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How long should your words be?

The New York Times averages 4.9 characters

An editor once counseled me to change all the instances of employment in an article to jobs.

How long should your words be?
Short and sweet Why write employment when you can write jobs? Save your readers processing time by choosing short words. Image by Serhii Khanas

Great advice. More than 80 years of readability research demonstrate that short, simple, familiar words are easiest to read and understand.

So if short words are better, how long should your words be?

If you’re writing in English, keep them to five characters on average.

This is important. Because short words are the No. 1 predictor of readability.

Write like The Times.

When I recommend to my clients that they limit their word length to five characters per word, they roll their eyes.

But when I tell them I know they can do it, because The New York Times does it every day, they sit up and take note.

  • The New York Times averages 4.9 characters per word. And that’s covering topics ranging from rocket science and brain surgery.
  • The Wall Street Journal averages 4.8 characters per word. And that’s covering the most complex machinations of business.
  • The BBC averages 4.7 characters per word. And that’s covering global news.
  • The average word in the English language is 4.7 characters. Can you keep your average word length to 4.7 characters?
  • Words of more than two syllables are hard words, according to the Gunning-Mueller Fog Index. The SMOG (Simple Measure of Gobbledygook) index agrees. Can you write, on average, in easy words?
  • Of the 235 words in the Gettysburg Address (that’s fewer than the number on the back of a potato chip package today), 174 of them have only one syllable.
  • Winston Churchill entertained himself by writing essays of one-syllable words. (And he’s the only person, as far as I know, who ever slayed Nazis with his words.) The man won a Nobel Laureate for literature for his writing.

These people and organizations use more words so they can get the word out more successfully to more people.

How long are your words?

How long should your message be?

Would your message be twice as good if it were half as long?

Yes, the research says. The shorter your message, the more likely readers are to read it, understand it and make good decisions based on it.

Rev Up Readability — our clear-writing workshop, which starts June 20So how long is too long? What’s the right length for your piece? Your paragraphs? Your sentences? Your words?

Find out at Rev Up Readability — our clear-writing workshop, which starts June 20.

There, you’ll use a cool (free!) tool to analyze your message for 27 readability metrics. You’ll leave with quantifiable targets, tips and techniques for measurably boosting readability.

Save up to $100 with our group discounts.

Register for Rev Up Readability — our clear-writing workshop, which starts June 20