Tangled Passages

There’s no formula to determine when a sentence is overloaded or threatening to run off the rails. But there are warning signs. Sentences of 40, 50 or 60 words are awfully hard to make readable. When you get up to four or five commas, think again. A half-dozen verbs usually mean trouble. And when a reader’s mind has to move back and forth and back again, all before hitting a period, it’s time to take another look.

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