Automatic Text Analysis
ProWritingAid automatically analyses your text using different statistics and its own algorithms. The analyses are based on the established guidelines for writing that actually can be measured, e.g. Make use of adverbs sparingly, fewer transitions, less pronouns, glue words, etc. If you’re interested in good writing, you’ll probably adhere to these rules more or less in your head. ProWritingAid makes these guidelines visible.
Realtime allows you to quickly work through documents.
Once these mistakes are fixed, you can proceed to separate reports for thorough editing. These let you examine your word choices, sentence structures, repeated words and much more. You can run a Summary Report to determine the areas you should focus on to achieve the greatest improvements in the most time:
How to Utilize It
ProWritingAid has many different formats. You can use their Web Editor to edit documents in your browser. Their browser extensions let you make quick grammar fixes on websites like Twitter, WordPress, Gmail and Facebook, and their Word add-ins for Windows and Mac allow you to edit your Word documents right from the word.
Today, however, we’ll focus on their Desktop App , which is perfect to work on the Ulysses documents.
To use ProWritingAid.com You will have to register. There are several ways that Ulysses documents can be used and ProWritingAid is a great tool to use. Ulysses writers can choose to use the online Web Editor or download the desktop application. To edit over 500 words at a time or use the desktop app, you’ll need a premium license.
The desktop application can read and write eight types of files, with Markdown as one. Markdown File can be used to export Ulysses text. ProWritingAid will then edit the text and then you can then import it to Ulysses for further processing. This is fast and easy. But, you aren’t able to save images and other sheet attachments like writing goals. After some testing with the application, I found that the following workflow is effective for me:
Open ProWritingAid. Create Markdown files. Markdown file.
Go to your Ulysses sheet, choose a text passage, and use the “Copy as Markdown” command from the Edit menu.
Paste into ProWritingAid.
Then, go one at a time through the reports and edit within ProWritingAid.
After you’re done, you can select the edited text and copy it.
Copy the text from your Ulysses document and paste it back into it.
The Reports
ProWritingAid reports identify the problems in your text. When you hover your mouse over an underlined paragraph, you will get an explanation and/or recommendation. Simply click on the suggestion, e.g. You can use a synonym or a more simple term to make it work.
Each report comes with a brief explanation and a link to take you to more detailed information on the subject. To give you an idea, I will go into detail and provide some examples.
Writing Style Audit This report can help you improve your writing style. This report, for instance, identifies the passive voice that is present in your writing. Active voice sentences are more readable to read. Writing Style Check also points out repetitions in sentence beginnings and adverbs. It makes suggestions for improving the readability of your text.
Overused Words Check This report highlights words so commonly used in daily life that they have been deemed boring and useless, e.g there and have . ProWritingAid might not be able to detect if you are using excessively.
Verify the length of sentences
Texts that contain sentences of varying lengths will be more interesting to read. The report will show the length of your sentences are on the form of a bar graph. This allows you to identify areas to improve. What’s more, the report will identify particularly long sentences, as they can render a text difficult to comprehend.
Pricing
ProWritingAid Online Tool is Free. While it’s less user-friendly and does not offer all the reports that are available, it could help you get an initial impression. Premium memberships allow you to use the desktop app, add-ons and are available beginning at $79 per year or $399 for lifetime license. ProWritingAid provides a 14-day money back guarantee that you’ll be completely happy with the purchase.
Last Thoughts
ProWritingAid cannot (and isn’t intended to) substitute for a human editor. This tool highlights specific measurable elements of text and does an outstanding job. It is still necessary edit your text by yourself, but ProWritingAid will help you improve the process and speed it up.