Flesch Reading Ease

 

Flesch Reading Ease

Some writers use a stream of consciousness process when writing. This method can deliver lively, entertaining work which is easy to read. Others plan carefully, doing rigorous research and double-checking facts. Many fall somewhere between the two, aiming for interesting content without being didactic.

I review my blog posts before publishing them. I do this to try and make sure that no dreadful bloomers escape into the wider world. I do not always succeed.

Anyway, after completing my previous post about Gilbert’s detached squeaker, I followed the usual review process. Then I did something I haven’t done before: out of curiosity, I looked at ‘Insights,’ under which heading came ‘Document stats.’ The analysis for the ‘squeaker’ blog post can be seen above.

The Flesch Reading Ease test determines how readable a text is. It looks at the average number of words in sentences and the complexity of the vocabulary. There is more information here.

When a score between 0 to 100 is established, accompanying notes indicate the level of readability.

From Wikipedia:

Score	School level (US)	Notes
100.00–90.00	5th grade	Very easy to read. Easily understood by an average 11-year-old student.
90.0–80.0	6th grade	Easy to read. Conversational English for consumers.
80.0–70.0	7th grade	Fairly easy to read.
70.0–60.0	8th & 9th grade	Plain English. Easily understood by 13- to 15-year-old students.
60.0–50.0	10th to 12th grade	Fairly difficult to read.
50.0–30.0	College	Difficult to read.
30.0–10.0	College graduate	Very difficult to read. Best understood by university graduates.
10.0–0.0	Professional	Extremely difficult to read. Best understood by university graduates.

What sort of writer are you? Do you review what you have written before you post it?

Readability statistics for this post: