Comments on: How to improve your readability…

By: Marcus Carey

Marcus Carey — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:34:00 +0000

Daphne

Here is a website that has a downloadable copy of the article you quoted in your newsletter. http://comp311.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/126/

Rudolf Flesch Readability FormulaNovember 18, 2010 — a.m.d.

From the Brandt reading, I’m linking to a PDF of the article Rudolf Flesch wrote in which he introduced his readability formula. [Journal of Applied Psychology, Volume 32, issue 3 (June 1948), p. 221-233]

Abstract: The author provides a revised system for determining the comprehension difficulty of written material through the use of two new formulae which measure reading ease and human interest. The following elements are used in analyzing text passages: (1) average sentence length in words; (2) average word length in syllables; (3) average percentage of “personal words”; (4) average percentage of personal sentences. A step-by-step procedure for using the formulae, and interpretative table of scores, and an analysis of passages in “Life” and “The New Yorker” are given. 20-item bibliography. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

ISSN: 0021-9010, DOI: 10.1037/h0057532

American Psychological Association

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:16:00 +0000

In reply to Writing Tumbler. Thanks!!

By: Writing Tumbler

Writing Tumbler — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 01:49:00 +0000

In reply to Daphne Gray-Grant.

Here it is! http://www.cs.utah.edu/~gback/awfgrmlg.html

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:18:00 +0000

In reply to Writing Tumbler. Do you have a link to the Twain commentary? I'd love to read it!

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:17:00 +0000

In reply to Writing Tumbler. Keep in mind that you shouldn't really think of the "grade" score as if you were writing for that grade. It's a useful comparison BETWEEN pieces of writing, Most people imagine they should be aiming at about a grade 12 level when, in fact, they should aim at a grade 7 to 9 level! You need to keep your writing simple and straightforward and your sentences short. This is what grade level measures.

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:17:00 +0000

In reply to Bob. Thanks, Bob!

By: Writing Tumbler

Writing Tumbler — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:36:00 +0000

I’ve been playing with the Flesch scores myself over the past month or so. One page on Starbucks’ website came out at 48.6. Two pages on Apple’s website came out at 62 and 81.1 respectively. Something I wrote came out at 37 🙁 But a white paper my company released came out at 4.8. There’s also the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level. Same idea, but it gives you the grade most appropriate for reading the material. Interestingly enough, my company’s white paper (4.8) came out at grade 13.6. My own piece of copywriting (37) came out at grade 13. This tells me that you can still simplify your writing while aiming for a specific education level. (Not that I’m aiming to write for grade 13 students who, ironically, still exist in Germany 🙂 )

By: Writing Tumbler

Writing Tumbler — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:30:00 +0000

In reply to Bob. Orwell would have been a good copywriter for a software company :)

By: Writing Tumbler

Writing Tumbler — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:24:00 +0000

In reply to Judy of the Woods.

Hi Judy,
English is my native language, but I speak German fairly fluently. One reason why German can be so long is because of the three genders: using “he,” “she,” and “it” helps the reader keep track of what the pronouns are referring to. Granted, that doesn’t mean it’s good writing 🙂 It just means the language is more easily adapted to writing long, horrendous sentences. (Mark Twain’s commentary on learning German is hilarious.)

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 20:16:00 +0000

In reply to Daphne Gray-Grant.

It is attributed to Arthur Kudner. I see it is now quoted (slightly different text) on http://www.anvari.org/fortune/Quotations_By_Famous_People/2453_never-fear-big-long-words-big-long-words-mean-little-things.html