I came across an intriguing statistic in a book* for teachers of writing. A study of 20 well known writers, including Hemingway, Faulkner, and Steinbeck, showed they used compound sentences no more than nine percent of the time.
Or said another way, these classic American writers wrote simple and complex sentences more than 90 percent of the time.
Ever since, I have told my students to strive for a majority of complicated simple sentences. An uncomplicated simple sentence is good from time to time, especially after a long, complicated simple sentence or a long complex sentence. But too many uncomplicated simple sentences make writing seem childish.
What is an uncomplicated simple sentence? All the sentences in this paragraph are. What is a complicated simple sentence? All the other sentences in this blog except for the second sentence are.
Often you can tell an uncomplicated simple sentence by its length. It’s short, usually fewer than ten words.
*Notes Toward a New Rhetoric: Six Essays for Teachers by Francis Christensen, 1967.
English Writing Teacher 