Thursday, October 30, 2008

Experts write and speak plainly

Last time we talked about the Fog Index and clear writing
Today we’ll talk about the other test of the Fog Index.
Short words tend to be powerful and easy to understand.
"Fall" is better than "decrease" or "decline".
It has one syllable and is far more visual.
You can see something "fall" in your mind.
Dr. Rudolf Flesch argued for short, powerful words.
One- and two-syllable words make your language powerful.
Words such as "fall", "jump" and "drop" paint vivid images.
Dr. Flesch rsuggested counting syllables in your writing.
Take 10 sentences and count the number of syllables in them.
"Pope" has one syllable. "President" has three.
Then divide the number of syllables by the number of words.
This gives you the average number of syllables per word.
Lets say you counted 1,079 syllables in 257 words.
Congratulations. Your syllable count is 4.2 per word.
You must be writing a Ph.D. dissertation. Only scholars get it.
The rest of us quit reading after the first sentence.
A goal worth achieving is an average of 1.5 to 2 syllables.
Here’s a sentence from the Everest guide Tenzing Norgay:
"I had climbed my mountain but still must live my life."
How many syllables in his 11 words? Right. Only 12.
An average syllable county of 1.09 per word.
Now you try it on your own words.
For a unique Christmas gift for those you love, click here.

No comments: