Shoot for a reading level of Eighth Grade or below. When readers encounter content which is ponderous or pedantic, they will either stop reading part way through or not start reading in the first place. Instead, it’s something they can choose to read…or not. Much of what we write or edit is not something our audience must read. We live in a world where everyone is pressed for time. They should be able to read at a level above twelfth grade.” They may be capable of doing so but, trust us, they don’t want to. You may be thinking, “My audience is college educated. Now if they only wrote at an eighth-grade level our lives would be easier. The average American reads at an eighth-grade level. You face many challenges when writing or editing. Can you quote Strunk and White’s Elements of Style from memory? If you can’t, being able to say you were merely correcting problems flagged by Microsoft Word or other software puts you in a more defensible position. Being able to cite widely accepted rules of grammar and composition is important. You must be able to justify your edits. Having software help you can save considerable time. It often takes longer to edit the work of others than it does to simply write it yourself. Copy editing is a time-consuming process.When editing content written by others, using software can help in a variety of ways. It also makes you stand out among your peers. It helps ensure more people read what you have to say.
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