All Guides
Eight long-form guides on writing, readability, typing, encoding, and word count — the deep reading behind every tool on the site.
The tools on this site do one job each: count, convert, encode, test. The guides explain the why. They're the long-form articles we wrote so you don't have to keep a dozen browser tabs open — practical references on word limits, readability formulas, typing benchmarks, Markdown syntax, thread mechanics, and more. Every guide is free, ad-light, and written to be read top-to-bottom or skimmed by section.
This page is the directory. Each entry below tells you what the guide covers and who it's for, so you can jump straight to the one that matches what you're working on. If you just want a tool, head to all tools instead.
Writing & readability
The core of the site: how to choose words, structure a draft, and make it easy to read.
The Writing Guide
Practical, specific writing advice on word choice, grammar, sentence structure, and editing — none of the vague "write tight" platitudes. Each section is actionable and built for students fighting a deadline, bloggers chasing clarity, and professional writers polishing copy. Start here if you're stuck on a draft and don't know which lever to pull.
Read it if: you can write but want every sentence to earn its place.
The Readability Guide
A plain-English breakdown of the six readability formulas that matter — Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch–Kincaid Grade, Gunning Fog, SMOG, ARI, and Coleman–Liau — what each one actually measures, and when to trust which. It then walks through the concrete edits that move a score by ten-plus points without flattening your voice. Aimed at content marketers, technical writers, and anyone whose CMS keeps flashing a red readability badge.
Read it if: a plugin keeps scoring your writing and you want to understand the number.
The Complete Word Count Guide
Everything word count: recommended lengths by content type (blog post, essay, novel chapter, meta description), word-to-page conversions for common fonts and spacing, and reading-time estimates. It links out to the deeper articles and points you at the right counter for each task. Built for writers, students, and editors who get asked "how long should this be?" on repeat.
Read it if: you need a target length or have to turn words into pages.
Productivity & typing
Speed at the keyboard, and the platforms where speed meets a character limit.
The Typing Speed Guide
WPM benchmarks for every level — from the 38–45 WPM average adult to the 200+ WPM of record holders — plus the drills, technique fixes, and practice routine that close the gap. It explains how speed is measured, what counts as "good" for your role, and how to push into the top 1%. For students, coders, transcribers, and anyone who lives at a keyboard.
Read it if: you want to type measurably faster, not just feel busy.
Twitter / X Thread Guide
The mechanics and craft of writing for X: the 280-character limit and how it counts links and emoji, hooks that earn the first tap, and the thread structures that stop readers dropping off after tweet 2. Practical patterns plus the free tools that handle the character-counting for you. Aimed at creators, marketers, and founders building an audience in public.
Read it if: your threads start strong and lose everyone by tweet 3.
Developer & encoding
For writing in markup and wrangling text between formats.
The Markdown Guide
A bookmarkable cheat sheet for Markdown — the lightweight syntax behind GitHub, Reddit, Notion, Obsidian, Substack, and most static-site generators. It covers the ~6 symbols you actually need, when Markdown beats a rich-text editor, and how to migrate cleanly between Markdown and HTML. For writers and developers who'd rather type than reach for a toolbar.
Read it if: you write online and keep formatting with the mouse.
The Encoding Guide
A primer on eight text encodings — Binary, Morse, the NATO phonetic alphabet, ROT13, Base64, URL percent-encoding, HTML entities, and Markdown ↔ HTML — with what each is for, when to reach for it, and the critical distinction between encoding and encryption. Each section links the matching in-browser converter. Built for developers, security tinkerers, and puzzle solvers.
Read it if: you need to decode something or you're not sure why your characters look wrong.
Reference
Data to look up, not a tutorial to work through.
Book Word Counts
The measured word counts of famous novels and series — Harry Potter, Twilight, Sherlock Holmes, and more — sortable, sourced, and updated as new titles arrive. Use it to size up a reading commitment or to benchmark your own manuscript against published comparables. A reference page rather than a how-to, useful to readers, writers, and the merely curious.
Read it if: you want to know how long a book or series really is.
Which guide should I read?
| If you want to… | Read this guide |
|---|---|
| Make a draft sharper and easier to read | The Writing Guide |
| Understand a readability score and improve it | The Readability Guide |
| Find a target length or convert words to pages | The Word Count Guide |
| Type faster and hit a higher WPM | The Typing Speed Guide |
| Write threads that keep readers swiping | Twitter / X Thread Guide |
| Learn Markdown or migrate between formats | The Markdown Guide |
| Encode, decode, or fix garbled characters | The Encoding Guide |
| Look up how long a famous book is | Book Word Counts |