A writing lesson from Steinbeck

 When I was young and trying to learn about writing, my father told me about the Flesch-Kincaid tests. I wondered how complicated writing had to be to be interesting. I collected some samples from famous authors to see what grade-level each was writing at.

I learned that most of the writers I admired wrote a simpler prose than I had learned to write in high school.

I learned that John Steinbeck had the simplest style. The tests suggested that kids in elementary school could read him.

I was just starting out. I’ve learned to think about writing in different ways. But I still remember that lesson, and I’m thinking of Steinbeck on his birthday. He was born on Feb. 27, 1902, in Salinas, Calif.