How to Improve Your Writing in Ten Minutes

You can improve your writing. Does this sound impossible? Imagine what it could mean. All of us have to write at some time or other. What if there was a mathematical way to improve your writing? What follows is mainly aimed at article and non-fiction writers, but it can be for just about anybody. I admit the formula is not mine, but if you're more analytical in your approach to things, this way will definitely help you. You'll need a calculator.

Years ago I came across this yellowed, tattered, dog-eared book that looked as it had seen better days. It was this wonderful book entitled How to Write, Speak, and Think More Effectively, by Rudolph Flesch. May've belonged to my mom. In many ways it seemed like a dull, boring book. But I was as drawn to it as young Clark Kent was drawn to that green crystal in the barn. I confess that, even after all these years, I still have not read the whole thing. It was published in 1946 as far as I can tell, and much of what it has to say is hard to understand. Even someone like myself, who aspires to be a serious writer, has trouble digesting all of it. I had even despaired years ago at the realization I would probably never read it all from cover to cover, not because I didn't want to but simply because a lot of it does sound dated.

I was fortunate, however, to have stumbled on a technique he fleshes out near the end of the thing. How to score readability. Mathematically. So, in the spirit of sharing, I've distilled the basics in such a way even a caveman could do it. Well, no.

Do you have a few minutes then?

Here are the steps you can take to improve your writing quickly. You should know Flesch has two scores for how enjoyably readable something is: Reading Ease and Human Interest. But we'll get to those later.

Take A Direct Approach Write like your speaking the Sermon on the Mount, which is full of 'Therefore I say unto yous' and questions like "Which one of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?" Chapters 5 through 7 of Matthew, which comprise the Sermon on the Mount, is probably the most readable set of passages in the whole Bible. From a literary standpoint, it is directly addressed to the reader. There are no questions from the Jews sitting on the hillside. They're too busy listening and filling their mouths with bread and fish.

Use Personal Words If you can remember that your writing is always more interesting when it is filled with personal pronouns like he, him, his and she, her, hers, you'll have a good foundation. Also--but only when they refer to actual human beings and not inanimate objects or things--the writing is better when it is sprinkled liberally with the pronouns they, them, their, theirs, and themselves. Remember that the words people and folk are personal words. And so are any words that imply the masculine or female gender, e.g. Harry, brother, huntress, Rosie, madam, Mr., fireman, policewoman, but not common-gender words like dentist, teacher, associate, principal, master, laborer, prostitute (I'm not kidding about that last one). Later on, you'll want to remember that President Richard M. Nixon counts as only one personal word, because of the Richard and nothing else, because nothing else gives off gender. Think of gender as a body odor of the desirable kind, in your writing, and something that you really want to fill the air with.

Use Personal Sentences Any writing that sounds as if it's being directly spoken to you is a personal sentence. You want those. You want spoken sentences. Quotations count. For instance, if I write a sentence like, "The defendant who opts to forgo legal representation has a poor chance of winning the case," it's not personal. Personal: "Here are the steps you can take to ensure you'll get a fair trial...." Notice the use of the pronoun you. Use of the second person and the direct approach.

This also goes for sentences spoken by people, bracketed within quotation marks, or where they would otherwise normally appear. For example: "I still have a lot of pain." The physical therapist told him, "Instead of staring out the window looking at the bad weather, you need to be working on the exercises I taught you." The speech tag "the physical therapist told him" or "he said" is included, so the whole thing is a personal sentence. Another example:"Don't you know what you do to me?" he asked, in spite of the fact he already knew she wouldn't give him the time of day. All exclamations like "My God!" or "Oh the humanity!" count.

Anything that is a question, command, or request, or simply addressed directly to the reader is a personal sentence, too. Don't be afraid to push your reader around a little. For example: Put that in your pipe and smoke it. Is something about your job bothering you? Tap your heels three times. Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? Let's start with Chinese. Listen carefully. Imagine what this would mean.

And, finally, sentence fragments or things that can't be understood except within the context of the rest, e.g. Dumb as a doorknob. The things they carried. I can guess. Beautiful, really. A hug would do. I was going to.

Use Anecdotes If you can't think of a good story that's related to your main point, the kind of story you might tell sitting on a bar stool chewing the fat (and the pretzels) with a good friend or acquaintance.

Here is an example from a hub I wrote less than two days ago about how far America has come in terms of racial progress. In my example, "personal sentences" are italicized. "Personal words" are in bold and anecdotes are underlined. It starts out:

"It is an out-and-out damnable outrage!" a well-known Senator from Tennessee exclaimed upon learning no less than the President of the United States had for the first time invited a Negro to dine with him at the White House. It was President Teddy Roosevelt's first crime. "Now that Roosevelt has eaten with that nigger Washington," bellowed one hot-tempered Senator from South Carolina, "we shall have to kill a thousand niggers to get them back in their places."

I had something important to say about race relations and the presidential election in that hub, but I started out the piece with a narrative style--the all-powerful anecdote. (This also forces you to stick to the facts. Without facts, no one is really interested in your personal opinions.)

From Models for Writers by Alfred Rosa and Paul Eschholz:

"If you are having trouble with your conclusion--and this is not an uncommon occurrence--it may be because of problems with your essay itself."

From American Heritage by Robert Utley, "Billy the Kid Country," April 1991:

"After the Lincoln County War [New Mexico in 1878], Billy [the Kid]failed to live up to his potential--not as a respectable, law-abiding citizen, not as a Robin Hood battling injustice, not as a cold-blooded killer, not even as the premier outlaw of all time."

Do you see the differences? The gender words are in bold, and the personal sentences are italicized whether they're direct quotes from someone or the author directly addressing the reader. The anecdotes are underlined.

There is a mathematical formula that Flesch uses to determine readability are the twin metrics of Reading Ease and Human Interest. I have only talked about Human Interest here. Flesch himself wrote: "The more 'personal' words and sentences [per hundred words], the more human interest. It's amazing the formula he uses to determine a Human Interest score that ranges from Dramatic (60-100) to Dull (0-10). While we haven't dealt with Reading Ease here, just know that Human Interest measures percentages, and the other measures length of sentences (we tend not to like longer words and longer sentences; they're harder to read).

The combination of the two score gives you your Readability. I have used it on my own work to determine if a piece I've written would grab your interest. And now I am conscious of it when I write. If you want to know more,. send me a request. But I encourage you to buy the book also, which is linked below. I think it has made my writing better? What do you think?