McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Suggestions on software for grammar check for novels?
meg_evonne:
Word doesn't "remember" that I'm using a past tense from sentence to sentence. The sentence may be fine--it's in relationship to the rest of the paragraph or chapter that is the problem. For editors this is a real obnoxious error that reflects amature vs professional writing skills. Still when I am in a long piece it is in my nature to be a lousy editor. I hate the fine details and I don't always find the errors in review.
There are some great sites that I found that are free to test your grammar skills with excercises. One of them is: http://www.smic.be/smic5022/exercisesgrammar.htm
There is a Style Writer Program I found that is great for query letters and business letters, but isn't right for fiction. I'd like to feel confident however, that I'm not coming across as an idiot. Fiction programs appear to be more organizational in nature. I'm not sure I want a program to tell me my dramatic tension or my character isn't up to par; I'll decide that on my own thank you very much!
From the responses posted, programs just aren't out there. Drat!
Meg
BjustaB:
I have a favorite spell-check horror story. I was working for an agency that created resumes and cover letters for welfare moms. I wanted to describe one client as conscientious but I didn't spell it right. Spell check changed it for me. So, the resume read that she was hard working and contentious.
She got the job despite my (and MS Word's) best efforts.
Barbara
meg_evonne:
lol Barbara, just goes to show you that no one really reads resumes! not even the person who hired her! Or maybe they wanted a contenious employee?
Mickey Finn:
"Sturnk and White...."
Is it a sin to misspell that? :)
In addition to the books and the lessons, computer programs are still a good net.
I highly reccomend Office 2007. Fantastic program...plus, I think you can get an inexpensive student copy, which you would be if you were taking grammar classes ;)
meg_evonne:
I suspect that misspelling Strunk is MORE than a SIN. I'm sure I am definitely doomed now.
Hey, just learned how to check my passive vs active percentages. You probably all know that by now, but just in case....
Make sure that "check grammar" is checked off. In the bottom left corner of the spelling/grammar menu. Hit Options button at the bottome the spelling/grammar screen and under grammar, check off "check readability statisics". When you run spellcheck you'll get a readability stat area. One of those stats is Passivity. It also gives something called a Flesch score, meaning if it is easy to understand, aim for 60 to 70 apparently. There is a Flesch-Kincaid score that corresponds with grade level. Apparently you only aim for 7 to 8???? Doesn't that seem LOW to you guys? Maybe SciFi buffs just have higher grade ranges. What do you think?
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version