849 points by Tomte 1349 days ago | 296 comments on HN
| Mild positive Editorial · v3.7· 2026-02-28 12:09:59
Summary Education & Communication Neutral
This article presents a writing technique from Derek Sivers for improving written clarity through single-sentence-per-line drafting. The content tangentially engages with education (Article 26), freedom of expression (Article 19), intellectual engagement (Article 18), cultural participation (Article 27), and community responsibility (Article 29) by promoting better writing practices and thoughtful communication, but contains no explicit human rights framing or engagement with UDHR principles.
I personally use this approach but mostly because a lot of what I write ends up in a git repository and diffs make way more sense when there is only one sentence per line. I also find things much easier to manipulate in vim when sentences don't span lines.
This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety.
Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.
So I write with a combination of short, medium, and long sentences. Create a sound that pleases the reader’s ear. Don’t just write words. Write music.
This was the rule in the 1980s when using nroff and it's a habit I developed when using any markup. It's good to know that it's been rediscovered again as newcomers mature in their tool use.
Most writing style rules are context-dependently apt. The quote by Disruptive_Dave of Gary Provost rings true for artistic writing. Sentence length limits are more helpful for technical writing like papers/documentation, with its many side-details - just as a complexity control.
Either way, though, for sentence source formatting, sentences on line boundaries also help version control systems since a diff shows the delta on a per sentence basis. Note that this is slightly different than one per line - it is more integer number of lines per sentence since some are multi-line. Same ethos, though.
I approach this by separating writing from editing. Just keep writing, ignore the typos, self-censorship or formatting and keep moving.
So, I've build myself an app to make that easier. Essentially, it's just a more stupid version of a text box. It's free, it's private, and it's meant to put you in the state of flow.
I've been using it every day for the past 3 years or so and I know that some people find it useful too, but even if I was the only user, I'd still be quite happy with it, since I suck at sticking with habits :)
Reading this makes me think it might be generally beneficial to finally convey the semantics of sentence boundaries to the resulting output as well, like some `<p><span>Sentence #1.</span> <span>Sentence #2.</span>` wrappers: it would introduce possibility (for author or user) to break it into lines again or apply any other styling, and might improve interaction (think: select single sentence), or some further processing or contextual styling (think "make all single-sentence paragraphs stand out".)
Strange there is no truly "semantic" way to mark-up sub-paragraph chunk of text in HTML; all 'inline' tags are intended for "words" or for including several sentences at once (like emphasis, quote, code, sample, mark, etc.). I have some murky memory I've read some discussion explaining that the concept of "sentence" is quite problematic and in no way universal, but cannot dig it up now.
(This comment started as But how are we supposed to sneak our beloved double spaces between sentences in the output now? semi-pun, but after all, this post-processing idea answers it.)
One sentence per line can paralyze your writing. It invites you to over-scrutinize each line and lose sight of the whole. It's a view that's better suited for analysis than synthesis. So it's better for editing than composing.
I had copied this Emacs macro just for doing that.
;; one sentence per line
(defun wrap-at-sentences ()
"Fills the current paragraph, but starts each sentence on a new line."
(interactive)
(save-excursion
;; Select the entire paragraph.
(mark-paragraph)
;; Move to the start of the paragraph.
(goto-char (region-beginning))
;; Record the location of the end of the paragraph.
(setq end-of-paragraph (region-end))
;; Wrap lines with 'hard' newlines (i.e., real line breaks).
(let ((use-hard-newlines 't))
;; Loop over each sentence in the paragraph.
(while (< (point) end-of-paragraph)
;; Determine the region spanned by the sentence.
(setq start-of-sentence (point))
(forward-sentence)
;; Wrap the sentence with hard newlines.
(fill-region start-of-sentence (point))
;; Delete the whitespace following the period, if any.
(while (char-equal (char-syntax (preceding-char)) ?\s)
(delete-char -1))
;; Insert a newline before the next sentence.
(insert "\n")))))
I remember struggling to write essays when I was in highschool. Well, I was fine, but my teachers insisted it was long-winded gibberish. Concerned, my grand’mother told me: “Ask Sonia” I knew she was her friend, and they liked to argue a lot, but I was a bit confused by the advice.
