Support for Indie Authors discussion
Writing Process & Programs
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Grammarly
I have a temporary subscription to Autocrit. I've been pretty happy with it so far. Never used Grammarly.
Jeffrey wrote: "I have a temporary subscription to Autocrit. I've been pretty happy with it so far. Never used Grammarly." Thanks will look into it.
I have used Autocrit in the past and it taught me a lot.
Anna Faversham wrote: "I have used Autocrit in the past and it taught me a lot."Thank You Anna. Did you use the free program or the professional one and is it worth it?
Jeffrey wrote: "I have a temporary subscription to Autocrit. I've been pretty happy with it so far. Never used Grammarly."Thanks Jeffrey, do you use the professional program?
I use Grammarly Pro and find it really handy for catching things, but it's not always correct so you have to be careful with it. The program does continue to improve, though. I've also used ProWriting, which has some good features. I haven't heard of Autocrit, sounds interesting. I'm going to check it out.
Luke wrote: "Jeffrey wrote: "I have a temporary subscription to Autocrit. I've been pretty happy with it so far. Never used Grammarly."Thanks Jeffrey, do you use the professional program?"I think Autocrit is billed as a professional program, but I am not really sure.
Thanks. Third option which Google comes up with is Prowriting Aid. Any thoughts on this one.
Scott wrote: "I use Grammarly Pro and find it really handy for catching things, but it's not always correct so you have to be careful with it. The program does continue to improve, though. I've also used ProWrit..."Thanks Scott, would you rate ProWritingaid better than Grammarly? One of the key features i need is the plagiarism checks too as much of my work is historical fiction so i take historical facts and turn them around.
I prefer ProWriting Aid over Grammarly. It also lets you buy a lifetime pass for the price of two years of Grammarly use. Both have trial periods, so you may compare.
Phillip wrote: "I prefer ProWriting Aid over Grammarly. It also lets you buy a lifetime pass for the price of two years of Grammarly use. Both have trial periods, so you may compare."Thanks, ProWriting Aid seems to have a lot of good reviews. Will try it.
Luke wrote: "Anna Faversham wrote: "I have used Autocrit in the past and it taught me a lot."Thank You Anna. Did you use the free program or the professional one and is it worth it?"
I used the professional one but it was several years ago and was not too expensive then. Can't remember how much, but I decided not to continue as it was getting more expensive.
I found it worth it for my first books.
Grammarly (paid version) has a plagiarism check also. It is located in the bottom right hand section of the screen. I’ve used Grammarly for my edits on several books. It has changed over the years. Works for me. I like the setting for “character” of the writing. Knowledgeable audience, professional, etc. Five categories to adjust.
I have not heard of the others mentioned here. Will check them out!
Mod
The second issue is that it generates a ton of false alarms on custom names with apostrophes and struggles to handle them well. Possessive forms of custom words are also a source of false alarms (even if the base form is added to your personal dictionary, X's form will always fire).
And it also sometimes wrongly classifies issues like "its" and "it's" - especially in longer sentences (for someone who knows basic English grammar, those false alerts are obvious - they're usually a masked issue with the structure of a way-too-long sentence).
Phillip wrote: "I prefer ProWriting Aid over Grammarly. It also lets you buy a lifetime pass for the price of two years of Grammarly use. Both have trial periods, so you may compare."I agree with Phillip. I found ProWritingAid to be more useful for me and I liked the lifetime license option. I did purchase a year of Grammerly prior to trying ProWritingAid. One other advantage of ProWritingAid is it is available as an ADD ON for Google Docs. This came in handy when I dumped Windows and purchased a Chromebook.
I like Pro Writing Aide and Autocrit. To me, Grammerly is grossly over priced for what you get for the subscription. My complaint about Autocrit is that it is totally online, No off line usage. And it isn't cheap. Because I live in the middle of nowhere, I need to be able to access a program off line since I work off line to save on data, so I do go for ProWritingAid most of the time. (Yeah, I have satellite with limited data.)
Pro writing Aid outshines Grammarly in all matter of editing. And I have both programs.JB Morris Autbhor
I, too, like Pro Writing Aid. I write in Scrivener and am able to open the document inside Pro Writing Aid, do my editing, and have the edits transferred back to the document in Scrivener. It works well for me.
