July 2004

A warm welcome to our new subscribers. My apologies for getting this issue out much later than promised. Here on the coast of Maine it's finally summer (sort of, with average temp in July only 66). That means house guests and day trips in addition to paying work and deadlines. So enjoy a quick summer read with this abbreviated version, and we'll try to get back to normal publishing next month!

Just a reminder -- you asked to receive the newsletter, but you can easily unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom. Please forward the newsletter to any colleagues and friends who might be interested. Help spread good writing at work!

I'd really like your feedback about the newsletter. Are there any topics about which you want to know more, or specific grammar issues you'd like clarified? Just let me know

No, it's not penmanship we're referring to here. We're talking about the ease with which readers can understand what you've written. Or, in fancy terms, "readability scores." Your grammar teacher might have called it writing in plain English.

There are several readability formulas available, usually based on sentence length, or both sentence and word length. The two most popular are the Gunning Fog Index (which bills itself as "the easiest to use," but I'll leave that up to you) and the Flesch Reading Ease Score.

Gunning Fog
This index was developed by Robert Gunning in 1944. I love the tongue-in-cheek title. Here's how to use it:

-- Select a sample of your writing (a short paragraph with 4 or 5 sentences)
-- Determine the average number of words per sentence (average sentence length or ASL). A quick way is to take the total number of words divided by the number of sentences
-- Determine the percentage of "difficult" words (three or more syllables) by counting the difficult ones and dividing by the total number of words
-- Add the 2 factors and multiply by 0.4

The result is a rough measure of how many years of schooling it would take someone to understand the content (i.e., the grade level of readership). The lower the number, the more understandable your writing. A score of seventeen or above is considered post-graduate level. For reference, the New York Times has an average Fog Index of 11-12 (yup, that's high school), with Time magazine about 11.

Flesch Reading Ease Score
Rudolph Flesch developed his formula in the early 1940s and then went on to write numerous books, among the most notable, "Why Johnny Can't Read." Here's how his formula works:

-- Count the number of words in your paragraph and the number of syllables (yes, tedious, I admit)
-- Count the number of sentences
-- Calculate the ASL (number of words divided by number of sentences)
-- Calculate the ASW (average number of syllables per word), which is the number of syllables divided by the number of words.

Now multiply the average sentence length by 1.015. Multiply the average word length by 84.6. Add the two numbers. Subtract this sum from 206.835. The result is your readability score. Scores range from zero to 100, with zero practically unreadable and 100 extremely easy. According to Flesch, the minimum score for plain English is 60, or about 20 words per sentence and 1-1/2 syllables per word. For reference, The New York Times has a Flesch readability score of 39, the Wall Street Journal 43 and Newsweek 50.

Don't Sweat It
Because it's summer and the livin' is supposed to be easy, we have good news...Microsoft Word will actually calculate the Flesch readability formula for you! Here's how to do it: Open your document. Under Tools, Spelling & Grammar, make sure "check grammar" is checked. Under options, make sure both "check grammar with spelling" and "show readability statistics" are checked. When Word finishes checking spelling and grammar, it will display information about the reading level of your prose.

In the interest of full disclosure -- The Flesch ease of readability score for this article is 46.

I remember learning the difference between these two words way back when, but how many of us still recognize the distinction when we write? Although the words are often used interchangeably, those who take pride in their writing are careful about their usage. Here's how to keep them straight.

Think of farther as a "distance" word ("far" is the clue). Further is used as a "time" or "quantity" word. "We had to drive farther than last time for the customer meeting." "My boss and I couldn't come to an agreement, so we decided to pursue the matter further the following week."

Note, too, that further can also be used to mean "in addition" or "moreover." Farther is never used this way, obviously.

Still like to write with a pencil? For those who just can't seem to get the lead out of their lives comes a 21st century propelling pencil from Germany. It's filled with 1.4mm lead (vs. the normal 0.5mm), which means you can grab it, jab it, stab it and it still won't break -- even if you press too hard. At the same time, you can still make a fine line. Twist the end cap and the lead advances smoothly. If there's an accountant or draftsperson in your life, they'll like it, too.

The writing instrument is made by Faber-Castell, known round the world for their quality pencils, for a reasonable $29.95.

Get more details about the pencil.

If any of the work you do relates to marketing communications, here's a note of interest. The Communicator Awards, one of the largest and most respected competitions in the communications field, has just announced a new awards program, the MarCom Creative Awards.

This international competition provides marketing and communications professionals with the chance to receive recognition in their field. There are almost 200 categories in the program, ranging from direct mail to promotional kits to web sites and presentations. Each entry is judged against itself and not directly against other entries. There are three levels of awards, and an entry fee of $50 per single entry. The deadline is September 3, 2004.

Learn more about the competition here.