Do you use editing software?

I just recently started using Grammarly.

It is far from 100% accurate, but I usually give my documents an organic edit, and then I put it in Grammarly. Then I'll always give it another read through to try and catch anything Grammarly missed.

One neat feature is its Chrome and Windows integrations. It checks as I write most places.

Other than the grammar and spelling checkers in MS-Word, no. And those I leave on to catch accidental errors, but I don't pay religious attention to them.

caw

blacbird said:

...the grammar and spelling checkers in MS-Word...I leave on to catch accidental errors, but I don't pay religious attention to them.

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Very wise. Computers are very useful in pointing out POSSIBLE errors, but it's we who have the judgement to know whether the "error" was an accident or intentional breaking of some rule to produce an effect. (Word's grammar checking is pretty primitive. I leave it off & just use the spell checker.)

There are a lot of add-ons to Word which do useful things. I use several from Paul Beverley's free downloadable book & code at http://www.archivepub.co.uk/book.html.

One I use a lot is a call to Google. I select a word or phrase, press the right-mouse key, select Google, and this pops up a tab in my browser which displays the Google search findings for that word or phrase. I also occasionally use a similar one which opens a tab to Thesaurus.com with the results. Ditto a call to Dictionary.com. And Wikipedia.org.

Inspired by his code, I wrote a Basic routine which I added to my copy of Word to highlight words which are four, five, and more syllables. They show up as light grey, yellow, or red respectively. I use it after I finish each chapter. It helps me avoid using too much jargon and many long words.

Laer Carroll said:

Word's grammar checking is pretty primitive. I leave it off & just use the spell checker.

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Not a good idea to turn off the grammar checker, IMO. Primitive as it may be, what it does tend to catch are misused or contextually wrong words, misspellings/typos that turn out to be recognizable words that the spell-checker won't notice, such as there/their or you/your, the latter of which I commonly mistype, for some reason.

caw

blacbird said:

Not a good idea to turn off the grammar checker, IMO. Primitive as it may be, what it does tend to catch are misused or contextually wrong words, misspellings/typos that turn out to be recognizable words that the spell-checker won't notice, such as there/their or you/your, the latter of which I commonly mistype, for some reason.

caw

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The problem is that it's flat out wrong a lot of times. It has a lot of trouble with it's/its. In my experience, it frustrated me more than it helped.

Carrie in PA said:

The problem is that it's flat out wrong a lot of times. It has a lot of trouble with it's/its. In my experience, it frustrated me more than it helped.

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Definitely spend some time in the preference settings customizing it.

That said, I have some qualms regarding using grammar checkers with fiction. Be wary of paying too much attention to it; especially in terms of dialog.

I haven't no, although I do find it interesting. But when I turn on grammar checker in Word or any other word processor, I usually find myself disagreeing. Then I research and find I'm often right. So I can't really trust them. I do think it will get better in the future, but there are rules that are meant to be broken, and designing a program to know when and where is difficult. I don't want to write like a robot, and a real editor (and I've worked with a few) knows when to suggest changes and where the rules are flexible.

It all depends on how much you knowing the first place. I turn off the grammar checker because I think I know at least as much about English grammar as Microsoft does. If you're uncertain, run it but don't hesitate to override it. After all, there are times when you want the passive voice, or when an incomplete sentence is exactly what you want.

The same thing is true for the spellcheck function. I use it to pick up typos and places where I have left out the spaces between words. (I write slowly but type quickly.)

Use whatever makes you feel comfortable, but don't let a computer dictate to you. It's only a tool.

I use the Hemingway app. I keep 80% of what it points out but it does identify some clunky sentences.

Then I use free text-to-speech software so I can identify missing words or incorrect words (doorstop instead of doorstep came up a few times in my latest MS!) that I never notice when I read out loud.

Carrie in PA said:

The problem is that it's flat out wrong a lot of times. It has a lot of trouble with it's/its.

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I have NEVER encountered an example of "it's/its" in which the MS-Word grammar checker got it wrong. Never. And I've tested it, many times, on this very matter. Now, it ain't perfetc, especially for fictive narrative, but I'll need to see an example of where it got this particular issue wrong. I've seen a hell of a lot of writers who've got it wrong, though.

caw

I use autocrit. It checks a couple dozen common problem things for me, then I go through and decide if I want to change them or not. I see no reason not to use it because I feel like I always end up with a better manuscript for using it. It does about a page for free so you can try it out if you want. I don't know how it compares with the others.

https://www.autocrit.com/

I use Pro Writing Aid. I don't do everything it suggests, but it has made me aware of a few quirks in my writing style. And it does suggest simplifying terms to make the writing cleaner. It also catches word echoes and repetitive first words.

