Words per Sentence Calculator | Writing Pacing Tool

Sentence length is an measurement of how many words is contained within a sentence. The length of sentences within a piece of writing can affect how a reader experiences that writing. Writing with every sentence having the same numbers of words may feel flat to the reader.

Writing that has many short sentence in a row may feel rushed to the reader. Therefore, it is important for writer to consider the average sentence length within their writing as well as the variation of their sentence lengths to ensure that their writing is effective. While the average number of words per sentence is a measurement of the density of the writers draft, this number do not tell the whole story about the writing.

Why Sentence Length Matters

The range in sentence lengths within a writing sample as well as any sentences that is outliers from the others can determine the rhythm of the writing sample. For example, a writing sample may have an average of sixteen words per sentence, but if the writing sample contain many sentences that are thirty words long and few sentences that are ten words long, the writing may feel heavy to the reader. This calculator allow writers to paste their text into the calculator to calculate the words in their text for them.

This writing length calculator helps writers to focus on the rhythm of their writing rather than counting their words. Not all types of writing require the same sentence length. Different types of writing have different expectations regarding the length of the sentences in those writing samples.

For example, writing that is to be published in a novel that is written for young reader may contain short sentences throughout. Academic writing, however, often uses long sentences. Blog posts tend to use sentences of medium length.

The presets within this writing length calculator allow writers to compare their sentences to other types of writing to determine whether their writing is appropriate for it’s intended context. The settings within this writing length calculator are used to determine how the writing length calculator count the words within the submitted writing sample. Writers may choose to treat contractions as if they were single word in their writing sample so that their dialogue is not considered to have more words than it truly does.

Another setting allow writers to decide if quoted speech should be counted in the calculation of their average sentence length. Additionally, writers can adjust the threshold for outliers in sentence lengths. This threshold determine whether the writing length calculator will flag any long sentences within a writing sample.

These settings are important in that they ensure that the feedback that the writing length calculator gives to the writer is the type of feedback that the writer desire to recieve. The writing length calculator will display numbers that will indicate certain things about the writer’s draft. For example, if the average word count for sentences in a writer’s draft is high yet there are almost no short sentence in the writer’s draft, the writer may be struggling to take a break from presenting idea in their writing.

If the average word count for the writer’s sentences is low yet the writer has many short sentences, they may be taking a break from developing ideas in their writing. These numbers from the writing length calculator will allow the writer to understand if their sentences is paced appropriately for the type of writing that they are producing. A writer may believe that hitting the target average sentence length will fix all of the writer’s pacing problem.

Hitting the target average length for sentences, however, is not enough to ensure that the writer’s sentences are paced appropriately. For instance, if every sentence that a writer writes have the same number of words, the writer may develop monotonous sentence length in their writing. Variation in sentence lengths is needed for writers to develop an interesting and effective reading experience for reader.

For instance, using short sentences after using long sentences in a writing sample will create a sense of emphasis of the short sentence. Additionally, using long sentences after short sentences will allow readers time to absorb the information in those short sentence. Therefore, while the writing length calculator will tell a writer if their average sentence length is appropriate, the writer must make the decision of whether each sentence in their writing should be of a certain length.

The principle of sentence length can be applied to a variety of different writing projects. For instance, emails that are to be sent to others in a business may use short sentences to convey information quickly and clearly to others in the business. Yet, young adult novel may also use short sentences to make the plot easy to follow by young readers.

Ensuring that the average sentence length within a writer’s draft is appropriate for the type of writing project that is to be perform will ensure that writers remain in control of their writing. Through practicing using the writing length calculator, writers can begin to notice how their draft naturally settle into specific sentence length pattern. The writing length calculator will highlight these sentence length patterns for writers.

Once writers understand these patterns in their writing, they can begin to make small edits to their drafts. Writers can make small edits to their drafts by either breaking one long sentence into two separate sentence or combining two short sentences into one long sentence. These small edits will not change the word count significantly for writers’ drafts, but they will change the experience of reading those sentence.