It turns out, editing was Sonia’s job: she was the head reader at a very prestigious publishing house, meaning she was giving notes and feedback to very famous authors, including four Nobel Prize laureates. You kind of have to know what you are doing when you are sending a manuscript full of red in the margins and the person can respond “I’ve got a Nobel Prize and you don’t.” She definitely had the icey stare to match.
Oddly, her advice was incredibly simple, and fitted in two very short pieces:
* Subject, Verb, Complement –– in that order. If you see two verbs, but a period between them.
* Things are confusing if you don’t put them in order: start by the beginning, find the widest piece of context that explain the rest.
I don’t apply her rules every time, but for every technical document, every time I’ve tried, it’s been night and day.
That typographic argument is really resonating with me.
I have to do this in my emails. Most people just ignore the second and third sentences in a paragraph. No idea why, drives me crazy - but this does help.
You can tell they don't read them because they ask questions that were answered in them.
One big advantage not mentioned in the article particularly relevant to this audience: git diffs (or your VCS of choice). One sentence per line means diffs will operate per-sentence, rather than per-paragraph. This way the diff can capture the restructuring of the paragraph (adding/removing/replacing a sentence), which gives much more insight than swapping out the paragraph wholesale. It also means minor changes (e.g. typo fixes) will only add+delete a single sentence, making it much easier to identify what has actually changed from one commit to the next.
I take this a step further and will often split out a single sentence into a clause per line, but this is a judgement call rather than a hard and fast rule.
I tell founders not to write like this, at least for HN, and I edit their launch posts when they do (https://news.ycombinator.com/launches), because it reads like a sales letter.
But the OP is saying that it's useful to make the sausage that way, not sell it that way, which is a different point.
One sentence per line makes prose feel sanctimonious, even self-aggrandizing. I find this dude's writing un-readable for exactly this reason. All of his articles are like HTML versions of the Ducks Go Quack TED Talk [0]. I just roll my eyes.
Am I the only one thinking this thread should be immortalized as the ultimate example of how poorly HN readers read things before shit-posting about articles? Sigh.
A) He says in the SOURCE not the published, in literally the third paragraph.
B) Count the damned sentences in the first handful of paragraphs. 2,3,3,1,4. He's clearly not saying you should do the stupid one paragraph per sentence nonsense in the published article.
This is a great idea for those of us who like writing prose in vim. Will adopt!
> diffs make way more sense when there is only one sentence per line
I did the same thing for some time for papers at university for the same reason. It used to annoy me, because I hate to change for my tools, I rather have my tools support my workflow: There should be a nicer diff for that.
Yeah, same here. If you're going to have any text commited to git, it'll work much better if it's one sentence per line. Not that git is great for prose, but it kinda does the job and I don't need to have a new tool. Hammers, nails.
> 5. A semantic line break SHOULD occur after an independent clause as punctuated by a comma (,), semicolon (;), colon (:), or em dash (—).
Uh oh, that’s incompatible with standard em dash usage, which is with no surrounding whitespace.
(I’m designing a lightweight markup language of my own, and it’s tempting to special-case an em dash at the end of a line that is not preceded by a space, to join to the next line without inserting a space, but I’ve been trying to avoid nuance in rules. But I definitely do want to put line breaks after em dashes sometimes.)
Here’s my biggest critique of Enso:
It’s not very easy to send myself a reminder when I’m back at my computer to use it.
Content: i’m currently on my mobile phone and I absolutely adore the idea of Enso (funny enough I’m currently holding & feeding my infant named Enzo). I would like to write with it and try it when I don’t have an infant on my lap but that requires me remembering it and looking it up when back on my laptop and ready to write something.
I added my email on the mobile sign-up but frankly I don’t really want a mobile app as 60% of my long-form mobile writing is done via voice to text and edited later. What I’d like is a “remind me via email to give Enso a try” signup that says “hey, this is a reminder to try Enso… The flow focused, low editing app for creative writing” or something like that.
