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Home ยป How to Check Your Creative Writing for Grammar, Sentence Structure, and Clarity

How to Check Your Creative Writing for Grammar, Sentence Structure, and Clarity

To create a polished piece of writing you’ll need to perform a line edit, going back to the manuscript and reviewing each sentence for errors or infelicities. This should be done with a critical eye, looking for instances of overuse of certain words or phrases, or awkward or unclear language. At times, you may find that your novel, piece of non-fiction, or business plan lacks the right amount of detail or makes questionable claims, and it’s your task to sort out what is fact from fiction.

Grammar

First things first: your piece of writing needs to be perfect in terms of grammar. It can always be polished further with some careful editing, but you should aim to prevent major errors from occurring in the first place. There are a number of English grammar errors that occur frequently enough to be distracting to the reader, and when they come back to your piece of writing several times to pinpoint these errors, it shows that the language barrier is already quite substantial. The ability to write formal English is a great help in your quest for a high-quality academic paper or dissertation, and avoiding these simple yet frequent errors will greatly increase the readability of your writing.

Sentence Structure

The next important thing to check for is the sentence structure, which determines how the various sentences are intertwined and contribute to the coherence of the piece. The easiest way to check for a clear and concise sentence structure is by using the Flesch-Kincaid readability test. This tool is widely used in American schools and businesses, and measures the readability of a piece of text by analyzing the number of words, syllables, and sentences in it. The resulting score indicates how easy it is to understand and remember what you’ve written. For example, if you get a score of 20, it means that the average person can understand you clearly, and will not find it difficult to follow your meaning.’

When done correctly, the Flesch-Kincaid test will show you the following:

  • A score over 60 indicates that the writing is very accessible and easy to understand
  • A score between 30 and 60 indicates that the writing is accessible and easy to understand
  • A score below 30 indicates that the writing can be challenging and may require some effort to understand

Keep in mind that this test only measures the readability of your writing; it doesn’t tell you anything about its content, subject matter, or message. In some cases, a high Flesch-Kincaid score can be an indicator of a poor piece of writing that needs work. However, in other cases, it can be a sign of great creative writing that deserves to be read and understood. The sentence structure of your writing should be fluid and natural, without unnecessary words or phrases. This simple test can help you find out where your writing stands in terms of overall coherence and polish it towards a higher reading level.

Clarity

Finally, you want to make sure that the language you’re using is easy to understand. One of the easiest ways to check for clarity is simply by reading what you’ve written out loud, preferably aloud to yourself first. As you perform this simple act, you’ll often find that some of the language in your piece comes to life, and you’ll immediately know which parts need to be improved upon. For example, if you stumble upon a particular phrase or word that you think is unclear or difficult to understand, bring that part of the writing to the forefront, and either rephrase it or redefine the term. Sometimes the best phrasing can help the reader understand your meaning more clearly, and at other times, it may simply make the piece more concise.

When you’ve gotten all these pieces in place, it’s time to polish your writing, adjusting the language and making sure that you’ve used the right terms and phrases to make your meaning clearer. With practice, this can all become second nature, but until then, it’s good to know the basic checklists available to make your writing clearer and more precise. To start, just try to remain consistent with the basics, and you’ll be on your way to becoming a more efficient and polished writer.