Anyone use SmartEdit?

Dragonwriter · Jun 28, 2015

Not sure if this is the right forum for this question, but it was the closest one I could find.

I was wondering if anyone had used the "SmartEdit for Word" software, and if so, if they had any thoughts positive or negative. It seems to be just what I'm looking for - a first-edit-pass addon for Word that will flag repeated words and phrases, adverbs, cliches, and so forth. Something to run your work through so you can fix obvious problems before you send it off to your regular editor. I'm tempted to pick it up (they have a 10 day free trial) but I wanted to see if the folks here had any opinions.

Here's the website for it.

WeaselFire · Jun 28, 2015

1) Try it. It is free to try after all. Whether or not something works or doesn't work for someone else will never tell you whether or not it works for you.

2) Tag cloud generators are free.

Jeff

Jamesaritchie · Jun 29, 2015

If you have a regular editor, why do you need it?

There may be helpful features, but anything that tries to tell you how to write is bad. Anything that tries to fix your grammar is going to get it wrong fairly often. Why not learn to do all these things yourself? It's the only sure way to write well. Not even an editor can really help a writer who can't edit, proofread, use grammar correctly, etc.

Dragonwriter · Jun 29, 2015

Jamesaritchie said:
If you have a regular editor, why do you need it?

There may be helpful features, but anything that tries to tell you how to write is bad. Anything that tries to fix your grammar is going to get it wrong fairly often. Why not learn to do all these things yourself? It's the only sure way to write well. Not even an editor can really help a writer who can't edit, proofread, use grammar correctly, etc.

I'm going to assume that because you don't know me, you meant to be helpful instead of condescending (which is kinda how that came out).

As I pointed out in my OP, I'm not looking for something to "tell me how to write." I know how to write (mechanically, anyway--whether it's any good is another matter and not for me to decide.

). I know how to punctuate. I know proper grammar, and I know when I can ignore it. What I do want is something that will go through my 100,000+-word manuscripts and tell me that I'm using a phrase too often, or that I've slipped a cliche' in during a moment of laziness, or point out all the times I used adverbs so I can cull some of them. Yeah, I can look for all that stuff myself, and I do. I pride myself on getting my ms into as good a shape as I can before I send it off to my editor, because I don't want him having to waste time with typos and repeated phrases. I want him to find plot holes and things that don't make sense--you know, the stuff that I miss because I'm so close to the story that I don't recognize it anymore.

So if there's an easy tool I can use to hit the low-hanging fruit before I do that, I'm interested in taking a look at it. And I wanted to know whether anyone else here has used it, and what they thought if they did.

WeaselFire · Jun 29, 2015

Dragonwriter said:
So if there's an easy tool I can use to hit the low-hanging fruit before I do that, I'm interested in taking a look at it.

There are a ton of such tools. But for SmartEdit, looks like you're the designated guinea pig. Let us know how it works.

Jeff

Fruitbat · Jun 29, 2015

I use AutoCrit, which my spellchecker keeps changing to "autocrat," ha. Of course you decide if you're going to make the suggested changes or not. It's handy and catches things I don't. I like it.

https://www.autocrit.com/

Jamesaritchie · Jun 30, 2015

Dragonwriter said:
I'm going to assume that because you don't know me, you meant to be helpful instead of condescending (which is kinda how that came out).

As I pointed out in my OP, I'm not looking for something to "tell me how to write." I know how to write (mechanically, anyway--whether it's any good is another matter and not for me to decide. ). I know how to punctuate. I know proper grammar, and I know when I can ignore it. What I do want is something that will go through my 100,000+-word manuscripts and tell me that I'm using a phrase too often, or that I've slipped a cliche' in during a moment of laziness, or point out all the times I used adverbs so I can cull some of them. Yeah, I can look for all that stuff myself, and I do. I pride myself on getting my ms into as good a shape as I can before I send it off to my editor, because I don't want him having to waste time with typos and repeated phrases. I want him to find plot holes and things that don't make sense--you know, the stuff that I miss because I'm so close to the story that I don't recognize it anymore.

So if there's an easy tool I can use to hit the low-hanging fruit before I do that, I'm interested in taking a look at it. And I wanted to know whether anyone else here has used it, and what they thought if they did.

No, I didn't mean to be condescending, but I've had a lot of experience with such software, and from my experience, it's all crap, and does far more harm than good.

