Bruce Beckham's Blog - Posts Tagged "fog-index"
Fog Index
I'm reading A Coat of Varnish by CP Snow.
I've been wondering why I'm finding it slightly slow going.
I'm enjoying the subject (set in upper-middle-class London, in the baking summer of 1976) and, at page 62, the story is just beginning to get going.
So that only leaves the style.
One of the copywriting training sessions I run concerns the Fog Index. This is a simple arithmetical formula which can be applied to a block of text - say for an ad or a promotional offer.
The formula produces a number. The lower the number, the more digestible the copy (ie. it sells better).
Good copy is reckoned to have a Fog Index between 9 and 12. Some tabloid newspapers go as low as 5. (Sir Walter Scott in Rob Roy hovered around the 20 mark!)
I tested the fog index on a sample of sections from A Coat of Varnish.
To my surprise, nowhere did it come out higher than 11.
On reflection, CP Snow used short sentences, and few long words (the twin secrets of digestibility).
Which leaves me scratching my head.
The only thing I can out it down to is that - in the early part of the book, at least - the author has adopted a rather pedantic style, carefully explaining each circumstance and situation.
I think it's growing on me, however!
I've been wondering why I'm finding it slightly slow going.
I'm enjoying the subject (set in upper-middle-class London, in the baking summer of 1976) and, at page 62, the story is just beginning to get going.
So that only leaves the style.
One of the copywriting training sessions I run concerns the Fog Index. This is a simple arithmetical formula which can be applied to a block of text - say for an ad or a promotional offer.
The formula produces a number. The lower the number, the more digestible the copy (ie. it sells better).
Good copy is reckoned to have a Fog Index between 9 and 12. Some tabloid newspapers go as low as 5. (Sir Walter Scott in Rob Roy hovered around the 20 mark!)
I tested the fog index on a sample of sections from A Coat of Varnish.
To my surprise, nowhere did it come out higher than 11.
On reflection, CP Snow used short sentences, and few long words (the twin secrets of digestibility).
Which leaves me scratching my head.
The only thing I can out it down to is that - in the early part of the book, at least - the author has adopted a rather pedantic style, carefully explaining each circumstance and situation.
I think it's growing on me, however!
