"In writing, kill your darlings".

In this post, I aim to equip you with a far more attractive way of writing using the wisdom of Rudolf Flesch.

Designers, engineers use standards and often deploy a certain formula to constructing a finished product.

Often in writing, high-level writers possess their own style but can often use formulas and tools to improve overall readability.

There are a lot of great books on writing, my three favorites being

1. The Elements of Style by Strunk and White.
2. The Brilliance Breakthrough, by Eugene Schwartz.
3. On Writing Well, by William Zissner.

Though these books (and almost all others) fail to attack the problem most writers have trouble with the most, editing.

All non-fiction writing is essentially answering a question in the mind of a reader.

Whether it gets read or not ultimately depends on your skills to keep and hold the attention of the reader.

Every sentence should amplify the one that preceded it.

Most writers depend on editors to do there readability enhancements for them, through there is a better way.

When clear communication is of utmost importance, you need something like the Flesch-Kincaid Readability test.

The FK Score (for abbreviation) looks at a range of factors including:

• Number of letters per word, (more letters decreases readability)
• Number of words per sentence ( more words decrease readability)
• Number of sentences per paragraph (more sentences, decrease readability)
• Frequency of passive sentences (more passive sentences, more difficult to read)

You will get two scores from these inputs:

Grade Score and reading ease.

You want to keep your grade score as low as possible, more examples

For most persuasive writing, your goal should be to keep the FK grade score below 8.0.

So how to improve your grade score?

With tools and editing!!

Free writing tools to help with readability

Web Based

1. Hemmingway App
2. Readability
3. Good Calculators
4. FK Score Checker

As a point of reference, Hemmingway's well known "For Whom the Bell Tolls" scores 4.1. Ernest Hemmingway was renowned for his readability of very complex and multi-dimensional stories and conceptual writing that way easily understood by most writer.

7 Powerful tactics to lower your FK score.

Tactic 1 - Clarify first before you begin.

Most writers can become muddled in their thinking, often without a clear direction or strategy and the writing lacks flow.

According to the Mark Ford :

The single best way to keep your FK score down is to avstain from writing until you have arrived at an emotionally compelling idea.

In other words, work out what you want to say before you say it. Once you know what you want to say, formulate it the most cohesive yet persuasive way possible.

Tactic 2. - Tell a story.

Human beings respond to stories. That's what people want to know about and are drawn toward.

Tell your story....

Tactic 3- Use active sentences

Use words that project and image

Tactic 4- Avoid using long or uncommon words.

Don't try to show off. Your job as a writer is to get your writing read!

Tactic 5- Break long paragraphs into short ones

People read the way they speak. We don't speak full sentences without taking a breath or pausing to think. We need to take it in, so make sure your writing is written the way you would speak it.

Read it out loud before you finish.

I hope this was helpful to you and look forward to equipping you with more strategies and tactics in the next article.