I Write Like a Fourth Grader?

So I've been playing around with this:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/get-your-document-s-readability-and-level-statistics-85b4969e-e80a-4777-8dd3-f7fc3c8b3fd2

I checked the grade level of a wide sample of my writing, and learned:

My fiction (both short stories and novels) consistently tests at about grade 4.1.

My non-fiction (essays, blogs, and novels) consistently tests at about grade 8.5.

My harsh, hint-of-legal-menace emails consistently test at about grade 10.

I'm a little surprised my fiction comes out at the fourth grade level, but on the other hand, I trained as a journalist early in my writing career, and I avoid ten-dollar words, which has a big impact on the score.

I also feel I should point out that the reading level for WRITING THE PARANORMAL NOVEL, which I wrote when I was in my 40s, and the reading level for my first pro sale "I'm a Hare-Raising Kid," an article for THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS I wrote the summer after seventh grade, both test out at grade 8.5.

Finally, I should mention that the first short story I ever sold ("Hoard" to SWORD AND SORCERESS IX), which I wrote when I was 24, tested out at 5.5--a grade and a half higher than any of my novels.

I'm not totally sure what to do with this information, but . . . there it is. :)



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