Recommendation: A Handy Proofreading Tool That I Use

1. 78

   Greekgeekposted 9 years ago

   
   
   I'm stubborn about letting editors, beta readers, or proofreaders anywhere near my precious prose. However, lately, I've been subjecting my fanfiction, ahem, creative writing, to a free tool called Hemingway. Yes, Hemingway. The guy who would use six words to say everything I've said thus far.
   
   Luckily, the tool isn't that parsimonious. It highlights complicated sentences that might trip up readers. It also flags highfalutin' language, adverbs and passive verb forms, since they're supposed to be used sparingly.
   
   Of course, many readers can follow convoluted sentence structure. But the name of the game is to keep eyeballs on our articles. Anything we can do to make our writing more engaging and less intimidating may keep readers from clicking the back button.
   
   The site has a paid version that you can download and use as a text editor, but the online version is free.

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      Blake Flanneryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I just tried it on one of my hubs that has been edited by an editor. It was helpful!

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      LuisEGonzalezposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks , just tried it and it works great!

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      Ilona1posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thank SO much! I really needed something like that to improve my writing. I tried it out and it highlighted a few glaring problems right away. I think I will be busy updating my writing, now.

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      kenneth averyposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Where can I find the download?

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         Greekgeekposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         By clicking the link in my post, then clicking the green "download" button in the sidebar.
         
         Again, the online version that I linked to is free; the download isn't.

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            kenneth averyposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Many thanks, Greekgeek.
            Peace out.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      where can you find the free copy of this?  I looked and it is nowhere.

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   rebekahELLEposted 9 years ago

   Thanks for the info.  Sounds interesting.  It's great to see you back at HP.  I was thinking about you when I saw the merger news and wondered if you were making the move.  You can easily relate to those making the migration and be very helpful.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      FYI:
      
      Newspapers are written on a 6th grade reading level so that the general public can clearly understand what is written there.
      
      Online writers would be smart to do the same!

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         Greekgeekposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         That sounds like sound advice.
         
         I need to muzzle my inner Cicero.

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         RockyMountainMomposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Government agencies in the last few years have been mandated to do the same.  Definitely increases the challenges of writing in that venue. 
         
         This is a steep part of my learning curve in writing online.  I am not a short winded person, and complex sentence structure is something I've had to watch out for on some of my little paid gigs so far.
         
         I definitely plan to give this tool a try.

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   Zeph1posted 9 years ago

   I've been using that tool for over a year now and it's definitely a helpful tool for proofreading and also for clarifying what you're writing.

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   Arachneaposted 9 years ago

   This sounds like an interesting tool. It's good to get feedback on it from someone who has used it.

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   AliciaCposted 9 years ago

   This tool looks like it could be very useful. Thanks for sharing the information.

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   SimilarSamposted 9 years ago

   Very interesting tool and after playing around with a few pieces of writing I really liked the suggestions it was throwing at me, might have to make this a standard process going forward.

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   lobobrandonposted 9 years ago

   Everything I enter is grade 12!! Good suggestions though. Thanks greekgeek nice to have you back.

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   Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years ago

   This is a great idea! Thanks. I too write at a higher grade level, and am trying to be more approachable!

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   Sue Adamsposted 9 years ago

   Thank you. I just edited 2 of my low scoring hubs with this tool. It really helps me find little mistakes and improve readability. 57 more hubs to do. Hey ho!.

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    Fiorenzaposted 9 years ago

    Hi Greekgeek, nice to see you here.  Did you transfer your articles to HP or are they part of the great exodus?  I found your html advice very useful when I was first on Squidoo.

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       Greekgeekposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Fiorenza: I'm transferring my lenses.  Some may eventually wind up on my own website instead, but this saves me some work as far as getting my content off Squidoo (which in fact I was beginning to do before the news broke).

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    Anna Marie Bowmanposted 9 years ago

    Thank you for sharing this!!!  I will give it a try and see how it works! It can't hurt, right?

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    robertzimmerman2posted 9 years ago

    Thanks again for another valuable tip. You da "HelpMeister!"

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