New Tricks

Ok. So maybe if you're one of those people who actually took a class on Microsoft Word you might know this already. You can "score" your readability and the grade level of your writing in Word by chosing "options" under the "check spelling and grammar." When you get done with your spell check, they'll be listed!

The site, linked above, says we should aim to write between the 60-70 % for readability and the 7-8th grade mark for "standard writing."

But this doesn't work for poetry; the program hates that the lines don't begin with capital letters, and it thinks that the sentences are mighty short. According to the program, one of my last poems was so easy to read that a 1st grader could read & understand it. Alas. I don't think my writing is that simplistic.

It's good to be a word person. We're so easily amused with just a few facts about writing, a dictionary, some white paper, and a few bottles of ink.

As Mr. Strand would say:
I romp with joy in the bookish dark.