Interesting to know for Pro Writing Aid. I am also using Scrivener. And as I am not a native English speaker (?), I need a good software for my text.What would be the difference between those software and Antidote? I've heard a lot about it in French and knows it exist in English but don't know if it has the same use.
Grammarly should come with a computer like spell-checking. Unless you are perfect at spelling and grammar then you need Grammarly. If you ever comment on YouTube videos or write your Congressman you should have a writing tool. I am in no way affiliated with Grammarly just use it every day.
ProWritingAid does the same thing. I find it annoying on most things though. I like how it integrates with Scrivener and MS Word and I can choose where I use it.
Thanks all. I have found Pro writing Aid to be amazing. Wish i knew about it when i did my first book. I have also taken a temporary monthly account with Autocrit and will give it a go too.
Luke wrote: "Thanks all. I have found Pro writing Aid to be amazing. Wish i knew about it when i did my first book. I have also taken a temporary monthly account with Autocrit and will give it a go too."Yes, Pro Writing is quite helpful. I used it for a year but dropped it since I realized I was relying on it too much. I now double-check myself, using text to speech freebie, by listening to the bumps and glitches in my writing.
They say reading your work out loud is extremely helpful, but I never thought about the text to speech, which is even better. Thanks Wanjiru!
I use ProWriingAid as a way to check things that I normally miss. But reading it aloud with emotion is much better than the automated read back. I use the automated to catch things that I missed like words or strange things seem to appear in the middle of a paragraph. I'm careful about using things like ProWritingAid on my final edits because of the rhetorical devices that I use. None of the programs like them.
Every thing that you use is a tool and needs to be treated as that...a tool to improve what you are doing. Even with that, you will still need that proof reader or copy editor to catch all the things that you miss simply because you are too close to your own work.
Sometimes, my fingers type faster than my mind or, since editing takes many steps, reading it to myself I've overlooked an obvious word, comma, etc. The text to speech guy was SO mundane (wouldn't want to meet him in person!) and yet, like you said B.A., the automated read can catch things....a tool.
Gail wrote: "They say reading your work out loud is extremely helpful, but I never thought about the text to speech, which is even better. Thanks, Wanjiru!"You are welcome.
Yes, Text to Speech has been very helpful to me. While the "person," reads, I go thru my ms and quickly highlight wherever I hear the glitch and return later to fix it. I do a chapter at a time. With the freebie I use, they have a limit of about 3600K a day.
P/S Besides getting tired of reading, I notice when I read, I stop to fix the error, which breaks my focus.
Luke wrote: "HI I have just finished drafting the sequel to my first novel in word. Wondering if anyone has tried Grammarly or are there better programs to do the first round of edits in. i have got an editor..."
I love Grammarly, I tried the free version and quickly purchased the full seat. I connected it to my email, social media -- everything! Reduces unnecessary edits prior to sending the book to paid editors.
Great investment.
I found it expensive for what it does. ProWritingAid is cheaper and does most of the same things. You can integrate it with Scrivener and Word plus your Google accounts. (I found that annoying and got rid of it) and Wordpress. There is Autocrit but my main complaint it is that it is only on line and I don't always have an internet connection. Hemingway is another that is only on line and I need something I can use off line.
Those are the ones that I have used.
There are a lot more out there and depending on your needs and writing style will depend on what one will work for you and your budget.
I am a former English teacher. Grammarly is okay for small errors in punctuation, but as for subject verb agreement, pronoun antecedent agreement and some of the major errors it is useless. It will pick up some spelling errors, but not all. It should never be used in place of a good editor.Hope that helps.
I agree that nothing beats a good editor. However, I moved and no longer have the benefit of my former writer's group. I'd like to send in as clean a manuscript as possible. Any suggestions for major errors? Thanks for commenting.
Use one of the programs like Grammarly or ProWritingAid or Autocrit. They do catch more than MS Word. Have someone else read your manuscript. The will see things you don't. If you are friends with an English teacher, see if they'll go through it. Look for online writing groups...I belong to 2 group which meet on zoom or Google meet. Even a friend who likes to read would be good. If you have an email list, see if anyone there is willing to help you out. What you don't want to do is to pay an editor when you are sending a manuscript for publishing. They will have their editors to through it and many times there are major changes the want done and when that happens, you just wasted that $1000 for an editor.