But there's a simple test. Find some published stories that have received wide critical acclaim, and run them through Autocrit. My experience with such software is that it says all these stories have all sorts of problems, all sorts of things wrong. Autocrit is no exception. It says things are wrong that aren't, and misses things that should be changed.

Good writing is often about getting things "wrong". It's often about doing exactly the opposite of what grammar, punctuation, and rules of composition say you should do. Software doesn't know this.

I just don't believe in being too close to a story to edit/rewrite/revise it all on your own. I think every writer must be able to do these things on his or her own, else it won't work. Let the writing rest, gain some distance, if you have to, but be wary of anything software tells you. Especially Autocrit.

Dragonwriter · Jun 30, 2015

I think if I were to use one of these I'd prefer SmartEdit just because it integrates with Word. The one thing I really want it to do, because it's an area where I sometimes have problems, is to point out words and phrases that I tend to repeat. It's easy enough to catch those once you identify what they are, but I want something to poke me and say, "Hey, bozo, you've used the phrase <fill in phrase> 22 times in a 400-page story. Wanna think about changing some of those?"

The rest of it I'm usually pretty good about catching, once I've let the thing sit for a while.

CrastersBabies · Jun 30, 2015

If you try it, let us know how it goes. I can see using a program for that sort of thing, especially when the eyes get wonky-tired.

Fruitbat · Jun 30, 2015

Also, on Autocrit you can plug in a page or two for free to see if it works for you.

You have to keep in mind that it's only a guide, though. In other words, don't twist your prose around weirdly just because it says you used "that" or "was" more times than suggested.

Also, it makes you recognize the common words you're overusing and so on. Over time, you catch them more by yourself and may not need it as much.

Ravioli · Jun 30, 2015

I just tried it out upon reading this thread; I like it. I don't use it for the actual editing because I'm anxious about losing formating, but I like how it points out possibly over-used words and makes me think of ways to rewrite stuff. I'm glad for it, so thanks

tko · Jun 30, 2015

I'm with you. Specialists tend to be afraid of tools, as though they can't say no. If I have 100K words, and a writing aid can find 25% of the obvious problems, it's a blessing. Obviously, you have to be able to reject suggestions, which shouldn't be a problem for anyone with writing skills. Remember, tools are only as good as the user.

Unfortunately, even the best tools are pretty bad. I do like the phrase repetition finders--the results can be shocking--and the one in Prowriter is good (as good as the custom one I'd previously written.)

I've been using Prowriter, and it's okay. I also have a variety of software I've written for MS Word, which does help. For me, the software helps me focus on my writing in a mechanical way--like reading your novel backwards, but less painful. While the software is highlighting what it thinks are mistakes, I'm seeing badly constructed sentences lurking nearby.

http://thewritelife.com/automatic-editing-tools/#.kxu4jv:PU5m

http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=155305.0

http://www.serenity-software.com/pages/comparisons.html

This is a bogus comparison, as it's written by one of the software companies, don't make the mistake I did for few minutes and think it's real

Dragonwriter said:
Not sure if this is the right forum for this question, but it was the closest one I could find.

I was wondering if anyone had used the "SmartEdit for Word" software, and if so, if they had any thoughts positive or negative. It seems to be just what I'm looking for - a first-edit-pass addon for Word that will flag repeated words and phrases, adverbs, cliches, and so forth. Something to run your work through so you can fix obvious problems before you send it off to your regular editor. I'm tempted to pick it up (they have a 10 day free trial) but I wanted to see if the folks here had any opinions.

Here's the website for it.

Tinman · Jul 1, 2015

Dragonwriter said:
I'm going to assume that because you don't know me, you meant to be helpful instead of condescending (which is kinda how that came out).

I saw nothing condescending about what James posted.

Anyone use SmartEdit?

Dragonwriter

Fluorescent Pudding-Brain

WeaselFire

Benefactor Member

Jamesaritchie

Dragonwriter

Fluorescent Pudding-Brain

WeaselFire

Benefactor Member

Fruitbat

.

Jamesaritchie

Dragonwriter

Fluorescent Pudding-Brain

CrastersBabies

Burninator!

Fruitbat

.

Ravioli

Crazy Cat Lady

tko

just thanks fore everything

Tinman