I want to update you on ProWritingAid, a writing tool I have been using. Last month I wrote about Scrivener from Literature and Latte and suggested that you get it if you are working on a long project like a novel. If you’re already using Scrivener, let me recommend that you follow it up with ProWritingAid. Although I have not done an exhaustive search, it is the best algorithmic editor I have found. Its ability to work with files in Scrivener format makes it much more useful than other tools such as Grammarly or AutoCrit.
Within days of first trying ProWritingAid a year ago, it impressed me enough that I bought a lifetime license. Even starting out with that positive expectation, after using ProWritingAid and growing more familiar with its many functions, I rely on it more than I thought I would. I still use the Style, Grammar, and Overused Words reports more than the other tools. I also check Repeats and Echos looking for phrases I use more than once, which I often find, and Sentence Length, since I often write long ones.
Last year I said that many of the “errors” ProWritingAid flags will not be actual mistakes, and that hasn’t changed. Scrutinizing what it flags is wise, but it’s just an algorithm, not a program that understands what you’re saying. Sifting through the mistakes, your own versus ProWritingAid’s, can be a pain, but it’s also instructive. After using the program for these months, I trust it more than I did a year ago.
I don’t use it as I’m composing because it takes too much time to go through all its reports. I cannot imagine composing in ProWritingAid. It would be a constant distraction. I end up using it instead as I polish a manuscript before submitting it to an editor (human). Most of my writing has not gotten to that point, so I will use it even more heavily this year.
Please don’t assume that ProWritingAid or any other algorithmic editor will make your writing good. It will improve your work, but better than bad can still be far from good. There is no algorithm that can measure words’ ability to move you, and that’s what we are striving for. But ProWritingAid will help keep mistakes and clumsy wording from getting in the way. It will focus you on finding better ways to say things, and anyone can use such a push.