Understanding Stylometry

This tool uses linguistic metrics to compare texts and understand different writing styles as well as ways to optimize them for specific genres. This guide explains what the numbers mean and how to use them to improve your writing or compare authors.

1. The Greatness Scores Exclusive Metric

Greatness Score I (Dynamic Energy)

This is a custom-made metric that measures the "fun factor" and energy of the text. It looks at the balance between Verbs (action) vs Adjectives (description), combined with sentence variety.

1.2 - 1.8
Ideal Range
  • > 1.8: Very energetic, possibly chaotic (Hunter S. Thompson style).
  • 1.2 to 1.8: Balanced, engaging commercial fiction/journalism.
  • < 1.0: Dry, academic, or overly descriptive.

Greatness Score II (Intellectual Flow)

This is also a custom-made metric that measures intellectual density and rhythm. It rewards the use of unique, complex words *only if* they are balanced by good sentence rhythm.

0.5 - 2.5
Ideal Range
  • > 2.0: Dense, literary, philosophical (e.g., Melville, Lovecraft).
  • 0.5 to 1.5: Standard non-fiction or modern fiction.
  • < 0.3: Simple, repetitive, potentially juvenile.

2. Readability & Complexity

Flesch-Kincaid Grade

Estimates the US school grade level required to understand the text.

Grade 5-8 Harry Potter
Grade 9-12 NY Times / Standard
Grade 14+ Academic Papers

Gunning Fog Index

Similar to grade level but focuses heavily on "polysyllabic" words (3+ syllables).

If your Fog index is > 15 but you are writing for the general public, try to shorten your words.

ARI (Automated Readability)

Relies on character count rather than syllable count. Good for technical writing where words are long but not necessarily complex to read (e.g., "telecommunications").

3. Vocabulary Richness

Type-Token Ratio (Lexical Diversity)

The percentage of words in your text that are unique.

"The cat sat on the mat." 83% (High)
"The cat cat cat the cat." 33% (Low)
Note: This score naturally drops as text gets longer (you run out of new words). Don't panic if a novel has a lower score than a poem.

Hapax Legomena & Yule's K

  • Hapax Legomena

    Words that appear exactly once. High counts indicate a broad, descriptive vocabulary.

  • Yule's K

    A complex metric that measures vocabulary richness independent of text length.

    Lower Score = Richer Vocabulary

4. Visual Fingerprints (Charts)

Mendenhall Curve

Shows the distribution of word lengths. Left-heavy means simple writing. Right-heavy means academic/complex writing.

Part of Speech Balance

Fiction usually has more Verbs/Pronouns. Non-fiction has more Nouns/Adjectives.

Stylistic Radar

Shows a visual shape of the writing for quick comparison. Does it lean towards Dialogue, Exposition, Action, or Description?

5. Comparison Mode Metrics Advanced

Metric Meaning Target
Similarity Delta Percentage match based on grade, diversity, and sentence length. > 80% is very similar
Burrows' Delta Stylometric distance based on "function words" (the, and, of). Used to detect authorship. 0.0 - 0.5 is closer
Sentiment Gap Difference in emotional tone between the two texts. Positive vs Negative

6. Suggested Comparisons

Draft vs. Edit

Paste your rough draft in "Primary" and your polished version in "Comparison". Watch the Greatness Score rise and the Gunning Fog drop as you edit.

You vs. The Master

Paste your chapter in "Primary". Paste a chapter from your favorite author (e.g., Hemingway) in "Comparison". Look at the Sentence Flow Chart to see if your rhythm matches theirs.

Start Analyzing →