Sentence & readability analysis

[janosch82]

Hi!

I would really appreciate a feature that shows me
- the average words per sentence, page and chapter
- the average letters per sentence, page and chapter
- their distribution among the chapters (e.g. complexity vs. pages)

As this would help tremendously retain a steady level of quality, especially when writing on a book for a longer time.

Above all appreciated would be the implementation of an analysis feature for readability, like Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) for different languages.
More info on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Readability_test

Thanks alot!
Janosch

[temporalranger]

The readability analysis has been suggested in the past and turned down a few other times.

Basically, it's been deemed to be outside Scrivener's purview, especially given the large availability of online analysis tools for reading level, and further discussion centred on the way said stats are both misleading and of the "lies, damned lies, and statistics" flavour. Not that Keith doesn't sometimes change his mind, but that's what the history of this topic on the wish list has been so far.

Sorry!

[janosch82]

You could make it an optional feature, turned off by default.
Programming wise should also be not too difficult to implement.
At least it would help users like me.

[PJS]

You could make it an optional feature, turned off by default.

That, unfortunately, can be said for virtually every turned-down feature; which is to say, it's not a winning argument.

Most of what you ask for, as TR pointed out, is easily available online. If you want it in-house, you could try Word Counter 2.10, which you can get at http://www.supermagnus.com/mac/Word_Counter/index.html

ADD: Just noticed that you're on Windows — there is a Windows version as a widget.

ps

[druid]

You may also pass the file to vic-k.
Who always writes gentlemanly, encouraging analyses.
And is one of the most prodigious readers I know.

[jackstrop]

Just a thought - would a simple solution be to code http://www.read-able.com/ into the Tools > Writing Tools menu just as the other writing tools are? As with Tools > Writing Tools > Translate into Another Language or any of the other writing tools it would simply be a matter of selecting the text to be checked and clicking on the menu.

Yes, I do understand the philosophical arguments against readability tests. Yes, I do appreciate the dangers of bloatware. But readability tests are just one more tool, perhaps for some a minor one, in the writer's armoury. If you are writing a novel it is probably a very minor tool, but if you are writing a manual for a client who will be checking out your work using a readability test (I know, I know, but some of us have to earn a living as best we can) then it is quite useful to have the link in the Tools Menu. For me, at any rate, more useful than being able to add an erudite quote or make a translation.

Apologies if this solution has already been suggested/dismissed.

[Niran]

I realize that you are using Windows, so this reply may not be entirely relevant. But, it is not that hard to use Keyboard maestro to script out the manual process of copying everything selected, opening and pasting the clipboard contents into the appropriate web form. Hopefully there is a Windows equivalent.

Keyboard Maestro -- reading scale

f reading.jpg (91.53 KiB) Viewed 1279 times

[MimeticMouton]

[url=www.autohotkey.com/‎]AutoHotKey[/url] leaps to mind for Windows, but I imagine there are others. AHK is free but doesn't have quite the friendly interface of Keyboard maestro.

[jackstrop]

Thanks to you both for your alternative approaches. Niran, you came up with neat bit of divergent thinking; MM, you came up with a Windows solution to Niran's idea. I'll have a look at AutoHotkey - it might be useful in other situations as well.

However, it does lack the simplicity and elegance of having all the writing tools in one place together, all working in the same way (and Scrivener does seem to me to be an elegant programme in so many other respects). And, oh dear, yet another keyboard combination to remember. My poor little steaming brain!

Again, thanks to you both.

[solipsist]

When Scrivener gets AppleScript support, those of you who use Mac can write scripts to do all sorts of neat stuff. It would probably help address the majority of feature requests. LL just need to provide a place for people to upload and share scripts.