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Twenty-One : a partial re-write for readability (?) by Grampa Pogi

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Twenty-One : a partial re-write for readability (?)

By Grampa Pogi | Posted: 20 February 2010

Views: 389
Warning: This is rather painful to read.


Please note this is not for critiquing. However, if you feel like it, go ahead, but don't say I didn't warn you. For this reason, it is placed in the "chill" room in the "coffee zone" for the benefit of those who had a hard time understanding regular words; words that they perceived as really-difficult-to-comprehend words. 

I tried to hit 90 to 100 on the Flesch readability score, but even with this limited re-write, I could only achieve a "fairly-easy" "77.25" with a reading age of "10.59". 
My apologies ;-).



TWENTY-ONE - a partial rewrite for those having a hard time with *perceived* "high-sounding" words.



Going west toward the country of Equatorial Guinea
Aboard the Bombardier-built Lear-jet 85 airplane 



	"Make sure this passenger is fastened to his airplane chair." Tiamo was joking and she smiled to Megan with a 'ha-ha'. She placed her right hand on the shoulder of Megan with her palm down. The right hand of Tiamo was going up and down on the shoulder of Megan. Tiamo pointed to Ron using her left thumb as a pointer. The thumb of Tiamo moved from left to right while she was pointing to Ron. 
	"Yeah, Ron always gets into an accident inside an aircraft. Ron does it when the airplane is flying," Megan also joked. Megan laughed also with a 'ha-ha'. Gruff was very tired to laugh. Gruff laughed quietly instead.
	"Hey, give the young lad a break. He is also a young boy. The painkiller is still in his body. Just look into his eyes. They are crossed. You will see dancing lights." Ghazali also laughed.
	Ron was not really interested to hear the jokes. His friends also knew from before that Ron always kept quiet. Ron ignored all of them around him. Ron daydreamed. Ron was really thinking about all the information that Che told them during the meeting of the secret agents. 
	Tiamo and Megan put face powder on their faces. They also fixed the hair on their heads. They sat in the 'jumpseats' that were located at the back of the "Bombardier-built Lear jet model 85 airplane". The jumpseats were not comfortable. The jumpseats were located beside the kitchen of the airplane.  Bernie became the captain. Jerry became the assistant captain.  Bernie prepared the "Bombardier-built Lear jet model 85 airplane" to be ready for flying. Bernie said it was easy flying the "Bombardier-built Lear jet model 85 airplane". Bernie read the weather report. Bernie checked the speed of the wind. Bernie adjusted his chair and the chair fastener that would hold his body in the airplane chair. Bernie's airplane chair was made for a captain of the airplane. Jerry read the maps. He read the list for the pilots. He read the other flight information for the pilots. Sonny Boy let Jerry fly as an assistant captain. This is because so that his flying hour numbers would go up and up. But everybody knew Sonny Boy was just really really very tired. Because he did not sleep very well when he looked after babysitting Ron at the hospital when Ron was hurt in the head. Gruff sat in the airplane chair in the front so that he could have a bigger room for his long legs that got really really very tired when the "Bombardier-built Lear jet model 85 airplane" flew from the airport in the country of Hong Kong to the airport in the Indian islands of Andaman Islands. Gruff sat in his airplane chair.  The airplane chair of Gruff was directly across from the airplane chair of Joe. There was a walking area between the airplane chairs. Ghazali sat in the airplane chair behind Gruff. The airplane chair of Ghazali was across from the airplane chair of Bakhtiar. There was a walking area between the airplane chair of Ghazali and the airplane chair of Bakhtiar. Sonny Boy looked after Ron again as a babysitter and sat in the airplane chair across from the airplane chair of Ron. There was also a dividing walking area between the airplane chair of Sonny Boy and the airplane chair of Ron.
	The "Bombardier-built Lear jet model 85 airplane" was loaded with a lot of airplane fuel. This type of fuel was called "high octane". It was used by jet planes and poured into the airplane tank. The "Bombardier-built Lear jet model 85 airplane" was also loaded with a lot of passenger food. The "Bombardier-built Lear jet model 85 airplane" was now ready to fly. The passengers were all ready and also fastened and attached to their airplane chairs. The airplane wheels started to roll to the front of the airport road used for flying. The airplane was ready to fly because the airplane brakes were released and there were no other airplanes around that was ready to fly up in the air. The airplane stopped again and Bernie pressed the brakes again.  The airplane was like a car with brakes. The airplane control tower people, they are the  airport workers who sometimes are called by pilots as controllers and who always tell the airplanes that they now could fly. The airport control tower workers told the pilots of the "Bombardier-built Lear jet model 85 airplane" that they could fly now. The "Bombardier-built Lear jet model 85 airplane" was shaking because it was ready to fly. The airplane captain whose name was Bernie was now ready to release the brakes. Bernie was happy to fly the airplane. He signaled to Jerry with his head moving up and down that he was ready to fly the "Bombardier-built Lear jet model 85 airplane".  The airplane will fly into the sky that was blue like a "bat flying out of hell" because the airplane will fly very very fast. Bernie released the brakes and the "Bombardier-built Lear jet model 85 airplane" rolled really really fast along the airport road that was used to fly the airplanes, and the airplane flew into the sky that was blue. There were no clouds in the sky that was blue.
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Comments 
Evita Sagalongos
20 February 2010
Grampa, 

I commend this simpler text, only that I have few points again (you can take it or not, it's up to you). 

