Readability Statistics
Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 2:49 am
Everyone knows that Microsoft Word is a very popular program for writing. Most of us that have writtin stories have probably written them on Microsoft Word. Did you know that Word allows you to see the readability statistics of your story? It's easy to do; just follow these steps.
#1 Bring up your story on Microsoft Word.
#2 Go to the toolbar at the top; click "Tools".
#3 Click on "Options"
#4 Click on the "Spelling and Grammar" tab.
#5 In the bottom left corner, under "Grammar" you will see a box that says "Show readability statistics". Note: If you can't click on it (the sentence is in gray), hit the "Check Grammar as you type" button, and then "Show Readability Statistics".
#6 Hit OK.
#7 Go back to the "Tools" button. Hit "Spelling and Grammar" Note: If you have several grammar errors (the squiggly red and green lines), it will try to take you through those first. Keep clicking on "Next Sentence" until you reach the end. This can be a little time consuming...
#8 It should now show the readability statistics in a little pop-up box.
When it shows you the statistics, it will show the number of sentences, paragraphs, sharacters, etc. At the bottom of the box it will say "Readability". It shows you three statistics:
Passive Sentences
Flesch Reading Ease
Flesch- Kincaid Grade Level
If you don't know what passive sentences are, follow this link: http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts ... voice.html
As for the Flesch Reading Ease and the Flesch- Kincaid Grade Level, follow this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flesch%E2% ... ility_test
Example: The readability statistics of my story is:
Passive Sentences: 3% (About right where it should be).
Flesch Reading Ease: 79.6 (Pretty easy to read).
Flesch- Kincaid Grade Level: 4.5 (I'm writing 4th grade material! I think I might go back and throw in a few challenging words...)
That being said, what are the readability statistics of your story?
#1 Bring up your story on Microsoft Word.
#2 Go to the toolbar at the top; click "Tools".
#3 Click on "Options"
#4 Click on the "Spelling and Grammar" tab.
#5 In the bottom left corner, under "Grammar" you will see a box that says "Show readability statistics". Note: If you can't click on it (the sentence is in gray), hit the "Check Grammar as you type" button, and then "Show Readability Statistics".
#6 Hit OK.
#7 Go back to the "Tools" button. Hit "Spelling and Grammar" Note: If you have several grammar errors (the squiggly red and green lines), it will try to take you through those first. Keep clicking on "Next Sentence" until you reach the end. This can be a little time consuming...
#8 It should now show the readability statistics in a little pop-up box.
When it shows you the statistics, it will show the number of sentences, paragraphs, sharacters, etc. At the bottom of the box it will say "Readability". It shows you three statistics:
Passive Sentences
Flesch Reading Ease
Flesch- Kincaid Grade Level
If you don't know what passive sentences are, follow this link: http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts ... voice.html
As for the Flesch Reading Ease and the Flesch- Kincaid Grade Level, follow this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flesch%E2% ... ility_test
Example: The readability statistics of my story is:
Passive Sentences: 3% (About right where it should be).
Flesch Reading Ease: 79.6 (Pretty easy to read).
Flesch- Kincaid Grade Level: 4.5 (I'm writing 4th grade material! I think I might go back and throw in a few challenging words...)
That being said, what are the readability statistics of your story?