Automatic Text Analysis
ProWritingAid automatically analyses your text using various statistics and its proprietary algorithms. These analyses are based upon a set of guidelines for writing that can be assessed. to use adverbs sparingly and to use more transitions, use less pronouns and glue words, and many more. These rules will assist you in writing better when you are interested in it. ProWritingAid helps to make them easily evident.
Realtime will let you quickly edit any errors in spelling, grammar or style.
Once you’ve fixed the errors, you can start editing the individual reports. The reports let you examine your word choices, sentence structure, repeated words, and other details. The Summary Report is a report that can be run to determine where to concentrate your efforts to make improvements in the shortest time.
How to Use It
ProWritingAid is available in a host of formats. It is possible to make use of the Web Editor to modify your documents. The browser extensions let you make quick grammar fixes on sites like Twitter, WordPress and Gmail. The Word extensions are available for Windows or Mac that allow you directly to modify your Word documents.
Today we will focus on their Desktop App which is great to work with your Ulysses files.
To use ProWritingAid.com, you will need to register. There are several ways that Ulysses documents can be utilized and ProWritingAid can be used. Ulysses authors can use the online Web Editor for free or download the desktop software. You’ll require a premium licence to edit over 500 words at once or download our desktop application.
The desktop application can read 8 kinds of files (Markdown included). It is possible to export Ulysses text to Markdown File. Then, you can edit it using ProWritingAid and then import it back into your Ulysses library to further process. It’s fast and easy, with the only drawback that you can’t keep your images and sheet attachments such as writing goals. After a few hours of playing around using the app, I discovered the following method to be suitable for my workflow:
Open ProWritingAid.
Visit your Ulysses file, choose the text you want to copy, and then use “Copy a Markdown” command in the Edit menu.
Paste into ProWritingAid.
Now go one by one through the reports and edit within ProWritingAid.
Once you are done, select the edited text, and then copy it.
Copy the text of the original text onto the Ulysses sheet.
The Reports
ProWritingAid reports highlight the issues in your writing. Click on an underlined text and you’ll be able to read an explanation and/or recommendation. Where applicable you can simply click on a suggestion, e.g. Click on the suggestion to view the word in a simpler form or an equivalent.
Each report includes a brief explanation and a link that takes you to more information on the subject. To help you understand of what I’ll include examples and more information.
Writing Style Review This report is designed to improve your writing style. This report, for example will identify the passive voice that is present in your writing. Active voice sentences are easier to read. Writing Style Check additionally identifies adverbs, repeated sentence starts and offers suggestions to improve readability.
Overused Words Check This report will identify words that are so commonly used that they’ve lost their significance and are no longer relevant in everyday life. These aren’t words you can avoid, but ProWritingAid will identify when you have overused them.
Verify the length of sentence
Texts that contain sentences of various lengths are easier to read. This report will visualize your sentence lengths as a bar chart, so you can quickly see if there are areas for improvement. You will be able to see which sentences are particularly long, so you can determine the ones that are particularly long.
Pricing
ProWritingAid is available online for free. While it’s less user-friendly and does not provide all the reports available, it can be helpful for getting an initial impression. It is possible to purchase a premium membership that allows users to access the desktop software and numerous add-ons for $79/year or $399 per lifetime license. ProWritingAid has a 14 day money-back guarantee, which means you can take your own time in deciding if ProWritingAid suits you.
Final Thoughts
ProWritingAid can’t (and isn’t intended to) substitute for an editor who is human. It focuses on specific measurable aspects of a text and performs an excellent job. ProWritingAid cannot replace the manual editing process of your text. However, it can make the process more effective and efficient.