As for major errors, if you find them, correct them. By this time, the story should be in good shape and other than some minor things, there shouldn't be major errors.
I'm slightly confused. Has the manuscript already been accepted by a publisher?
Caroline wrote: "I love Grammarly, I tried the free version and quickly purchased the full seat. I connected it to my email, social media -- everything! Reduces unnecessary edits prior to sending the book to paid editors..."Caroline, Thank you for your opinion on Grammarly. I have the free version and notice it catches errors MS Word does not. I also notice it catches errors wherever I write, including here. I've begun reworking my novel and am considering buying (if I can) the complete software.
Well this is spooky. I was just watching a YouTube review of ProWritingAid when your post popped up.I think you’ll like Grammarly Pro. I’ve used it for a couple of years. Of course, it’s just a program, so make sure you review the suggestions.
Anyway, I just cancelled my Grammarly subscription. It’s great, and I like it. But a subscription model is just not my thing—I find it too costly.
I’m going to download a trial version of ProWritingAid and if I like it, I’ll buy the one-off purchase.
Having said that, I was very satisfied with Grammarly; all except the pricing. The free version is okay, but not really in the same league as the paid version.
Terry wrote: "Well this is spooky. I was just watching a YouTube review of ProWritingAid when your post popped up.I think you’ll like Grammarly Pro. I’ve used it for a couple of years. Of course, it’s just a pr..."
Hi Terry and thank you for your input. I've never heard of ProWritingAid until I read this thread. Cost is a factor for me, so I might follow your lead.
I appreciate everyone's input on this subject. Thank you all.
Hi Sam,Cost is a bit of an issue for me as well. I probably wouldn’t be looking at ProWritingAid today except a YouTuber I subscribe to is offering a 40% off deal today. And while 20% will nudge me, and 30% will nudge me closer, I’m just a sucker for 40%.
I’d mention who the deal is with but I had a post deleted a while back and a bit of a finger dabbed at me for one of my first (naive) posts for illegal, world damaging comments and I’m loath to upset a moderator.
Having said that, there are deals to be had.
I found Grammerly over priced when I could get ProWritingAid for a one time fee and it also connects to everything but I don't use it except for editing since I find it annoying when I'm typing an email with words it doesn't recognize. I also like Autocrit which you can also buy for a one time fee. It gives you an overall look at your manuscript while ProWritingAid and Gammerly get more into the copy edit stages. For me, I want as much bang as I can get for my money and I hate subscriptions since they are not cost effective in my way of thinking. That's the reason I bought Scrivener and pass over most of the other programs. (Loving Scrivener 3 for windows even though it's in Beta) I go for the most functionality for the least cost which means lifetime updates on Scrivener, Prowritingaid, Autcrit, Authorcats (My website theme). My only 'subscription' is MS Windows which gives me automatic updates and costs less than having to rebuy the program when they update.
Luke wrote: "HI I have just finished drafting the sequel to my first novel in word. Wondering if anyone has tried Grammarly or are there better programs to do the first round of edits in. i have got an editor..."
LOVE it! I tried it to simply eliminate simple errors and repetitive mistakes. It was so helpful -I bought the software.
There are more programs than Grammarly that are not subsciptions and cost a lot less. You have Prowritingaid, Autocrit, both which you can buy life time subscriptions. Prowritingaid you can use in Scrivener and Google and MS words as extensions. (Grammarly was not built for novelists so keep that in mind and it won't take a full manuscript) There is Smart Edit that helps you to find a lot of your errors but it works only in MS Word. Word Rake and After the deadline are two more but are not as functional as Grammarly or ProWritingAid. Hemingway is not an editor. It gives you slow passages or one where you can improve based on Hemingway's writing. I personally found it useless. With that said, I like ProWritingAid. It is cheaper than Grammarly and was built for novelists. I like Autocrit even though I have to paste in my book a chapter at a time, I is easy to use, only takes me a few hours to make the chapter better. and the suggestions are based on genre. I do use Scrivener and keep going back to it after trying a lot of other software out there. I've not found another with as much functionality as Scrivener for plotting, organizing, revising, and writing. I did have to take a class to learn it, but it was worth the time and money.