The fifth paragraph used so much S-V-O (subject-verb-object)

really really very tired 
really really fast (must used only one "really" or even none will do)

the sky that was blue-- blue sky? 

Congratulations for your fairly easy reading score.
m n m n I
20 February 2010
Grampa Pogi
The hotdog dog Felix said it's too bland for his taste. That the narrative lost its cool and flavor. He was enjoying those Filipino spooks. He's not too happy about the change.
"You see," Felix said, "It's gotta be the vocabulary of the narrator. That's what I want to hear. Excuse me, but we hear the narrative and the speaking voice. Reading is just the means to convey the  tone of the narrative. If the previous version is not readable enough, Barack's gotta do something about the education system."
I think Felix has got a point. But it's gonna cost trillions of moolah to overhaul the education system.
Evita Sagalongos
20 February 2010
mnmnI, 

I think simplicity with the tone would be great for a novel.  It's not something about education system, it's about the convenience trend (what do people look for right now?).  You can be simple without sacrificing the tone. Wouldn't that be great?
m n m n I
20 February 2010
"it ain't so, Grampa Pogi. It hurts me reading it. Might as well go jaywalk with Leno," said Felix.
Evita Sagalongos
20 February 2010
Haha! it's the tone that's missing, maybe could be inserted through sentence construction/  Grampa could do that he has strong emotions.
m n m n I
20 February 2010
I don't know what you mean by simplicity of tone, Evita. There's no such thing. Tone is not simple. Tone in a story is the author's voice distinct to the characters voices. The characters may be laughing; but the author may be sarcastic. From tone, the reader grasps the real meaning of the laugh.
First, it's readability. Then it's simplicity. Which is which? Readability is not the same as simplicity.  And the words are subjective . . . abstract. What's readable to one may not be readable to another. But of course, Grampa Pogi may also write a children's book for the 35-year old  young laddes.
m n m n I
20 February 2010
The tone of this rewrite is like a lampoon and sarcasm.
Grampa Pogi
20 February 2010
Hi Evita,

Let me direct you to this phrase >>> Please note this is not for critiquing. However, if you feel like it, go ahead,

Grampa
Grampa Pogi
20 February 2010
Hi M n m n I,

Here's the gist of the whole article >>> for the benefit of those who had a hard time understanding regular words; words that they perceived as really-difficult-to-comprehend words. 

:-)

Grampa
Grampa Pogi
20 February 2010
MnmnI,

>>> The tone of this rewrite is like a lampoon and sarcasm.

You got it :-)

Grampa
Evita Sagalongos
20 February 2010
mnmnI, 

I didn't say "simplicity of tone"  I said "simplicity" and "tone".  If sharing what I learned from other books is a crime. Then I will not speak anymore.  What I received from sharing is sarcasm and all, which I don't expect from people like you.
Evita Sagalongos
20 February 2010
I know I am younger than both of you, but that doesn't mean I can't share anything.
m n m n I
20 February 2010
Nothing personal, Evita
Just tone
and you got it
 very clearly
m n m n I
20 February 2010
I haven't met you, Evita
and I was just born yesterday
It's not the issue of sharing or not sharing
I'd prefer that you share what you really think
not from information from a book that seems like you take at face value
As Caine (Grasshopper) said in Kung Fu (the tv series)
"I seek not to know the answers, but to understand the questions."
Read the book
Ask the right questions
Find the right answers
Then share what you really think
Evita Sagalongos
20 February 2010
Ok mnmnI, wisdom understood and accepted.  Maybe the gist of all what I said is that, we need to be open for learning and we can have that from other authors too, if we think that we are good, then probably we can be best.
churchmouse
20 February 2010
Grampa, this is the funniest thing that I have read for a very long time. I laughed so much that I thought that I was going to give myself a serious injury. 
Absolutely brilliant.
I wish I had thought of it.
m n m n I
20 February 2010
Evita 
Like you I'm open minded; but not to the extent that my brains fall out
That's why I say there's more to readability that meets the eye
I want you to know that undertones lurk in writing
And most of all, I want you to be the best you can be
Evita Sagalongos
20 February 2010
mnmnI, thank you because you want me to be the best that I can be, I listen to your points about readability and it's clear to me, and don't worry I will remember your advice, although I can't promise to follow fully.  My readers are the first consideration in whatever I write and I can't give them a piece with a fairly difficult reading score.  This doesn't mean, though, that you undertone your work.
Grampa Pogi
20 February 2010
Churchmouse,

I was in pain so much when I was writing it that I thought
I was going to give myself a really, really serious injury.  
;-)

Grampa
Possum
21 February 2010
What have you done, Grampa?  After mnmnI hoping you and Evita didn't get married on Valentine's Sunday, he and Evita are now having some sort of a tryst, only this time it's a meeting of their minds.  But that's good for they're communicating, they'll be able to sort out anything and everything.  Evita, just like you, mnmnI was just sharing his knowledge.  He has given too many sweet comments on your writings, remember?  Anyway, Grampa, I like easy reading but it wouldn't hurt if every now and then I bump into some high-falluting words. Also, this chapter is now stamped for reading after all the comments received.

Writer
Grampa Pogi

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