: Re: How is simplicity better than precision and clarity in prose? Many recommend the Hemingway app, which pushes simplicity and the lowest possible reading level. Where I live, an illiterate person

@Smith147

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Write for your audience.

There are certainly many audiences who might not have the literacy level (or education) to do well or want books written at a upper secondary school level or higher education level. Age is the obvious constraint but there are also groups of people who just got through high school (or not) and want to read fiction for pleasure but don't want to work too hard at it.

Maybe that's not your audience. Either way is fine, just know who you're writing for. Or perhaps your primary audience is people who are reading your book but it's not written in their native language. They could be highly educated but still miss some things. You would write differently for them than you would for native speakers who don't have the education (even if their reading levels test out the same, they would have completely different constraints).

If your audience is mostly college educated and you want to write a college level novel, that's a perfect fit. As long as you don't paint yourself into a corner and aim for an audience that is too small to meaningfully sell to, you're good.

I'm writing at a 6th grade level because my novel is aimed at actual 6th graders. If anything, a 6th grade level story might be aiming a bit high (since it's more of a 3rd-7th grade level). When I write for adults, however, I'm like you; my audience is people who can read at a college level or higher.

Lowering vocabulary levels and simplifying sentence structures can definitely affect precision, though you can usually still get to the same place. It's better for many people because otherwise they can't understand the work. It's not better or worse overall, because it depends on who you're writing for.

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