Writing for Readability
Share
Can your readers understand what you have written? This is a bigger challenge than you might think. The 2003 national Adult Literacy Survey found that 43 percent of Americans rank at a basic or below basic level for prose literacy and 34 percent were at those levels for document literacy.

Of course, not all audiences will represent the national averages. When gauging the comprehension of your target readers, consider factors like age, native language, and profession. Keep in mind that most readers, no matter their level of education, are busy and tend to scan more than they read.

Your message will be more likely to be understood if you focus on making your text highly readable. Depending on the purpose of your writing, this can save time or money, increase sales, help you to improve service, and/or move readers to action.

To increase understanding:
  • Use short words. Words of 5 or fewer characters are generally easiest to understand.
  • Keep sentences short. Strive for an average of 10 or fewer words per sentence, but vary sentence length to keep a flow in your writing.
  • The best target length is 600 words or fewer.
  • Use the active voice. These are sentences that generally follow a subject, verb, object format. Watch for verbs ending in “ing” as a sign that you are writing in the passive voice.
  • Organize your writing into short paragraphs and use subheads as appropriate.
Keeping these techniques in mind will help you to be conscious about the level of reading comprehension required by your readers. You can modulate the complexity up or down in order to effectively reach your intended audience.

This article was first featured on OnlineCareerTips.com