Avoid short sentences

Too many short sentences is bad.

Bad Example

The second criterion is having a clear goal. Organisations should clearly say what they do. They should say why inviting volunteers is necessary. For example, goals could be ending hunger. This can be check on their website. It should have a list of goals. In summary it is possible to find a good volunteer organisation.

Minimum and targets

• 10 words per sentence ABSOLUTE MINIMUM - less and you lose a point
• 15 words is a good aim
• Longer?
  • Depends what we’re writing.
  • News articles are shorter, Dissertations are long.
  • Not sure? Find some examples and count!
• Important! Word count does NOT include citations
  • Penguins are bird (“A study on flightless birds of the Antarctic,” n.d.)
  • This sentence is three words, not eleven

Exceptions

Topic and keyword sentences can be short (although it’s better if they’re not).

• This paragraph describes air pollution in detail.
• The third problem is pollution.
• The second solution is reducing costs.

Solution and Fixed Example

• Join sentences together (but/and/so/because/etc)
• Give more details (examples, reasons, numbers, etc)

The second criterion is having a clear goal. Organisations should clearly say what they do, and should say why inviting volunteers is necessary. For example, goals could be ending hunger, which can be checked on their website, which should have a list of goals. In summary it is possible to find a good volunteer organisation by carefully choosing criteria and then searching for evidence that the organisation meets them.