Dr. Harinath Kumar has been teaching at the department of Journalism (English), Bharati College, University of Delhi, New Delhi as a Guest Faculty since January 2020. He has recently been awarded with Ph.D. degree by the department of Mass Communication and Journalism, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar (a central) University, Lucknow. Before stepping into academics he has been a journalist for 3years. He loves to explore and collaborate with diverse styles and form of arts in his writings. His journalism credits and experiences include reporting, writing and editing. Now his interest has shifted to film analysis and he has written a Ph.D. thesis on film studies. He has also completed the summer course on film appreciation organized by Film and Television Institute of India in 2017. He has also been regular delegates of International Film Festival of India, Goa since 2014.

1. Dr. Harinath Kumar
Bharati College, University of Delhi

2. 
 Whether you write for newspapers, broadcasting or the
Internet, you should always aim for words and sentences
which provide the maximum amount of understanding
with the minimum risk of confusion. This generally
means keeping words and sentences short and simple.
You can use long words, but you must be sure they are
doing their job properly. In Chapter 5: Writing the intro, the
golden rules, we said that many words are like fat and lazy
people sitting back without paddles in a canoe.
Remember, there is no room in your sentences for fat and
lazy words. If words do not add to understanding, throw
them overboard.
Short, sharp, clear
sentences

3. 
 There is no single rule about the length of sentences in news
writing, but you should set yourself a target for the maximum
number of words you use. We suggest that you never use more
than 20 words in any sentence, except in special circumstances.
If you follow this rule, your sentences will be simpler, there will
be less room for error and you will make a more efficient use of
words.
 An alternative way of judging the best length for your
sentences is to count the number of ideas or concepts you
expect your reader or listener to understand.
 Compare these two examples of the same story. Notice how
version A tries to pack all the ideas into one sentence, whereas
version B splits them into three separate sentences:
Sentence length

4. 
 Story A
Four aircraft passengers, the pilot and three people
travelling in a car were killed when a twin-engined
Beechcraft Baron aircraft hit an electric power line and
crashed near New Delhi airport this week.
 Story B
Eight people died when an aircraft crashed near New
Delhi airport this week.
The pilot and four passengers died when their twin-
engined Beechcraft Baron hit a power line. The plane then
crashed into a car on a road near the airport, killing three
more people.
Version of a story

5. 
 Notice that, although Story B is 12 words longer than
Story A, it is split into three sentences. None of the
sentences in Story B is longer than 20 words. Get someone
to read both stories out loud to you, and you will quickly
see that Story B is easier to understand.
 The reason is simple. Story A contains six separate ideas
for the reader or listener to understand at one time:
 the people in the plane;
 the people in the car;
 the type of plane;
 the cause of the crash;
 the location of the crash;
 the time of the crash.

6. 
 Story B, by comparison, has fewer ideas in each
sentence. The first sentence has just four simple
ideas:
 the total number of dead;
 a simple description of the type of plane;
 where it crashed;
 when it crashed.
 The second sentence tells us:
 how many died in the plane;
 the exact type of plane;
 the exact cause of the crash.

7. 
 The third sentence tells us:
 how the people in the car died;
 where the car was;
 how many died in the car.
 You may argue that Story B, as well as being longer, gives a total of ten
ideas to understand. However, many of those ideas are not separate. They
relate to details in the preceding sentence. Linking ideas and repeating
details often helps understanding. More important, those ten ideas are not
thrown at our audience in one breath. The full stop at the end of each
sentence (which comes as a pause on radio and television) allows the
reader or listener time to digest one set of facts before moving on to new
details.
 We recommend that you try to limit each sentence to no more than three
separate ideas. You can occasionally use four ideas per sentence, as long as
those ideas are not complicated. We fitted four ideas into the intro of Story
B above because two of the ideas - the time and place - are very simple and
easy for the reader to understand.

8. 
 AVOIDING GRAMMATICAL AND VOCABULARY
ERRORS
Rewrite the following sentences, correcting their wording.
 Rapists usually attack women that are vulnerable and alone.
 The school board asked their attorney to help all the students that
lost money.
 Speaking for the highway patrol, Lucas said they would like larger
and faster cars.
 There is not much a student can do to prevent cheating except
cover their exam papers.
 The five men and three ladies that serve on the board predicted
that the amount of people seeking help at the clinic will grow to
around 500 a month.
Avoiding Common Errors