{"id":8561,"date":"2016-04-27T01:12:15","date_gmt":"2016-04-27T08:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/blog\/up-your-writing-game-with-these-4-easy-tools\/"},"modified":"2025-05-06T14:13:44","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T21:13:44","slug":"up-your-writing-game-with-these-4-easy-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/en_gb\/blog\/up-your-writing-game-with-these-4-easy-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"Up Your Writing Game with These 4 Easy Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everyone knows that you should have someone check your work before you publish it, whether it\u2019s in print, online or just an important email. But it\u2019s hard to find a good editor, and even harder to corner someone when everyone is always so busy. The Federal Plain Language Guidelines<\/a> recommend conducting interviews and surveys to test your writing, though for most of us that\u2019s even more unrealistic than finding an editor. Here is where these neat (and free!) tools come in: You can make your writing better without leaving your desk and without having to trouble any of your coworkers for a favor.<\/p>\n

Say we want to do some outreach around packaging consumption, so we write this paragraph:<\/p>\n

When consuming any type of product, it\u2019s important to consider the packaging. In 2009, nearly 30 percent of municipal solid waste consisted of containers and packaging, and less than half of that waste was recovered for recycling. So, its important to purchase products with zero packaging at all (i.e. bulk items), purchase products with packaging you can reuse, or purchase products with packaging that you can recycle in your area.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s all right, but it could use some improvement. Let\u2019s run it through these four writing tests, and see if they can help us make it stronger.<\/p>\n

Readability-Score<\/strong><\/h3>\n\"readability-score-before-1\"\n

Readability-Score<\/a> says the reading ease of this paragraph is 56.7. That’s not terrible, but when writing for the web or general public, you want to be at 60 or higher, so we could use some improvement. Readability-Score also says we’re at an average grade level of 11.8, and we’re aiming for 8. Here\u2019s the other data Readability-Score gives us:<\/p>\n\"readability-score-before-2\"\n

It\u2019s a lot to take in, but let\u2019s focus on the following: our average number of words per sentence is close to\u00a014, and we\u2019re repeating a few words too much. With that in mind, let\u2019s revise the paragraph for shorter sentences and fewer repeated words.\u00a0Here\u2019s the revised version:<\/p>\n

When consuming any type of product, it\u2019s important to consider the packaging. In 2009, nearly 30 percent of municipal solid waste consisted of containers and packaging. Less than half of that waste was recovered for recycling. So try to purchase products with zero packaging at all (i.e. bulk items), types you can reuse, or types that you can recycle in your area.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What does Readability-Score think?<\/p>\n\"readability-score-after-1\"\n

Our new Reading Ease Score is 67.5. That\u2019s a ten-point improvement. And our new grade level is about 9.4. (Though Flesch-Kincaid, this site\u2019s favorite formula,\u00a0and the most commonly used, rates it at 6.4.) What about the other ratings?<\/p>\n\"readability-score-after-2\"\n

Our word repetition has dropped, though the\u00a0highest is still our topic, \u201cpackaging,\u201d and our sentences are four words shorter on average.<\/p>\n

Overall? Success. This tool’s amount of\u00a0feedback can be a little overwhelming at first, but once you get the hang of it, it\u2019s pretty useful.<\/p>\n

Hemingway<\/strong><\/h3>\n\"hemingway-before\"\n

Hemingway<\/a> says our last two sentences are too hard to read, and the word \u201cpurchase\u201d can be replaced with \u201cbuy\u201d or \u201csale.\u201d It also recommends we remove our one adverb, \u201cnearly,\u201d though our one use of passive voice is tolerable. Hemingway\u2019s grade level calculation sticks us at 14 \u2014 that\u2019s pretty bad. But let\u2019s see what happens when we revise for these concerns. Our new paragraph:<\/p>\n

When consuming any type of product, it\u2019s important to consider the packaging. In 2009, almost 30 percent of municipal solid waste consisted of containers and packaging. Less than half of that waste was recovered for recycling. Try to buy products with zero packaging at all (i.e. bulk items). If that isn’t an option, then choose\u00a0items with packaging that you can reuse or\u00a0recycle in your area.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What does Hemingway have to say?<\/p>\n

\"hemingway-after\"
\nAccording to Hemingway, this paragraph is problem-free. Also, in simplifying the language and shortening those hard-to-read sentences, we\u2019ve dropped the grade level to 7. Nice.<\/p>\n

Writer\u2019s Diet<\/strong><\/h3>\n\"writersdiet-before\"\n

The Writer\u2019s Diet<\/a> isn\u2019t the perfect test for such a short writing sample, but it says our paragraph \u201cneeds toning\u201d \u2014 not a super flattering diagnosis. When you look at all of those prepositions highlighted in green, though, it does seem like a lot. We could probably use a couple less adjectives, too. Let\u2019s see what we can do to reduce our usage of those types of words.<\/p>\n

When consuming any type of product, it\u2019s important to consider the packaging. In 2009, almost 30 percent of municipal solid waste consisted of containers and packaging, and less than half of that waste was recovered for recycling. Aim to purchase products with zero packaging, such as bulk items, packaging you can reuse, or packaging you can recycle in your area.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What does the test say?
\n\"writersdiet-after\"
\nThis new paragraph still contains a lot of prepositions, but less problematic phrasing overall, earning a new diagnosis of \u201cfit and trim.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grammarly<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"grammarly-before\"
\nGrammarly<\/a> is the first test to point out our \u201cits\/it\u2019s\u201d typo. But it doesn\u2019t have a lot to say besides \u2014 if you want feedback on any advanced issues, you have to purchase their full product.<\/p>\n

The Takeaway<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Each of these writing tools has different strengths, so your favorite is going to depend on your needs and preferences for delivery. Grammarly is great for catching typos and giving word suggestions, and can also be used in conjunction with these other writing tools, though it frequently suggests that you pay for their full service. The Writer\u2019s Diet is great to point out patterns in your writing style, if you tend to overuse certain types of phrasing. Hemingway gives color-coded feedback on specific sentences, though Readability-Score will tell you if you\u2019re having problems because you need shorter sentences or shorter words. Keep in mind, too, that all these tools offer extra services for menial fees.<\/p>\n

No matter which\u00a0you prefer, with these tools at your fingertips, you\u2019ll be out of excuses for bad, unclear writing. Now get to it \u2014 the world is in need of a little extra clarity.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everyone knows that you should have someone check your work before you publish it, whether it\u2019s in print, online or just an important email. But it\u2019s hard to find a good editor, and even harder to corner someone when everyone is always so busy. The Federal Plain Language Guidelines recommend conducting interviews and surveys to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resourcetype-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}