The readability of long paragraphs

Long paragraphs will have low readability and short paragraphs will have high readability, all other things being equal. But all other things do not have to be equal; if you need to write a very long paragraph in order to develop a topic, you can still make the paragraph comfortably readable.

For some time, I’ve been watching for a good example for you. I found this one:

Example of a very long but fairly readable paragraph

By making economic rules dependent on discretion, our bipartisan ruling class teaches that prosperity is to be bought with the coin of political support. Thus in the 1990s and 2000s, as Democrats and Republicans forced banks to make loans for houses to people and at rates they would not otherwise have considered, builders and investors had every reason to make as much money as they could from the ensuing inflation of housing prices. When the bubble burst, only those connected with the ruling class at the bottom and at the top were bailed out. Similarly, by taxing the use of carbon fuels and subsidizing “alternative energy,” our ruling class created arguably the world’s biggest opportunity for making money out of things that few if any would buy absent its intervention. The ethanol industry and its ensuing diversions of wealth exist exclusively because of subsidies. The prospect of legislation that would put a price on carbon emissions and allot certain amounts to certain companies set off a feeding frenzy among large companies to show support for a “green agenda,” because such allotments would be worth tens of billions of dollars. That is why companies hired some 2,500 lobbyists in 2009 to deepen their involvement in “climate change.” At the very least, such involvement profits them by making them into privileged collectors of carbon taxes. Any “green jobs” thus created are by definition creatures of subsidies -- that is, of privilege. What effect creating such privileges may have on “global warming” is debatable. But it surely increases the number of people dependent on the ruling class, and teaches Americans that satisfying that class is a surer way of making a living than producing goods and services that people want to buy.

That’s a 289-word paragraph, but it is fairly readable. On the Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) test, it scores a good 38.9. FRE measures readability by the lengths of words and sentences. The shorter the words and sentences, the higher (better) the score.

Besides short words and short sentences, there are two other major reasons for the good readability of this paragraph:

The first major reason is that the paragraph has the three fundamentals of a good paragraph: unity, coherence, and a topic sentence.

It has unity; that is, it sticks to one topic.

It has coherence; that is, it helps the reader follow the development. For example, it includes transition words such as thus and similarly.

It has a topic sentence; that is, it has one sentence that tells the reader what the paragraph is about: “By making economic rules dependent on discretion, our bipartisan ruling class teaches that prosperity is to be bought with the coin of political support.”

The second major reason is that the author has avoided overusing pronouns, passive voice, and periodic sentences. Overusing these makes a paragraph harder to read.

The Takeaway: If you want your writing to be highly readable: Try to use short words, short sentences, and short paragraphs. Strive for unity and coherence in every paragraph. Try to include a topic sentence in every paragraph. Try to avoid overusing pronouns, passive voice, and periodic sentences. That sounds like a lot to do, but you can do it. If you pay attention to your writing, you will eventually learn how to write almost effortlessly.

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