Automatic Text Analysis
ProWritingAid automatically analyzes your text based on various statistics and its proprietary algorithms. The analysis are based on the established guidelines for writing that can actually be measured, e.g. To use adverbs sparingly and to use fewer transitions. These guidelines are essential when you are looking to improve your writing. ProWritingAid makes them easily visible.
If you want to work through your document in a hurry, the Realtime feature will help you edit away any glaring spelling, grammar and style issues:
Once those errors are gone Once you have eliminated them, you can go to the individual reports to edit in depth. They allow you to look at word choices, sentence structures and words that are repeated. To determine the areas where you must focus to see the best results in the shortest amount of time, run the Summary Report.
How to Use It
ProWritingAid can be downloaded in a variety of formats. You can utilize their Web Editor to modify documents in your browser. Their browser extensions allow you to fix grammar issues quickly on websites like Twitter, WordPress, Gmail and Facebook as well as their Word extensions for Windows and Mac let you edit your Word documents right from the word.
Today, we will be focusing on the Desktop App that can be used to work with Ulysses documents.
You’ll need to register on ProWritingAid.com to be able to use the tool. There are several ways that Ulysses documents can be used and ProWritingAid is a great tool to use. Ulysses writers can either use the free online Web Editor or download the desktop program. Premium licenses are needed to edit over 500 words at a time or to use the desktop software.
The desktop application is able to read and write eight different file types, Markdown among them. Export the Ulysses document to a Markdown File. Next, make use of ProWritingAid to modify the text, and then upload it into your Ulysses Library to further process. This is fast and easy. But, you aren’t able to save images and other sheet attachments, such as writing goals. After playing around with the app, I found this method to work well for me.
Start ProWritingAid and create a new Markdown file.
Visit your Ulysses sheet, select a text passage, and use the “Copy as Markdown” command in the Edit menu.
Paste into ProWritingAid.
Then go through all of the reports and make edits within ProWritingAid.
If you are happy, go ahead and copy the edited text.
Paste the new text passage on your Ulysses sheet, replacing it with the current version.
The Reports
In every ProWritingAid report, the problems that you have identified in your report are underlined. The explanations and/or suggestions will appear when you move your cursor over the underlined portion of your text. Click on the suggestion, e.g. To make use of it, you can click on an idea (e.g.
Each report comes with an explanation of the report and a link that takes you to more information on the subject. To give an idea of what I’ll include some examples and further details.
Writing Style Audit This report can help you improve your writing. As an example, the report identifies the use of passive voice within your text because sentences written in active voice tend to be more interesting to read. Writing Style Check examines sentence start points that are repeated and makes recommendations for enhancements to readability.
Overused Words: This report examines the meaning of words that are used so often in everyday life, they almost become meaningless. They are not something you can avoid, but ProWritingAid will identify when you have overused them.
Sentence Length Check
Texts with sentences that vary in length can be more engaging to read. The report shows the length of your sentences as a bar graph so you can see at a glance if there’s room to improve. The report can also help you identify long sentences that can cause text to be difficult to comprehend.
Pricing
The ProWritingAid online tool is available free of charge. It’s not as user-friendly and it won’t allow you to access all reports. But it might make a good first impression. It is possible to use the desktop app as well as other add-ons when you have a premium membership. It’s $79 for a year, or $399 for a lifetime license. ProWritingAid has a 14 day money-back guarantee, which means you can take your own time in deciding whether ProWritingAid is the right choice for you.
Last Thoughts
ProWritingAid can’t (and is not meant to) substitute for an editor who is human. The tool can highlight certain specific aspects of a text and does an impressive job. While you’ll need to edit the text your self, ProWritingAid will make this quicker and easier.