Readability checkers - what grade level are your novels

[therosesword]

Have to laugh. The same piece put into 4 different "reability" sites came up with 7, 8, 9 and 4th grade.

I'm rapidly working to close the theory that this is all BS.

[vothnthorvaldson]

I also get really 'bad' results for two texts that have been edited for English mistakes (so bad English is not a potential explanation), but got 'fairly easy' on other texts with pretty much the same style overall.

I think it has a lot to do with indexes taking in account jargon and long words (I have a lot of these in one of the texts that is a science-heavy fiction), plus the indexes can't take in account hard-to-read text that is on purpose hard to read (in my case sections with broken sentence structure due to mental illness, would be the same with bad English I suppose).

These indexes are useful to make sure a text that one wants the clearer to read is actually clear to read. After, context matters.

But your case is interesting @Black_Conscious, can you see what make this difficult paragraph different from the rest?

[Black_Conscious]

But... that was only one paragraph.

Lol I know right
So like the thing is, the paragraph I have used it doesn't really feel all that high and "mighty" like they have done so it is a bit strange not gonna lie

Though it may seem like I am downing myself, I've been reading it over and it doesn't seem like that High of a grade level.

Summary

The mumbling was all I can hear, nothing but noises from far away, yet the energy felt off, it was soon after a few minutes I was able to hear it, the screams from people constantly shouting in an unfamiliar language but shortly I awaken from my deep sleep into a pool of water, all I could see was my sisters giggling across my bed, one was my younger sister who was 7 holding a small bucket and the other whose older than me by 4 years was holding a phone in her left hand, but soon they both realize that I was awake, running out of my room in laughter, I slowly sit up, all soak I was, still thinking of the dream, questions one after another, but I know what I must do and that is taking a Shower.

Remember this isn't a "highest score wins" thing.

Yeah we shouldn't be caught up on all these numbers, sometimes I use them (in Grammarly) to see what more I could do on what I am writing, so it helps

[therosesword]

I think I know what happened. Your paragraph is one long sentence. Break it up into smaller sentences and see what happens.

[vothnthorvaldson]

Ah yes, long sentence. I always get that comment too. Very difficult habit for me to break because my native language is way more tolerant of long sentences with multiple comas.

[cherrystark]

I ran one of my more dramatic scenes on the readability scale and it said it was appropriate for 8-9 year olds. On Hemingway, I still got a grade 4 but the ranking said it was good. However, grade 14 (whatever that is) was terrible.

[Black_Conscious]

I hadn't noticed it before that I was doing Long sentences
So here it is, the Grade level has went down significantly

[therosesword]

That's more like it.

I do have to mention though... this is an automated system. Your paragraph, when read by a human (me) read like a stream of consciousness and wasn't that hard to understand once I got into the flow of it. I can see where an author can use that (sparingly) to heighten the character's feelings of disconnect.

[KhanSpring]

Overall I'm a grade 7, but one chapter was graded as 11. English is not my first language and I think this a good result. I don't consider myself a brilliant author and there are many things that I need to improve. But this is a program, not a person, so I don't think I could fully trust it.

[therosesword]

I like the site that I posted because it gives you an average from different rating systems rather than just one. I've had work show up as Grade 1 on Hemingway, and grade 5 on the one listed here and then Grade 3 on another individual rating site.

[therosesword]

But this is a program, not a person, so I don't think I could fully trust it.

I totally agree with this. It misses nuances and sub-texts. It is limited to number of syllables in words, etc. Always best to rely on humans and their emotions.

[domisotto]

When I started out, I was getting 7-8, then after working my way through a couple of editing books, I was able to improve my scores to grade 4-5 level, where I want to be for the Internet fiction. I hope I am still there, though I am not caring about it for my open novella entry because I am doing a mock-Regency style.

[Black_Conscious]

That's more like it.

hmm yeah, that's good to hear

---

Now looking at some of my work, I do have a problem with these long sentences since most of the time I get distracted from the writing and forgetting to stop and such.
Guess going onto these sites helps in a way

[therosesword]

I think anything like this that makes you step back and look at your work is helpful but you have to temper that with the realization that this is a site run with machines and not humans. The analytics don't catch (as I've said before) the nuances or the implied or the common known references.

Also, you can't put a whole manuscript in there.

[therosesword]

One of the things I noticed as I dig deeper into this rabbit hole is that some of the rating sites will give you a list of words they don't recognize.

Like the word "loving."

Yup... site didn't recognize the word "loving."

[Ordinaryaverageguy]

I think I noticed that when I was trying the site out on some of my stories just now. The story with the longest descriptive passage before getting into personal dialogues scored "Grade Level: 10" & "fairly difficult to read." Everything else was average to easy.

[Ordinaryaverageguy]

I also tend to write long sentences in early drafts. Usually, I put a piece away for a day or a few days. Then on rereading, I almost always chop some of those into shorter sentences & like them better.
Funny thing... it feels like if I change the font &/or font size when rereading, the words seem "fresher" to me. I read them more closely, making more edits, than when I use the same fonts I drafted in.

[Ordinaryaverageguy]

Holy Cow! There's a 44th Grade?? Suddenly I feel under-educated!!!!

[therosesword]

LOL. I have a friend with three PhD's, and knows 13 languages. I'd love to see what he'd think of that.

Funnily enough, he hates over-convoluted stuff.

[candykitten20]

Raquel from daughter of the archmage. The reason I like him is because he is very protective of his daughter. He always loved her along with his wife he is truly respectable. Even though he can be quite murderous and rude.