Reading time: About 3 minutes
Before you accuse anyone of dumbing down writing, make sure you understand what your readers really need….
Many years ago, I ran an editing workshop for a publishers association.
It seemed to be going well, until… I suggested participants edit their writing (for dust jacket copy) to a grade 7 to 9 level.
I had an instant revolution on my hands…. Think pitchforks and torches, but with red pens.
“Noooo,” they cried. “Our readers are sophisticated. They’ll be insulted if we write in that kind of way.”
Some of the participants were so deeply offended, I can still recall the angry expressions on their faces, some 20 years later. You’d think I’d suggested they start writing in crayon.
To keep the workshop on course, I backtracked as quickly as I could, even though I knew I was right. But they were cranky with me after that. Actually, cranky doesn’t begin to cover it — I was persona non grata in the publishing world.
Feeling terrible that things had gone so awry, I contacted my business coach the next day. What could I have done differently? I asked him.
He had a quick and very clever suggestion. He told me to give future workshops a sample of the kind of writing I was recommending — excellent advice that I have followed for the last 20 years. Best $200 I ever spent on coaching.
Here is the sample I now share. Please read it and decide what grade level you think it scores:
So much for early warnings about the bloated monsters that lie in ambush for the writer trying to put together a clean English sentence.
“But,” you may say, “if I eliminate everything you think is clutter and strip every sentence to its barest bones, will there be anything left of me?” The question is a fair one and the fear entirely natural. Simplicity carried to its extreme might seem to point to a style where the sentences are little more sophisticated than “Dick likes Jane” and “See Spot run.”
I’ll answer the question first on the level of mere carpentry. Then I’ll get to the larger issue of who the writer is and how to preserve his or her identity.
Few people realize how badly they write. Nobody has shown them how much excess or murkiness has crept into their style and how it obstructs what they are trying to say. If you give me an article that runs to eight pages and I tell you to cut it to four, you’ll howl and say it can’t be done. Then you’ll go home and do it, and it will be infinitely better. After that comes the hard part: cutting it to three.
The point is that you have to strip your writing down before you can build it back up. You must know what the essential tools are and what job they were designed to do. If I may labor the metaphor of carpentry, it is first necessary to be able to saw wood neatly and to drive nails. Later you can bevel the edges or add elegant finials, if that’s your taste. But you can never forget that you are practicing a craft that is based on certain principles. If the nails are weak, your house will collapse. If your verbs are weak and your syntax is rickety, your sentence will fall apart.
(This sample comes from the classic book On Writing Well, by William Zinsser.)
So, put up your hand if you think it’s written at a university level.
Or what about grade 12?
Grade 11?
Grade 10?
Grade 9?
Grade 8?
Grade 7?
I’ve given this sample and run through this list of grade level choices in every workshop I’ve led for the last 20 years, and here’s the kicker: I can count on one hand the number of people who correctly guess it’s a grade 7. Usually it’s the person sitting in the back row who looks like they’re not paying attention.
Here’s the thing about readability scores. They have nothing to do with age. Or level of education. Or intelligence. They’re not measuring how smart your reader is — they’re measuring how hard you’re making them work.
Readability stats are a relatively simple measure based on four metrics:
- The length of words
- The length of sentences
- The length of paragraphs
- The volume of passive voice
That’s it. No PhD required to understand the formula. My guess is the unusual word “finials” in the Zinsser text may have helped persuade you it was more complex than it was. Or perhaps words like murkiness, elegant or rickety may have led you astray. Don’t feel bad — “finials” stumps most people. (They’re those decorative bits on curtain rods, by the way.)
This is a sophisticated piece of writing that still earns a low grade-level score because it features mostly short words, short sentences, short paragraphs and a small volume of passive voice.
Aiming for a low grade level isn’t dumbing down writing. In fact, it’s smartening it up.
Some writers seem to believe that writing in a simple and straightforward way is offensive. Instead, I see it as friendly and thoughtful. It’s like holding the door open for your reader — basic courtesy.
There are quadrillions of published words in the world, and if you want people to read your writing, you’re smart to make it easy to understand.
Your reader’s attention is a gift. Don’t make them work overtime to give it.
PS: The grade level of this post is grade 5. I used ProWritingAid to calculate my score.
If you liked this post, you’ll also like my video, How to understand readability stats.
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Need some help developing a better, more sustainable writing or editing routine? Learn about my three-month accountability program called Get It Done. There is turn-over each month, and priority will go to those who have applied first. You can go directly to the application form and you’ll hear back from me within 24 hours.
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My video podcast last week addressed how to stop resisting editing advice. You can watch the video or read the transcript, and you can also subscribe to my YouTube channel.
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Has anyone ever accused you of dumbing down writing? How did you deal with it? We can all learn from each other, so please, share your thoughts with my readers and me in the comments section, below. If you comment on today’s post (or any others) by July 31/25, I’ll put you in a draw for a digital copy of my first book, 8 1/2 Steps to Writing Faster, Better. To enter, please scroll down to the comments, directly underneath the related posts links, below. You don’t have to join Disqus to post! Read my tutorial to learn how to post as a guest. (It’s easy!)
