Should you write to a 5th Grade level?

Good question, Shaun. In my experience, it's actually really difficult to write to a fifth grade level. When it comes to technical writing, our sentences are naturally a little more complex. I'd say that you should shoot for about a 9th-grade level—but it all depends on audience, and their unique needs. As a writer, though, I'm much more concerned about drastically over-complicating my writing than I am over-simplifying my writing. Technical writing is notoriously hard to read—and that's the bigger pitfall.