Forum Moderators: not2easy
I am getting a little tired of editing her docs to find all the $10 words. Is there a software out there that will analyze text and identify words in a doc that are above the average person's reading level?
I suspect not (other than a bonafide editor) but I thought I would ask.
More important than vocabulary is the sentence structure that a writer uses. Are the paragraphs and sentences arranged logically? Does one thought flow into another?
Are sentences relatively short? Are they mostly written in the active voice?
Academic writing can be brilliant but it is very difficult for most of us to wade through, unless we are also working in an academic setting at the time we are perusing the document in question.
On the other hand, if you are writing for a stuffy academic or scientific audience, they may actually be offended by clear, concise writing. Makes things sound too simple, you know.
In short, writing has to be appropriate to its audience. Your writer may be perfectly tuned in to your readers or she may not be. There's no easy way to know. That's why publications have editors -- to ride herd on the writers.
What you might want to do is find a publication that is respected and successful in your field, then try to recruit one of its editors on a free lance basis to do a review of your site and, if necessary, do a workshop session with your writer to get her on the right path.
Depending on the subject, point of view should be considered.
Just because someone can read at a certain level doesn't necessarily mean they enjoy it.
Many non-scientific works can be written in a conversational tone.
1. Read it out aloud.
2. Leave it a day
3. Read it out again.
4. Don't be clever.
5. Know your market.
6. Apply persuasion theory in the written style.
7. Bite size chunks.
8. Linked menu inside document to help send visual cues on large docs.
9. Say "so what" at the end of each sentance, and ask does what I'm saying add anything.
10. Use one word instead of two.
That said, good writing can only come from a talented human, never a machine or software program.
1. Read it out aloud.
2. Leave it a day
3. Read it out again.
4. Don't be clever.
5. Know your market.
6. Apply persuasion theory in the written style.
7. Bite size chunks.
8. Linked menu inside document to help send visual cues on large docs.
9. Say "so what" at the end of each sentance, and ask does what I'm saying add anything.
10. Use one word instead of two.
11. eliminate sentences that repeat the thought communicated in a previous sentence.
The Flesch Readability Score was devised by Rudolph Flesch
also, when people talk about a particular piece being at a particular "grade level" (e.g., newspapers), they are often referring to the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score, not the grade level of the readers.
The FKGL is a score that you can give to a text based on sentence and word length. The higher the score, the harder to read, and if your text is above a 10 it's probably tough going.
These measures are based on sentence length and word length, and while they're not perfect, they're a good rough guide.
The problem is she has a vocabulary that is too high level for the web.
Like someone else said, the New Yorker is on the web.
I think you mean "too high level for the site's target audience". But if that's the case, I agree with others... if you can't write to your target audience, you're not "brilliant", you're a showoff.
I'm not sure I agree with this. Much writing advice says that if you want a reader to grasp a point, you have to make that point 3 times.
It depends on the message you are trying get across to the reader.
>> 11. Ensure that each sentance builds on or compliments the idea or concept being communicated with the user but don't say the same thing twice.
Second, communicate directly, actively. Information sites have a style which is NOT fiction prose or poetry.
Third, don't worry about "grade level". The kids love to tackle new things (I was reading at 10th grade level in the 5th grade). Adults, even lazy ones, can tell when they are given pablum instead of steak.
Fourth, unless offering a technical site where the terminology dictates word usage, avoid big words, long sentences, and passive voice.
Rule one (comes before first) READ IT ALOUD. Better yet, have someone ELSE read it aloud to YOU. If it does not sound natural it might not be the best choice.
Doesn't mean every para should simply follow from the previous one; but when you do change tack, do so deliberately. Indeed, it's good to have "chapters" within articles.
- no matter how dumb or high-falutin your language, focus control is hugely important.
I hope there's no software that can tell you about this!
