Grammer Checking software?

amlptj · Jun 30, 2010

Ok I'm right now at my wits end. I've tried asking about everything, professional proofreaders, Dragon speaking software, anything that can help me proofread my books so i can finally send them to an agent. I'm not even going to bother explaining the trouble i have doing it myself because i'm dsylexic because all i get back are responces that i need to "Work harder" and "Shouldnt use that as an excuse."

Point is i suck at grammar and spelling and that's never going to change and no one is willing to help me proofread my 6 books without alot of money being involved SO does anyone out there know of any good grammar checking programs that would drastically help me with my problem? A program that would automatically correct the three there's and words like that? or automatically insert commas and semicolons and such puncuations? And please dont suggest spellcheck on Word because that thing doesnt work for me and my horrible spelling/grammar, i literally confuse it.

PLEASE Any help and information would be greatly appreciated!!!

Carmy · Jun 30, 2010

Have you tried: http://www.autocrit.com/autocrit/wizardformpage.php

I've used it's on-line checker a few times and it does an excellent job, so long as you remember it is a soul-less machine. I've never bought the services but it looks as if it costs about $47 a year for access.

Give it a shot. After doing that, maybe ask for a Beta or two.

Good luck!

Terie · Jun 30, 2010

Haven't we already answered this question for you here?

amlptj · Jun 30, 2010

Terie said:
Haven't we already answered this question for you here?

Nope not really, I dont have the money to hier anyone, The Dragon Natural Speaking program doesnt correct grammar, tried myself and again failed miserably, and not a single person i know will help me without some kind of reward. Again i'm at my wits end... like literally thinking about giving up on writing if i dont get the ball moving with proofreading.

Sargentodiaz · Jun 30, 2010

Microsoft Word's spell check also has a subroutine that check's grammar. It is not always the best way to say things but it points out grammatical problems that one needs to consider.
I'm not familiar with other spellchecking software but have a feeling they probably include something similar.
If you don't have a pc with Window, you might want to find someone who does and see about transferring your document to them for a spell/grammar check.

DeleyanLee · Jun 30, 2010

amlptj said:
Nope not really, I dont have the money to hier anyone, The Dragon Natural Speaking program doesnt correct grammar, tried myself and again failed miserably, and not a single person i know will help me without some kind of reward. Again i'm at my wits end... like literally thinking about giving up on writing if i dont get the ball moving with proofreading.

No offense, but you're asking someone to do a LOT of work. It's only fair that you compensate them somehow for all the time and expertise they'd be using on your behalf.

I don't know of a program that will do what you ask, sorry. I have a friend who is an award-winning SF/F author who's severely dylexic to the point she almost didn't finish school and when she did it was by the skin of her teeth.

She learned to do it herself, painstakingly, bit by bit, as she is writing. It makes her a slow, careful writer and she says that it's made her a better writer because she focuses more before she puts anything down and doesn't write as many "shit drafts" as she did before she made herself do the work.

Everyone has their challenges when it comes to learning to put words on paper. At least you have the advantage (if you can see it that way) of knowing what your biggest hurdle is from the get-go instead of being able to delude yourself for years and never addressing the problem.

Terie · Jun 30, 2010

Terie said:
Haven't we already answered this question for you here?

amlptj said:
Nope not really, I dont have the money to hier anyone, The Dragon Natural Speaking program doesnt correct grammar, tried myself and again failed miserably, and not a single person i know will help me without some kind of reward. Again i'm at my wits end... like literally thinking about giving up on writing if i dont get the ball moving with proofreading.

My point is that you aren't going to get any different answers now than you did a month ago. Because the answers haven't changed in the past month.

amlptj · Jun 30, 2010

DeleyanLee said:
No offense, but you're asking someone to do a LOT of work. It's only fair that you compensate them somehow for all the time and expertise they'd be using on your behalf.

I don't know of a program that will do what you ask, sorry. I have a friend who is an award-winning SF/F author who's severely dylexic to the point she almost didn't finish school and when she did it was by the skin of her teeth.

She learned to do it herself, painstakingly, bit by bit, as she is writing. It makes her a slow, careful writer and she says that it's made her a better writer because she focuses more before she puts anything down and doesn't write as many "shit drafts" as she did before she made herself do the work.

Everyone has their challenges when it comes to learning to put words on paper. At least you have the advantage (if you can see it that way) of knowing what your biggest hurdle is from the get-go instead of being able to delude yourself for years and never addressing the problem.

