Can Word Improve Your Writing?

We hope so. In fact, that's the motivation behind Word's ability to:

1. Test the readability of Word documents
2. Catch spelling and contextual spelling errors
3. Note potential grammar mistakes and provide explanations for them
4. Translating text

For what it is worth, since learning about and using these features, I type everything in Word and then copy and paste it elsewhere. I know Word makes me a better writer, but I don't know if that's a compliment to Word or a knock on my writing ability. J

Anyway, on to the features we hope will improve your writing.

Increasing the Readability of Your Word Documents

This takes about twenty seconds of setup and will enable you to easily see the readability of your document or any selection within your document. I use it when finalizing all of my documents or after typing up a sentence or paragraph that I think may be hard to understand.

Here's how you do it:

1. Turn on 'readability statistics'
   1. Click the Office Button

1. Click 'Word Options'

   

    

2. Click "Proofing" and check "Show readability statistics"

1. Click "OK"

    

Readability statistics are now enabled in Word and you can see the readability of your document by pressing "F7" to run Word's spelling & grammar checker. When the spelling & grammar checker is finished running you will see your document's readability statistics in the following dialog:

Word gives you three stats: the percent of your document written in the passive voice and your document's Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level.

What do these stats mean?

Generally speaking, the passive voice is more difficult to read than the active voice. To increase the readability of your document, bring this number down.

The Flesch tests indicate how easy your text is to understand. The Flesch Reading Ease test is on a 100 point scale. The higher the score, the easier it is to understand the document. Shoot for a score of at least 60, but the higher the better. The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level test rates text on a U.S. school grade level. A score of 8.0 means that an eighth grader should be able to understand the text. Aim for a score of at most 8, but the lower the better.

For an example of very readable text, look no further than Dr. Seuss. The following excerpt from "Green Eggs and Ham" has 0% passive sentences, a Flesch Reading Ease of 100 and a Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of zero. That's why they call him doctor :)

I do not like them in a box.

I do not like them with a fox.

I do not like them in a house.

I do not like them with a mouse.

I do not like them here or there.

I do not like them anywhere.

I do not like green eggs and ham.

I do not like them, Sam-I-am.

Testing the Readability of a Selection

This is perfect for those "Executive Summaries" that you need to make sure everyone understands. To check the readability of a selection simply select the text, press the F7 key, and click "No" when you are asked if you would like to continue checking the rest of the document. You'll see the same Readability Statistics dialog and it will only apply to your selection. Nice.

Catch Spelling/Contextual Spelling Errors

This is my favorite feature in Word 2007. Think of the times you have been typing away and left the "y" off of "they" or hit the spacebar too early and typed "some time" instead of "sometime". It's never fun to send an email telling someone "Jon and Angela told me that the will meet us at 7pm. Some times they are late though."

Contextual spellchecking now flags these correct spelling in the incorrect context. Check-out my earlier post on it here.

Grammar Checker

This is not new, but most people don't know about how much the grammar checker cares about explaining itself. That is, the grammar check will explain the grammatical rules backing its suggestions. Just hit the "Explain…" button on potential grammar error.

Translation

This one is about as easy as it gets.

If you want the translation of a single word

1. Click on "Translation ScreenTip" on the Review tab

1. Pick the language you'd like the word translated into

1. Place your mouse over the word you'd like translated, and check out the in-line translation

If you want the translation of more than a single word

Select the text, press "Translate," check out the translation in the Research task pane.

Conclusion

Between reporting the readability of your document, reducing the number of contextual spelling errors, catching potential grammar errors and providing explanations, and translating text, we hope Word adds at least some value to your writing.

Let me know what you think.

-Jonathan