Automatic Text Analysis
ProWritingAid performs an automated analysis of your written text using various statistics as well as its own algorithms. These analysis are based on the established rules for good writing that actually can be assessed, e.g. Make use of adverbs sparingly, fewer transitions, less pronouns, glue words and so on. These guidelines can assist you in writing better if you care about the writing. ProWritingAid helps you to make it easily visible.
Realtime is a great tool that can accelerate the process of working through a document.
After the errors are taken care of and gone, you can move on to the individual reports to edit in depth. They allow you to look into sentences, words that are repeated, etc. The Summary Report is a report that can be run to determine where to focus your efforts to improve within the shortest amount of time.
How to Utilize It
ProWritingAid can be downloaded in many formats. You can utilize their Web Editor to edit documents within your browser. Their browser extensions allow you to make quick grammar fixes on websites like Twitter, WordPress, Gmail and Facebook as well as their Word extensions for Windows and Mac let you edit the content of your Word documents directly.
We’ll focus on their Desktop App today, which is great for using alongside the Ulysses documents.
ProWritingAid.com registration is required for access to the tool. There are a variety of ways to use Ulysses documents and ProWritingAid. Ulysses writers have two options: the online Web Editor is free, or you can download the desktop application. If you want to edit more than 500 words at a time or use the desktop app, you’ll need a premium license.
The desktop application is capable of reading and writing 8 file types which includes Markdown. You can export Ulysses text to Markdown File. Then, you can edit it with ProWritingAid and then import it back into your Ulysses library for further processing. This is fast and convenient, with the only disadvantage that you cannot save your images and sheet attachments like writing goals. After some experimentation with the app, I discovered the following workflow works well for me:
Open ProWritingAid to create a Markdown file.
Go to Ulysses, choose a text section and then select the Copy as Markdown option in the Edit menu.
Paste into ProWritingAid.
Now go through each one of the reports and edit within ProWritingAid.
Copy and select the edited text once you’re finished.
Copy the text from the original text onto the Ulysses sheet.
The Reports
In every ProWritingAid report, issues that you have identified in your report are underlined. If you move your cursor over an underlined passage and you’ll receive an explanation and/or recommendation. You can click on a suggestion if it is relevant, e.g. To use it, click on an idea (e.g.
Each report includes an explanation of the report and a link to take you to more detailed information on the subject. I’ll explain the report in more depth with a few examples that will give you an idea.
Writing Style Check This report will help you improve your writing skills. It is based on a variety of guidelines that are beneficial for writing. You can see that the report highlights passive voice usage in your writing. However, sentences written in active voice tend to be more interesting. Writing Style Check also highlights the use of adverbs and repeated sentence beginnings, and makes proposals to improve readability.
Words that are frequently used checked This report contains words that are so frequently used in everyday life that they’ve virtually lost their significance. ProWritingAid can help you identify those words that have been used to excessive extent.
Check the length of your sentences
Texts with sentences of varied lengths are more engaging to read. The report shows the length of your sentences are on a bar graph. This lets you see where there is room for improvement. The report can also help you identify long sentences that can make text difficult to understand.
Pricing
ProWritingAid Online Tool is free. It’s not as user-friendly and it won’t allow you to view all reports. But it might give a great impression on your first time using it. Premium memberships let you use the desktop app as well as add-ons, and are priced beginning at $79 per year and $399 for lifetime licensing. ProWritingAid provides a 14-day money back guarantee that you will be satisfied with your decision.
Last Thoughts
ProWritingAid does not replace editors, and isn’t designed to replace human editors. The tool can highlight certain specific aspects of the text and performs an extensive job. Although you’ll still have to edit your text, ProWritingAid can speed up the process and make it more efficient.