I join the call outs for Pro Writing Aid. It is a terrific line editor, not useful for macro-editing (structure of plot, etc.). And using software that nevers gets tired or bored is productive. You use it at the end of the editing process, after you have done all your other edits. PWA does a good job catching simple errors - typos, misspellings, etc. You will learn to ignore a lot of it - it is full of software takes on writing that are best ignored.
e.g. "Mary was murdered" is passive! Ugh, imperfection! Must sterilize!!!
Well, they consulted writers, but software guys wrote the thing, and it shows.
The really cool thing about PWA is that you can drop a 400-page manuscript into the app, and it will process the whole thing in one shot.
Bottom line: great software, but many of its features are not useful. Try everything at first, but you'll likely end up relying on half a dozen of the features.
Just a word of advice, do not use any of these programs for your first edits. If you are looking for plot, scene and other issues, you might want to check out Fictionary. Prowritingaid and Grammerly and Autocrit are all line editors which would be your last polishing rounds of edits. The first edit is where you make sure your plot doesn't have a lot of holes, you character arc is there and all your subplots are resolved and that you have all the major things you need for the story to work. Don't worry about all the other stuff until you have that all in order. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then look at the Plot Dot, or James Scott Bell's Plot and Structure.
Once you have all the major stuff done, then you can start narrowing your editing to chapters and scenes. Once those are corrected then you get to the line editing where you are adding color, descriptions, emotions, etc. When that is done, then you to the line editing for syntax, spelling, word choice, passive voice, punctuations, etc. That is the last thing you do prior to sending it off to an editor or agent or publishing. Even with all of that, you should hire an professional editor to copyedit then a proofreader.
This all takes a long time since editing is where the real magic happens. You better like your book a lot as it will take you at least 4-6 edits or more to pull it into shape. (James patterson does 10-20 edits on each book) I'm not talking about 'tinkering' with it. You start with the plot and work your way down to the motivation/response units to the paragraph, sentence and words and punctuation in that order.
B.A. wrote: "Just a word of advice, do not use any of these programs for your first edits. If you are looking for plot, scene and other issues, you might want to check out Fictionary. Prowritingaid and Grammerl..."Very sound advice B.A.
B.A. wrote: "Just a word of advice, do not use any of these programs for your first edits. If you are looking for plot, scene and other issues, you might want to check out Fictionary. Prowritingaid and Grammerl..."This is some of the best advice I've ever heard!
I would add that while ProWritingAid is quite good, if you're synching with Scrivener it's not altogether reliable (as in not saving changes). Can be quite frustrating. As many have already mentioned, most of these programs are more useful towards the end when you're in the final polishing stages.
Even though Autocrit is only on line, it is better than ProWritingAid. Autocrit is for writers and you chose your genre and will edit to what you genre accepts as normal. ProWritingAid is covering all the bases and is better for thesis papers, essays, business writing, etc. The same with Grammerly. Neither program recognizes creative writing, rhetorical devices or even that chopped off sentence in dialogue. I moved to Autocrit because I can change the genre, add and subtract things for that particular book. I became totally frustrated with ProWritingAid and others like it. They are not great for authors and they don't find the errors that need to be corrected in a fiction book from my experience. My copyeditor put ProWritingAid to shame but since using Autocrit I've had a lot less errors and a decent discount for the decreased work she has to do on my books.
I’ve heard of Autocrit but not used it. I just googled it. Mind if I ask which of the 3 versions you use? I stopped using Grammarly in favour of ProWritingAid due to the subscription model. I do like the PWA/Scrivener interface, but yes, it isn’t perfect. Still, it catches a lot of the stuff I throw at it. Nice to hear your editor rewards you like that.
I have just finished drafting the sequel to my first novel in word. Wondering if anyone has tried Grammarly or are there better programs to do the first round of edits in. i have got an editor on board as well.
Seeking thoughts, experiences, recommendations. Thanks in advance.