The Wasteline Test 
The Wasteline Test assesses whether your writing is ‘flabby’ or ‘fit’. The test works by counting percentages of words in five categories commonly associated with stodgy sentences: weak verbs, abstract nouns, prepositions, adjectives/adverbs and 'waste words' (it, this, that, there). For every writing sample you submit, you will receive an overall fitness rating ranging from lean to heart attack territory.
If you run the Wasteline Test often and keep its core principles in mind whenever you write something new, you will find your scores gradually improving over time. Please keep in mind, however, that the test offers a diagnosis, not a prescription; a heuristic, not an emetic. Sentences, like people, come in all shapes and sizes, and the world would become a very boring place indeed if we all wrote (or looked) exactly the same way!
- For best results, use the Wasteline Test in conjunction with The Writer's Diet.
- For more information about the Wasteline Test, see Frequently Asked Questions.
