of course we can cheat.)

Answer 5

Utilise more nuanced words. This requires some lexical expertise.

Conciseness is a useful skill. However, don't go overboard. It is only training.

I'll try to explain. Each sentence here seems stilted. There is no natural flow. The language's structure is broken. It is cumbersome to read. And awkward to listen to. Conjunctions cannot be used effectively. Many common phrases become impractical.

Nonetheless, this activity is fun!

Answer 6

This is a novel idea. I find it slightly thrilling. But counting can be tricky. So things can get confusing, quickly.