I remember reading this as a child (maybe in elementary school) and it affecting my writing. I have to admit, especially when writing something technical, forgetting about this and focusing on making small, easily-understandable sentences can help the reader. (even though it's more boring)
Reading this makes me angry at all my school teachers for the subjects of [my-native-language] and writing.
It is such a simple technique, that makes such a huge impact on ones writing, and yet no teacher bothered to teach it.
I spent all my school years writing monotonous essays of five-word sentences.
Week after week I would make another one, and I could clearly see for myself that they were bad, I just couldn't tell why.
So when I asked my teachers for help, asking "what is wrong with my writing?", "what am I missing?", all I ever got back was a bad grade and the same useless tip: "just read more".
They might just as well have said to "draw the rest of the fucking owl."
He is not saying short sentences are necessary, he is saying that each sentence stands out with a newline, which means they can be judged at an individual level.
I'm gonna be honest, my mind got bored in the long sentence and completely skipped like half the words. I think I'm just too used to reading documentation and skipping 50% of the words so I can see how to do something quicker.
The most fascinating experience is trying to understand Schopenhauer in German and then reading the same paragraph in an English translation. It feels pre-digested or narrowed down to one possible interpretation.
A professor at college tried to hone into us the short-precise nature of English as a cultural phenomenon and considered the paragraph long highly artistic German texts a reflection of a culture that felt the need to impress.
Still to this day, I admire both: the sophisticated elaborate construction of long flowery sentences that strain your memory as well as the ultra-concise that brilliantly clear short (often technical) prose.
I mean, I’m happy that this was not a yet another sysadmin/programmer-as-writer justification (adjusting one’s whole workflow based on the handful of terminal programs that one uses).
EDIT: Meaning that I think this kind of justification is more interesting since it is meant to affect the process of writing itself.
Ironically, this snippet seems to be a bit too much wrapped!
You need to have a empty line between each line on HN for it to format correctly. If you also ident it by four space, it gets marked as code in the markup.
If the first sentence of a paragraph doesn't catch their attention in some way, they subconsciously assume that the rest of the paragraph (which is presumably related) doesn't need to be read.
"Fills the current paragraph, but starts each sentence on a new line."
(interactive)
(save-excursion
;; Select the entire paragraph.
(mark-paragraph)
;; Move to the start of the paragraph.
(goto-char (region-beginning))
;; Record the location of the end of the paragraph.
(setq end-of-paragraph (region-end))
;; Wrap lines with 'hard' newlines (i.e., real line breaks).
(let ((use-hard-newlines 't))
;; Loop over each sentence in the paragraph.
(while (< (point) end-of-paragraph)
;; Determine the region spanned by the sentence.
(setq start-of-sentence (point))
(forward-sentence)
;; Wrap the sentence with hard newlines.
(fill-region start-of-sentence (point))
;; Delete the whitespace following the period, if any.
(while (char-equal (char-syntax (preceding-char)) ?\s)
(delete-char -1))
;; Insert a newline before the next sentence.
(insert "\n")))))
In his defense, he is saying to write "one sentence per line" only _while_ you are writing/editing. He says this is "for your eyes only", and that you'll recombine into paragraphs afterwards.
I think the idea is that, if your sentence can stand up to the added scrutiny you'll give it while seeing it sitting all alone, then it is worth keeping. Otherwise it is a wasteful sentence.
Anyway, I do agree that the actual "one sentence per line" prose that is so pervasive on places like LinkedIn is awful.
I think the advice is still useful for editing. Personally, I'd add the extra step of re-consolidating the sentences into paragraphs after going through this editing phase though. That said, I do a lot of technical writing and I often find paragraphs with fewer sentences are my better written paragraphs.
Editorial Channel
What the content says
+0.20
Article 26Education
Medium Advocacy Advocacy
Editorial
+0.20
SETL
+0.12
Article teaches a valuable communication skill through step-by-step guidance and examples, functioning as direct educational content that improves readers' professional and intellectual capabilities.