I understand for others to do it it cost a lot and yes they would defintly deserve it. But again i dont have the money to reward or pay them. And everyone is different, congrates for your friend she can do something i cant, ive painstakingly tried to proofread my own work and cant do it that's why i'm only wondering if anyone knows of a Program that could help me. I've went through this song and dance before with people telling me to do it myself and i'm not working hard enough but frankly every dyslexic case is as different as the person who has it. I know its not a life killing disablility and that there are many other dyslexic author out there. I'm just asking if anyone knows of a program that can help me.

kuwisdelu · Jun 30, 2010

No software is quite good enough yet to do what you're asking adequately.

I suggest buying a good grammatical textbook and teaching yourself.

I'm not saying that because I think you just need to work harder or anything, but simply because I don't know any grammar software good enough that I would trust for that job.

BenPanced · Jun 30, 2010

The auto features on Word and the like can do only so much and even then, they're not really made for fiction; they're geared more for business writing which is a different animal completely. In this case, I'd be expecting some sort of compensation for my time, as well, considering the amount of work involved, so I wouldn't put it off as greed on your friends' part (and it doesn't have to be money. Can you do a barter?)

amlptj · Jun 30, 2010

Terie said:
My point is that you aren't going to get any different answers now than you did a month ago. Because the answers haven't changed in the past month.

Trust me that my fear too, but i was hoping i wasnt asking the right question. There has to be plenty of people bad at grammar and spelling just wondering if they use anything other then Word. And considering this in in the tech help section i was hoping someone tech savey would know of a program.

I'm only found one, www.gingersoftware.com Not sure if its ligit or worthwhile, anyone else ever heard of it?

amlptj · Jun 30, 2010

BenPanced said:
The auto features on Word and the like can do only so much and even then, they're not really made for fiction; they're geared more for business writing which is a different animal completely. In this case, I'd be expecting some sort of compensation for my time, as well, considering the amount of work involved, so I wouldn't put it off as greed on your friends' part (and it doesn't have to be money. Can you do a barter?)

I've tried... i dont have a large number or close friend to begin with and the ones i asked refused, either claming like you said it was too much work or because of greed (honestly) or because they said they wernt as good at proofreading as i thought they would be. I even asked an english grad at my school, funny she said she still asked her mom to read over her papers.

Terie · Jun 30, 2010

amlptj said:
I've tried... i dont have a large number or close friend to begin with and the ones i asked refused, either claming like you said it was too much work or because of greed (honestly) or because they said they wernt as good at proofreading as i thought they would be. I even asked an english grad at my school, funny she said she still asked her mom to read over her papers.

Greed? Wow. I make almost $50 per hour (plus benefits) as a corporate writer. I am imminently capable of editing someone's book; as a matter of fact, I do some freelance editing on the side for $40-50 per hour. To edit a book as you say you need would probably take me a minimum of 50 hours.

So you think someone not wanting to do (counts on fingers, counts on toes, gives up and launches the calculator) $2,000+ worth of work for free is greedy?

Just, wow.

aadams73 · Jun 30, 2010

There really is no such program. I'm not sure if you understand why. In fiction we often play fast and loose with grammar rules to achieve certain effects, particularly in dialogue, so to ask a program to take that into account is nigh on impossible.

At this juncture you have to ask yourself: how bad do I want this?

If you desire publication enough, you're going to have to do it the hard way. There are so many writers out there who have fought to overcome learning disorders, disabilities, etc., and lo and behold they made it to the shelves. So Dyslexia is no excuse; it's just an obstacle you're going to have to work harder to overcome. But it can be done.

Learn the rules of grammar. Learn to edit on your own. You'll save yourself a fortune on editors and so forth, and at the end you'll have acquired a new and invaluable skill.

BenPanced · Jun 30, 2010

And I can guarantee you 99% of everybody here on AW has learned to do their own proofreading and editing, getting assitance when they need it and not relying entirely on others (human and/or technological) to do the work for them.

amlptj · Jun 30, 2010

Terie said:
Greed? Wow. I make almost $50 per hour (plus benefits) as a corporate writer. I am imminently capable of editing someone's book; as a matter of fact, I do some freelance editing on the side for $40-50 per hour. To edit a book as you say you need would probably take me a minimum of 50 hours.

So you think someone not wanting to do (counts on fingers, counts on toes, gives up and launches the calculator) $2,000+ worth of work for free is greedy?

Just, wow.

