Reading Ease

I’ve heard the Flesch-Kincaid Grade level is the most important and I’ve heard if you can keep it above 9, you’ve done well. I think the Flesch Reading Ease has some merit, but I’m not sure I’m right.

As to the rest of Microsoft’s Words tools, I use it, but sometimes I can’t rely on it.

There have been a few threads discussing Flesch-Kincaid numbers. Here's a good one which might give another starting point for discussion:

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40843&highlight=flesch

I write in an active voice with lots of dialogue which dramatically lowers my score to around 3-4th grade. But I've heard that this is where most people function best. I write genre and I write for people to read, so my F-K rating is just about right.

GPatten said:

I’ve heard the Flesch-Kincaid Grade level is the most important and I’ve heard if you can keep it above 9, you’ve done well. I think the Flesch Reading Ease has some merit, but I’m not sure I’m right.

As to the rest of Microsoft’s Words tools, I use it, but sometimes I can’t rely on it.

Click to expand...

For fiction, keeping it below grade level 9 is what most good writers do. Just as examples, Hemingway's fiction generally comes in around grade four to grade five, Stephen King's comes in around grade seven, and so does Ray Bradbury's. Even Shakespeare comes in at around grade six. Darn few good fiction writers write above grade level 8.

When writing gets above grade level 8, it often means the writer is using needlessly complex words.

Writing at sixth grade level does not mean you're writing for sixth graders, it only means most of the words you use can be read by the average sixth grader. They may not understand the content of the writing at all, but they can read the words. This is a good thing.

The reading ease does have merit. It means you construct sentences and paragraphs in a way the average reader like be able to understand without undue trouble.

My Microsoft Word doesn't have that Flesch Kincaid thingy on it?

Meh. I'm fairly accepting of most programs now for my stories (sometimes, I'll even turn on the grammar check on for whole minutes at a time) but the readability thing is one thing I still am uninterested in. I checked it once, my grade level was a nice comfortable level, and I don't care beyond that. Mostly, I see if my stories sell, and if someone can read them without going "What...?"

That's godo enough for me.

Says Pete, who is probably a luddite at heart...

Where I work (a Behavioral Health Organization, i.e., managed care for BH), we have to make anything we send to members (patients) be at or below the 6th grade leve. Do you know how hard it is to do that when you're discussing medical conditions, recovery and resiliancy, telemedicine, consent decree termination rights, privacy and confidentiality policies, services for dual-diagnosis clients, etc.,? Our corporate offices and our CMCs each have staff who do nothing but translate information into 6th grade language. I tried and it was the hardest thing I've done in my job. Everything about what I wrote in the desired language screamed 'wrong, WRONG, WRONG!!'