Sentence length one of top 2 predictors of readable copy A professor of English Literature at the University of Nebraska was the first person to link sentence length to comprehension. In the 1880s, Lucius Adelno Sherman took the first statistical look at writing when he calculated sentence length in historical literature. In his book, The Analytics of Literature (1893), … [Read more...] about Pleading for shorter sentences
Archives for September 2011
Use more periods
Three ways to shorten your sentences The story goes that when future columnist James J. Kilpatrick was a young newspaper reporter, he wrote lots of deadly long sentences. Finally, in frustration, the city editor gave Kilpatrick a piece of paper covered with dots. “These interesting objects, which apparently you have never encountered before, are known as periods,” the … [Read more...] about Use more periods
Writing ROI
How much does bad writing cost your organization? Bad writing causes 40 percent of the cost of managing business transactions, writes William H. DuBay, a readability expert at Impact Information, in Working with Plain Language (PDF). In his plain language treatise, “Writing for Dollars, Writing to Please,” Joseph Kimble, chair of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School’s Research … [Read more...] about Writing ROI
Addicted to email
1 in 3 wake up, check email immediately Thirty-five percent of mobile workers check their email first thing in the morning, before getting dressed or having a cup of coffee. That’s according to a 2011 study by iPass (pdf). The Enterprise Mobility Services company defines mobile workers as folks who use mobile devices to access networks other than the company LAN or WLAN for … [Read more...] about Addicted to email
Eat your budget dust
Invest your year-end money before it gets swept away 'Tis the season for many of us to use what remains of our 2011 budget … or lose it altogether. Here are five ways to invest your budget dust this year to improve communications for years to come: Schedule 2012 writing workshops today. Lock in 2011 prices for 2012 events and save 5 percent when you prepay my speaking … [Read more...] about Eat your budget dust