I never asked them to do it for free. I'm not that kind of person. I am a reasonable person who offered the resonable amount of money and or favors to my good friends in question. I'm a broke college student, as are my friends, and i dont have much to offer, and if you must know the One greedy friend asked for more then twice that amount you listed above.

amlptj · Jun 30, 2010

Everyone is different. Some people cant do certin things no matter how hard they try. Some people will never be able to master things like college physics, swimming, getting over an alergic reaction to misquito bites or growing wings and flying, just like i cant proofread stuff. Its the way life is and ive come to accept that and instead of waist my time and energy taking grammar classes and reading millions of books only to end up still at square one i'm getting a program to assist me and make my life easier.

Well i found an awesome looking program to solve my problems. I'm going to give it a shot, thanks everyone who gave me imput, kind of getting tired and fustratrated with the lectures though.

nonantroll · Aug 9, 2010

Actually, there IS a program that checks grammar.

It's Corel's Wordperfect Office x5.

It started out as Grammatik, was sold to WordPerfect, which sold it's software to Novell, which sold Wordperfect to Corel.

I've used Grammatik for over twenty years, and have found nothing better.
The current version is $160, but you can find older versions for sale all over the Internet.

RJK · Aug 9, 2010

I believe the OP's problems are beyond the scope of online grammar and spell check software. Being severely dyslexic causes him to misspell words beyond the program's ability to recognize it. Therefore the program has no suggestions to correct the spelling. If the program has no idea what word belongs in a sentence, it will be unable to audit the grammar.

You may be better off finding someone who will type from dictation. This will cost you a per page fee, but it may be less than an editor would charge, and save you the time of typing the manuscript.

You may want to look at grants for people with disabilities. I had a friend who was sight restricted, and he received grants all through college for people (usually good looking girls) to read his textbooks to him, and help him transcribe his notes.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 9, 2010

If you have the latest version of Word, and you should be able to get it for twenty-five bucks as a college student, it not only comes with a pretty decent grammar program, but also with contexual spellcheck that is very good at letting you know you use "there" for "there."

But there are many very good dyxlexic writers out there, and just about all of them learned to do it for themselves. If you're a college student, you're way too young to say you can't learn to do it yourself. It won't be easy, but you have a huge advantage of those writers who had to learn without benefit of computers or any software at all.

Software helps, but there is no software that will do the job for you. No software actually checks grammar. Not Word's grammar check, and not Word Perfect's. You either have to learn to do it yourself, or be willing to pay the going rate.

AlishaS · Aug 9, 2010

Well, I have to say, that my first novel was horrible, just horrible, I didn't graduate highschool and I DO suck at grammar and punctuation and spelling, and this is what I did.
As for spelling, I know what you mean about spellcheck not being able to recognize a word because you have spelt it so wrong it's confused. Well... I would sit and try every combination I could think of. slowly spelling out the word in my head, trying to guess the proper way to write it down. Eventually you get something close enough spellcheck will catch on. I've learned how to spell a lot of words that way, and after coming across the same mistakes, you learn to recognize them. Sure I still spell words wrong but I know how to work through the problem. Also going to google and typing "a word for.... (sad for instience) will give you choices...
Commas are a bitch, they are. Read your sentence carefully, out loud and slowly, most of the time, where you naturally feel the need to pause is where you need a comma. Of course, it's not a prefect solution but it sure does help. Learning how to properly use semicolons is tough, I just leave them out, honestly, I wait for spellcheck to tell me otherwise.
As for the Their and there type stuff, honestly, look it up. Learn what each word means. It's the only way you will learn that whether and weather are really different words, with very different meanings.
I know it's hard, but you have to teach yourself. Once you can do some basics, like spelling, and basic punctuation look for a beta. Be 100% upfront and honest. The first beta I ever had was great. I told her straight out, I need a lot of help, and it will be a lot of work. Sure she couldn't help with everything but you will find someone who can help you. Don't give up.

I hate to say it, and I wish, even for myself that there is a fancy program but there isn't you just have to work at bit by bit.
Someone once told me if they do all the work, how would I will ever learn. And it's true. I would have never learned the basics.
With that said, I now beta small projects to help me learn even more, sure I'm not perfect but I am learning a lot and am helping other people in the process.

Carmy · Aug 10, 2010

I've also found Word's grammar and spelling a great help, but ONLY if it's set to Formal rather than Standard.

Grammar&spelling, Options, Format. Check it out.

defyalllogic · Aug 10, 2010

you could try posting a chapter at a time here (SYW) and on critiquecircle.com to get grammar critiques. you could buy a membership (not very expensive) to post multiple times in a cycle. it will take time but you'll get those critiques...

PeterL · Aug 10, 2010

There are some free grammar checkers here http://shareme.com/showall/grammar-checker.html . And more here http://lingucomponent.openoffice.org/grammar.html , including addons for Open Office.

The proper use of any grammar checker requires some knowledge of grammar.

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