Wordiness is a curse. Long -term writing darkens your meaning and scares readers. However, many writers do not realize that their writing continues.
A free online tool – the Hemingway app- Can help you recognize when your sentences are too long. Hemingway emphasizes sentences that are too long. It also suggests some ways to improve your writing. You can identify long sentences using your word processing software, but Hemingway is easier to use.
I will go through how you can use Hemingway.
Step 1. Drop your text in the middle of the Hemingway page
Entering your text in the Hemingway app is a bit more complicated than I expected, but it’s worth it. First click to select all colored text in the middle column that starts with “Hemingway app makes your writing fat and clear.” Then press “Remove”. You see an empty space in the middle of your screen.
Type or copy-paste then in the text that you want to analyze. As soon as you fall into your text, Hemingway will analyze it.
Step 2. Look at Hemingway’s numerical level -analysis
First look at Hemingway’s general review of your text. The image below says that the example below is written at a level 17. You may think: “Great! My customers are refined, so it’s great to strive at a graduate school level.” Think again. Grade level measures how hard you let your reader work. Do you want your readers to struggle or easily absorb your message?
Direct marketers strive for class eight. On the homepage, Hemingway shows grade seven as ‘good’. You may be able to touch that level in a blog post about personal financial resources, but it is too difficult for more formal financial communication that technical topics discuss. I think I am doing well if the material of my client comes at class level 10.
Your number level gives you a “big” indication of how hard you should work to simplify your writing.
Step 3. View Hemingway’s assessment of your sentence length
Hemingway will code your text according to its verbality, as you will see in the example below. Red means that a sentence is “very difficult to read” because of length, as in the first sentence in the image below. Yellow is not so bad, but it is also too long, as you can see in the second and third sentences of the example section.
Step 4. Start with simplification
Hemingway also uses marking to propose some simple fixes by using fewer adverbs and simpler words or eliminating the passive voice.
Hemingway’s suggestions are just a starting point. Complex sentences require a reconsideration of the content. That is what I needed to go from the sample section in step 2 to my rewriting below:
The prices of riskier investments rose in response to recent proposals by German and French leaders, but we are skeptical that this will continue. Investors seem to believe that the proposals will strengthen the euro zone by making the proceeds of bonds. This would make Euro-Zone bonds more attractive for private investors. Success would require, however, that the European Central Bank (ECB) uses a strong language or increases its daily purchases of the fault of the troubled countries by at least € 5 billion. Convincing distrusting investors will need strong action. That can be more than the ECB can achieve.
If you want to know more about shortening and simplifying your complex sentences, view my publications and my presentations for do-it-yourself tips. I also edit materials, usually for larger companies with larger budgets.
Note: This message was originally published in 2014, but was re -published because it remains relevant today.
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