YOUR WRITING SING! Limit the Ideas Per Sentence

How many ideas should there be in a single sentence? One? Three? Eight?

Consider this sentence: “Work stress, which is triggered by multiple factors and often arises when employees are forced to complete, or attempt and fail to complete, more activities during a specific time period than a reasonable person would expect, has been studied in many university and government trials in the U.S. and abroad (although whether some of these studies are rigorous enough to withstand scrutiny is an open question) and found to lead to a variety of physical and psychological symptoms, chief of which are intestinal distress and anxiety.”

There are six ideas in this single sentence:

1. Work stress is triggered by multiple factors.
2. One such factor is forcing employees to complete more activities than should be expected in a reasonable time period.
3. Another factor is the failure to complete the activities.
4. It has been studied in many university and government trials in the U.S. and abroad.
5. Some of these studies may not be rigorous enough.
6. Stress can cause physical and psychological symptoms such as intestinal distress and anxiety.

When you cram six ideas in a single sentence, you make it difficult for the readers to follow. Simply splitting the one sentence into two makes the ideas easier to grasp:

“Work stress, which is triggered by multiple factors, often arises when employees are forced to complete, or attempt and fail to complete, more activities during a specific time period than a reasonable person would expect. The issue has been studied in many university and government trials in the U.S. and abroad (although whether some of these studies are rigorous enough to withstand scrutiny is an open question), and found to lead to a variety of physical and psychological symptoms, chief of which are intestinal distress and anxiety.”

The first sentence in this paragraph talks about work stress and its causes; the second studies and their results. This makes it easier to follow the flow of ideas. You could break these ideas down even more by pulling out some of the less important ideas and putting them into their own sentences at the end of the paragraph. For example:

“Work stress often arises when employees are forced to complete more activities during a specific time period than a reasonable person would expect. The issue has been studied in many university and government trials in the U.S. and abroad (although whether some of these studies are rigorous enough to withstand scrutiny is an open question), and found to lead to a variety of physical and psychological symptoms, chief of which are intestinal distress and anxiety. Forcing workers to attempt to complete too many activities too quickly is just one of the many factors involved in work stress. Another is the resultant failure to complete the work, which may compound the original stress.”

The first sentence in this paragraph gives a reason for work stress; the second mentions the studies and their results; the third points out that there are many causes of work stress and gives an example; while the fourth presents another cause. In this paragraph, the concept of work stress and the studies/results regarding the issue are highlighted, while other information is placed in a subordinate position.

All three of the paragraphs contain the same six ideas, but when the original single sentence is broken into two or more sentences, it’s easier to read. Then, just by moving some of the information around, you can emphasize certain ideas. Of course, there is no single correct answer to the question, “How many ideas should there be in a single sentence?” A well constructed sentence might present numerous ideas logically and clearly. Most of the time, however, you’ll be better off limiting the ideas in a single sentence to two or three, at the most. Remember, your typical reader isn’t as familiar with the topic as you are, and will likely have difficulty holding on to several new concepts and pieces of information all at once.

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