Kristen Lamb just did a great post on the different editing programs out there. There are a few new ones to me on there.
https://warriorwriters.wordpress.co...age-of-writing-check-out-these-helpful-tools/

I didn't even know there was an editing type of software. I should look into this!

Laer Carroll said:

(Word's grammar checking is pretty primitive. I leave it off & just use the spell checker.)

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Word's grammar check hasn't been primitive for quite a while. Even if it were, it's still far and away the best grammar check and editing software on the market. This may not be saying much, but if a writer needs help with grammar, and refuses to plant butt in seat of chair and actually learn grammar, Word is the best you can do.

My experience is that all such software sucks. It's just bad. And good or bad, if you are very knowledgeable about grammar, you won't know whether the software is right or wrong.

There's a simple test of such software. Run a couple of acclaimed, published short stories through it. If it tells you everything is fine, you may have found software you can trust. If it tells you all sorts of things need changed, it's one more piece of junk. So far, every piece of software I've tried has flunked this test.

I always wonder why writers don't take the obvious road, see the obvious solution. Sit down and learn grammar. This should be done before you write word one. But it has to be done at some point, or you simply will not be able to write as well as you should, even if you have a boatload of talent.

Some interesting possibilities listed here (as well as your simple test, Jamesaritchie!).

I write in that simplest of formats, Markdown. But the day is approaching when I will have to edit my first manuscript. I'll definitely check out some of the tools y'all have suggested.

One must keep their head on in the upright position when using any of this stuff. It's programmed to find anything and everything that "might" be a problem. So, you look at it and decided whether it's right, you're right, or it's questionable (then look it up) and go from there.

I use a combination of MS word to catch the big stuff on the fly and use Grammarly and ProWritingAid cautiously.

Grammarly misses a lot. The other day it found a pair of words that needed to be hyphenated, but below that, two lines down, it missed the exact same pair of words which I thought was odd. It misses a lot, provides bad suggestions at times, but is pretty good at finding misused words, some missing punctuation, etc. but it still misses a lot. IE it will sometimes suggest a replacement for an overused word, and you can change it then it will then suggest that the new word is overused.

Also, it has a bug that if you are typing while on and you get a triple repeat of letters (a bug) like llleeettters then hit delete it will get locked into a loop and delete to the end of the file, at least on my computer. Save often - LOL.

Still it is worth using with caution IMO.

ProWritingAid is good too, but is way over the top with too much clinical correctness, but it will find punctuation errors that Grammarly misses, so they work pretty well together.

I usually run Grammarly and correct what makes sense, then run ProWritingAid and use the sections in this order, overused words, repeated words and phrases, diction, redundancy check, then grammar, then sometimes I will run Grammarly behind it, and that will usually catch most of the problems.

PWA has a color highlighted graphic interface and that makes it very easy to spot similar or exact phrases of like words in close proximity. After editing for a while, you may become too used to what you have written and may overlook and read right over those types of things. I particularly like that feature.

I've been thinking of checking out editing software, but as of right now I just use Open Office's checker. If I'm unsure on something, I'll pull up google and research it for a minute.

Jamesaritchie said:

I always wonder why writers don't take the obvious road, see the obvious solution. Sit down and learn grammar. This should be done before you write word one. But it has to be done at some point, or you simply will not be able to write as well as you should, even if you have a boatload of talent.

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THANK YOU. I don't trust software. I only trust myself (and, of course, a good editor--if I am using one). If I am unsure of something, I will research it. It's good to stay in the know with grammar rules, anyway. Especially if you are going to be a writer.

I often throw a chapter through 'SlickWrite'.
I find it helpful.
I like the feature which shows how often a word is used, as sometimes, I can get an adjective/noun caught on my brain and I will overuse it.

s.cummings said:

I just recently started using Grammarly.

It is far from 100% accurate, but I usually give my documents an organic edit, and then I put it in Grammarly. Then I'll always give it another read through to try and catch anything Grammarly missed.

One neat feature is its Chrome and Windows integrations. It checks as I write most places.

Click to expand...

Really? I'm looking at it right now and it doesn't advertise windows integration, just Office integration. Can you use it with Scrivener?

I'm also very disappointed they make you give up your email address before telling you what the features are.

Edit: Found the function. Sheesh, do not like how they have set up their website. It's like they don't want you to know the features.

Has anyone tried http://www.hemingwayapp.com/? It's very angry at me for my long sentences. Not sure if I should take that to heart.