FW Ratio: 60%
Observable Facts
The article teaches a specific, practical writing technique with concrete implementation steps: 'New sentence? Hit Enter. New line.'
The article provides detailed reasoning about why the technique works: helps judge sentences, vary length, see sentence boundaries, improve first/last words.
The content is provided free on a simple, accessible website with no paywalls, accounts, or technical barriers to access.
Inferences
The article functions as educational content transmitting valuable knowledge about writing craft and communication skills to readers.
The site's free, open-access structure enables readers of all backgrounds to benefit from professional-grade writing instruction, supporting universal access to education.
+0.18
Article 19Freedom of Expression
Medium Advocacy Advocacy
Editorial
+0.18
SETL
+0.11
Article teaches concrete techniques for clearer written expression, including varying sentence length and emphasizing powerful first and last words, which directly support quality of communication.
FW Ratio: 60%
Observable Facts
The article teaches specific techniques for improving written expression: vary sentence length, emphasize first/last words, move sentences to optimize impact.
The page footer and copyright statement include 'Copy & share: sive.rs/1s' and 'Derek Sivers. Copy & share', indicating Creative Commons licensing.
The content is provided free of charge with no paywall, login, or access restrictions on the domain.
Inferences
Teaching clear expression techniques directly supports readers' capacity to communicate opinions and ideas effectively.
The site's free access combined with CC licensing promotes open sharing of knowledge and information, supporting the infrastructure of freedom of expression.
+0.15
Article 18Freedom of Thought
Medium Advocacy
Editorial
+0.15
SETL
ND
Article encourages intellectual scrutiny of ideas through careful sentence-by-sentence examination, promoting conscious engagement with one's own thoughts and reasoning.
FW Ratio: 50%
Observable Facts
The article recommends examining each sentence individually by asking 'Is this sentence worthy of its own line?' to identify weak or unnecessary writing.
The article describes standing sentences on their own as clearer than hiding them in paragraphs, encouraging observation of individual ideas.
Inferences
The practice of systematic scrutiny encourages critical thinking about one's beliefs and ideas, supporting freedom to develop and examine one's own thoughts.
The technique promotes intellectual rigor and conscious reflection on ideas before expression.
+0.14
Article 27Cultural Participation
Medium Advocacy
Editorial
+0.14
SETL
ND
Article promotes writing as a craft and cultural form of expression, encouraging readers to improve their participation in written culture through systematic technique development.
FW Ratio: 50%
Observable Facts
The article focuses on improving writing quality as a craft, emphasizing skill development in a cultural practice.
The article describes writing and editing as deliberate arts worthy of systematic improvement and attention.
Inferences
Supporting and developing writing as a cultural craft contributes to broader participation in and quality of written cultural expression.
The article implicitly values writing as a cultural form worth improving, which supports cultural participation and expression.
+0.11
Article 29Duties to Community
Medium Advocacy
Editorial
+0.11
SETL
ND
Article emphasizes respect for readers' time and attention as a writing responsibility, promoting thoughtful communication that considers the community's needs and values.
FW Ratio: 50%
Observable Facts
The article instructs readers to 'Delete any sentence not worthy of its own line,' emphasizing removal of unnecessary content.
The article frames good writing as respecting the reader: 'we notice' weak sentences when standing alone, and the practice shows consideration for reader time and attention.
Inferences
The emphasis on removing waste from communication demonstrates a responsibility to readers' time and cognitive resources, modeling respect in the writing community.
The article frames writing discipline as a duty to one's audience, supporting thoughtful and respectful community communication.
ND
PreamblePreamble
Content does not address preamble themes of human dignity, freedom, justice, or equal rights.
ND
Article 1Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood
No observable content engagement with equal dignity and rights.
ND
Article 2Non-Discrimination
No observable content engagement with non-discrimination.
ND
Article 3Life, Liberty, Security
No observable content engagement with life, liberty, security of person.
ND
Article 4No Slavery
No observable content engagement with slavery prohibition.
ND
Article 5No Torture
No observable content engagement with torture prohibition.
ND
Article 6Legal Personhood
No observable content engagement with personhood recognition.
