Grammar and Readability

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If you search the web for Writer’s Tools, you’ll find quite a few suggestions out there…mostly falling into a few major categories: Grammar and Readability, Keeping Writing, and Finding the Right Word. There are even more tool ideas that don’t fit into any of those groups, but we are going to just hit a few of the big ones. Today, we will look at a few places where you can check the grammar of your writing…and as a bonus, get an indication of how tough it is for a typical reader to get through it.

Be advised, none of the tools we are going to cover can give your writing the same attention that an actual human reader can, so we always recommend having someone familiar with publishing traditions give a close look at anything you want to share with the world. (We are always available for those tasks!)

Grammar Checkers

Besides the built-in spell and grammar checkers in most word processing programs, there are sites that are dedicated to checking your spelling, grammar, and style. Four big ones seem to come up in most lists: Hemingway, ProWritingAid, Readable, and Grammarly. Each has their high and low points, all come with both a free and a paid version, and some don’t even require that you have an account or a log in if all you need is a quick check via the web.

We recommend taking a few paragraphs of some of your writing and run them through all of them, just to get a feel for what they can do.

  • Hemingway is easy and straightforward…no fluff here.
  • ProWritingAid is a bit more exhaustive and comprehensive (though it takes a bit of sleuthing to find the free, web-based version).
  • Readable has a quick-check site that is easy to access, though they push the paid version quite thoroughly.
  • Grammarly is rather involved and complicated (and the only one that requires you to have an account and log in…even to use the free version).

Once you’ve tested them out and found your favourite, stick with it. Switching back and forth from one to another will just serve to drive you crazy as one will suggest changing A to B and the next will say to swap B to A. The bottom line is always your Target Reader, so keep in mind that these programs just give suggestions. If all they do is help you find places where you can improve your writing in general, then they’ve done their job well.

Readability Scoring

When it comes to getting an opinion on how readable your text is, the jury is still out. Apparently, every new study has created their own way to measure readability…including measuring sentence length, determining word complexity, and counting syllables. Some methods return a grade level…others a numeric score. Grade levels range from 5th grade (very easy for an 11 year old to understand) up to professional (difficult for university graduates to comprehend). Some of the numeric scores roughly correspond to a percent of the mainstream audience who will grasp the concepts involved…others are based on a different scale.

Generally, we want our writing to fall into the 7th to 9th grade level or 60–80 on the percentage scale. Anything more difficult than that may put off some readers…especially the ones who are reading as an escape from having to think. If they want to read something that is more challenging, there are plenty of text books available to them.

Here are some example scoring systems in use:

  • Grade Level (lower=easier)
    • Flesch-Kincaid
    • Gunning fog
    • Coleman-Liau
    • SMOG
    • Automated Readability
    • Fry
    • FORCAST
    • Powers Sumner Kearl
    • Rix
    • Raygor
    • CEFR
    • Spache
    • New Dale-Chall
  • Numeric Score (higher=easier)
    • Flesch Reading Ease
    • IELTS
    • Lix
    • Lensear

As you can see, there are way too many options out there, but most readability calculators include either or both of the Flesch scores, so that’s a good place to start.