McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

WTF. thoughts on prowritingaid.com and hemingway and use of program editors?

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meg_evonne:
I didn't know these exist. Google search of reviews read like paid advertisements. Do you use these? Do agents and editors use them to thin the heard?

Are they crap? Are they great? Why haven't I heard of them?

superpsycho:
Grammar programs can be helpful to highlight potential issues but in the end it's the editor that has to decide what's right. A program can really help when you're editing your own work or you're on the the second or third pass of a manuscript and your mind is filling in what should be there instead of seeing what is actually there. But you have to realize they are just one tool and you can't rely on them. An editor's own critical eye must remain the primary resource since these programs are far from being perfected and can't recognize a lot of issues.   

I've avoided any web based programs since you also have to worry about unethical setups, especially when it's other people's work you're editing. I used a program called Ginger for awhile, which is a program you can download. Mainly I just use the grammar option in MSWord.

meg_evonne:
Thank you for the sound off. I have my own editing list a mile long, so I'm doing much of it in a slower fashion. I use the time to revise that paragraph. Things like 'ly' and the big bruiser in 1st pov -- 'I'. I also have my death star words i screw up. I search 'ed' (writing in present tense)'had' Etc for passive verb.  The repeated word function looked especially appealing. Since no one has discussed them, I was curious. I could see slush readers using them to delete manuscripts far from ready for public consumption quickly without actually having to read them.

superpsycho:

--- Quote from: meg_evonne on June 12, 2014, 10:00:47 PM ---Thank you for the sound off. I have my own editing list a mile long, so I'm doing much of it in a slower fashion. I use the time to revise that paragraph. Things like 'ly' and the big bruiser in 1st pov -- 'I'. I also have my death star words i screw up. I search 'ed' (writing in present tense)'had' Etc for passive verb.  The repeated word function looked especially appealing. Since no one has discussed them, I was curious. I could see slush readers using them to delete manuscripts far from ready for public consumption quickly without actually having to read them.

--- End quote ---
The repeated word function does sound interesting but that is one issue that isn't hard to spot. Such programs are good for the initial pass to quickly locate the obvious stuff. They can be helpful with things like dropped words, homophones and other things, where the brain will fill in the right things automatically sometimes. But they do nothing to point out dry monologs, pointless background and lifeless dialog.

I like to do it in three passes. A first read with markup. Then go back, make the correction and get it to read smoothly. Third I'll go back and try to point out the dry areas that need to be punched up to give the work texture and life.

meg_evonne:
I'm going to give it a shot. There is a free option. If it speeds things along, great. I am a reader who will read that missing word time after time. I've learned to read each sentence backwards, literally starting at the last page and using a cut out cardboard to slide up the page. No chance to get caught up in the story that way. It forces me to only see that tiny segment.

As you can tell, my revision editing can be a several months long... *sigh*

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