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I found in the business world that this was a huge misconception. I came
from a journalism background and thought that writing to a grade 6 - 8 level
was a good thing. My manager seemed to feel that writing to this level meant
I (and by extension her department) lacked intelligence, and / or looked
down on my reader.
I like to tell people that the works of Shakespeare are written at a grade 8
level.
There's a big difference between complex sentence structure, that is long
sentences and paragraphs and multi-syllable words, and complex or
multi-layered content. I find business writing to be structurally complex
but content poor. It's written to a grade 12 level alright, according to
Microsoft, but once you take the time and trouble to decipher it, it's not
saying much. Content grade 2, language needs a PhD to decipher!
Writing to a grade 6 level is absolutely not the same as writing to sixth
graders...
My 2 cents,
Eileen
Eileen Neumann
Technical Writer
eileenn -at- the-wire -dot- com
Toronto
(416) 535.6891
Probably the worst Saturday night of the year, which was why Inspector John
Rebus had landed the shift. God was in his heaven, just making sure.
We always have to remember that writing to an 6th
grade reading level is not the same as writing to an
6th grader.
Maggie Secara
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