My mother once asked me after reading one of my longer sentences, “Do you really think like this?”

I am no Faulkner, but often wish Papa had added more words to his sentences.

There also is a Mark Twain quote offering an apology for not having the time to write a “short letter.” He says he wrote a long one instead.

So there is a balance.

The Hemingway App bugs me. With reluctance, I still use it to write tight, squeaky clean sentences. Shortening sentences so the highlighting disappears silences expressive meaning.

Long sentences are challenging for many to understand. But using the app to pare highlighted sentences lowers the readability levels. This is a good thing if more people can then comprehend the words.

Growing up, writing teachers insisted on us writing at an eighth-grade reading level.

With 140-280 characters, today’s masses do not understand writing with twenty-five cent adjectives.We are on the verge of nickel or penny-writing.

This makes me sad.