ND
Article 7Equality Before Law
No observable content engagement with equal protection of law.
ND
Article 8Right to Remedy
No observable content engagement with effective remedy.
ND
Article 9No Arbitrary Detention
No observable content engagement with arbitrary arrest.
ND
Article 10Fair Hearing
No observable content engagement with fair trial.
ND
Article 11Presumption of Innocence
No observable content engagement with rights of the accused.
ND
Article 12Privacy
No observable content engagement with privacy, family, home, correspondence.
ND
Article 13Freedom of Movement
No observable content engagement with freedom of movement.
ND
Article 14Asylum
No observable content engagement with asylum.
ND
Article 15Nationality
No observable content engagement with nationality.
ND
Article 16Marriage & Family
No observable content engagement with marriage and family.
ND
Article 17Property
No observable content engagement with property rights.
ND
Article 20Assembly & Association
No observable content engagement with peaceful assembly or association.
ND
Article 21Political Participation
No observable content engagement with democratic participation.
ND
Article 22Social Security
No observable content engagement with social security and welfare.
ND
Article 23Work & Equal Pay
No observable content engagement with work and fair conditions.
ND
Article 24Rest & Leisure
No observable content engagement with rest and leisure.
ND
Article 25Standard of Living
No observable content engagement with adequate standard of living.
ND
Article 28Social & International Order
No observable content engagement with social and international order.
ND
Article 30No Destruction of Rights
No observable content engagement with interpretation or limitation of rights.
Structural Channel
What the site does
+0.13
Article 26Education
Medium Advocacy Advocacy
Structural
+0.13
Context Modifier
ND
SETL
+0.12
Site provides free, accessible educational content through simple HTML structure without barriers, enabling universal access to learning regardless of economic status.
+0.11
Article 19Freedom of Expression
Medium Advocacy Advocacy
Structural
+0.11
Context Modifier
ND
SETL
+0.11
Site provides free, open access to knowledge about expression and uses Creative Commons licensing ('Copy & share'), supporting dissemination of information and ideas.
ND
PreamblePreamble
No structural signals related to preamble principles.
ND
Article 1Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood
No structural signals.
ND
Article 2Non-Discrimination
No structural signals.
ND
Article 3Life, Liberty, Security
No structural signals.
ND
Article 4No Slavery
No structural signals.
ND
Article 5No Torture
No structural signals.
ND
Article 6Legal Personhood
No structural signals.
ND
Article 7Equality Before Law
No structural signals.
ND
Article 8Right to Remedy
No structural signals.
ND
Article 9No Arbitrary Detention
No structural signals.
ND
Article 10Fair Hearing
No structural signals.
ND
Article 11Presumption of Innocence
No structural signals.
ND
Article 12Privacy
No direct structural engagement, though site appears privacy-respecting.
ND
Article 13Freedom of Movement
No structural signals.
ND
Article 14Asylum
No structural signals.
ND
Article 15Nationality
No structural signals.
ND
Article 16Marriage & Family
No structural signals.
ND
Article 17Property
No structural signals.
ND
Article 18Freedom of Thought
Medium Advocacy
No direct structural signals.
ND
Article 20Assembly & Association
No structural signals.
ND
Article 21Political Participation
No structural signals.
ND
Article 22Social Security
No structural signals.
ND
Article 23Work & Equal Pay
No structural signals.
ND
Article 24Rest & Leisure
No structural signals.
ND
Article 25Standard of Living
No structural signals.
ND
Article 27Cultural Participation
Medium Advocacy
No direct structural signals.
ND
Article 28Social & International Order
No structural signals.
ND
Article 29Duties to Community
Medium Advocacy
No direct structural signals.
ND
Article 30No Destruction of Rights
No structural signals.
Supplementary Signals
How this content communicates, beyond directional lean. Learn more
build aba2bc8+myve · deployed 2026-02-28 16:36 UTC · evaluated 2026-02-28 16:29:11 UTC
Support HN HRCB
Each evaluation uses real API credits. HN HRCB runs on donations — no ads, no paywalls.
If you find it useful, please consider helping keep it running.