Avoid "suitcase sentences"

The late Martin Yoseloff, an author, friend and early mentor of mine, used to compare reading a lengthy sentence with trying to navigate through a living room so full of furniture that you were more concerned about tripping over something than enjoying what the room had to offer. I can picture him now, with pencil in hand, editing someone's work. He would circle a lengthy sentence and write a three-word note in the margin: "Too much furniture!"
I have another friend who compares the challenge of reading cumbersome sentences with packing a suitcase so full that you have to sit on it to close it.
The message is simple: Avoid those "suitcase sentences."