How Can I Simplify My Writing Using Readability Formulas?

Imagine a grandmother who wants to use her new smartphone but the 500-word user’s manual confuses her. It’s full of technical terms and complex instructions. She becomes frustrated because words like ‘sync’ and ‘configure’ hide the simple pleasure of connecting with her family. This situation teaches writers a valuable lesson: any text with a purpose must clearly and effectively communicate its message. Writers should always think about their readers and make sure they can understand the information. If readers struggle to understand the text, the writer has failed and must simplify it. This approach allows any reader to digest complex information, interact with it, and learn something. Simplifying the text doesn’t water down the content; rather, it makes it accessible for all readers.

Tips to Simplify Your Writing

1. Use short sentences with commonly used words. This is generally the best way to write clearly for any audience. Try to restrict sentence length to 20 words. Simplicity in documents is important. Studies have shown that the majority of Americans have average reading skills, between 7th-8th grade. If you can re-word or re-state your ideas using simpler words, then do so (unless the target readers are specialists and understand the longer words).

The Global Language Monitor has found that the average English sentence length is about 14 words, aligning with this guideline.

2. Besides simplicity in your documents, be brief and precise. If you can state the same point in fewer words, then don’t elaborate. Every reader prefers succinct text that conveys the information.

William Zinsser, in his classic book On Writing Well, stated, “Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one can’t exist without the other.” Opt for simple and familiar words.

3. Use headings, sub-headings, bullets, numbers, tables, highlighters, and text formatting (bold, italicized, underline etc.), wherever possible. You can feel the visual difference in your documents. If a document appears inviting, your readers’ interest will grow towards reading it.

4. Avoid using polysyllabic words (words with more than three syllables), as many readers find such words frustrating to read.

5. The best approach to simplify a document is to compare it with a popular text that also has the same target audience and is considered ideal by that audience.

6. Use clear and direct sentences. Make sure it’s easy to see who’s doing what in your writing. Instead of “The ball was thrown by John,” write “John threw the ball.”

A study by the University of Nevada revealed that active voice is 25% more understandable than passive voice.

7. Don’t switch around with words or tenses. If you start one way, stick with it. It makes your writing easier to follow. If you call a “car” an “automobile” in the beginning, use that term all the way through. Don’t switch between the two.

8. Charts, graphs, and pictures can explain things better sometimes. They can help show what words alone might not. If you’re talking about sales growth, a simple line graph can show the upward trend clearly.

A 2018 study by the Content Marketing Institute found that articles with relevant images receive 94% more views. Diagrams, charts, or images can sometimes communicate an idea more effectively.

9. Use simple words and explain things that might be new. If a word is special and you have to use it, explain what it means. Don’t say “CPR” without first saying it’s “Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation” and explaining what that means.

10. Help people understand by connecting ideas to things they know. It’s like explaining something complex by comparing it to a simple game or a common task. To explain gravity, you might say, “It’s like dropping an apple. It falls down, not up, and that’s gravity pulling on it.”

A report by the Plain Language Commission found that 60% of technical and governmental documents were beyond the reading level of the average citizen.

11. You can find tools online that tell you how easy your writing is to read. They help you see if you need to make changes. Tools like ReadabilityFormulas.com’s scoring system can tell you the reading level of your text. If it says grade 10 and you’re writing for grade 8, you’ll know to simplify.

12. Let someone else read what you’ve written. They might see something that’s hard to understand. Show your article to a friend who doesn’t know the subject well. If they get stuck, that’s a sign you need to make changes.

13. You can always improve your writing. Don’t be afraid to change things to make them clearer. If you start with “The cat was chased by the dog,” you might rewrite it to “The dog chased the cat.” It’s clearer and more direct.

14. Write like you’re talking to a friend. It can make even tough subjects easier to get. Instead of saying “Individuals experiencing precipitation may wish to utilize an umbrella,” say “If it’s raining, carry an umbrella.”