Since the site has launched, I've had a lot of feedback from various people suggesting ways for the site to develop. One of the main things people were looking for were specific tools on the site. "Push a Button" type features that allowed them to make their information better with the click of a mouse.

Therefore, I've just added something new to the website - which you are free to play around with. It's called the Clarity Rating Calculator.

Basically, this tool let's you see how clear your writing is by giving it a rating. This rating is based on three things: the average number of words per sentence, the average number of sentences per paragraph and finally the percentage of long words (9 letters or longer).

Why do these three things matter?

Firstly, the number of words per sentence. Think of a full stop as a breathing point - it's where you would draw breath if you were reading out loud. The longer the sentence, the more time we have to go without pausing. If we don't pause, we don't give our brains that vital half-second to think about what it has just read. The target should be 10-20 words per sentence.

Secondly, the sentences per paragraph. When we read, especially on the Web, we don't read everything we see. We tend to skim over things, looking for things like bold, hyperlinks, headings, etc. Long paragraphs don't get read - we tend to read just the first couple of sentences. Therefore, cutting a paragraph with 8 sentences into two paragraphs with four each makes it clearer. The target should be between 2 and 4 sentences per paragraph.

Thirdly, the percentage of long words. It's an efficient feature of the English language that the words we use most often are very short. Just look over this page, and you'll notice that over 50% of the words used are under 4 letters. Less-used words are longer - and words over 8 letters in length tend to be more complex and specific. We still need them, but it is often better to use a simpler word than a more complex one. Therefore, we look at the number of times we use longer words in relation to the whole text. A good target is about 15%.

Visit the Tool

There's an introductory article here which you should read before using the tool. Then, visit the tool, copy in a block of text, then see the difference changing words, sentence and paragraph length makes. It's a good practical way to learn.

If you think it is useful, feel free to pass it onto friends.