pro writing aid

[Grimmlore]

Is it worth purchasing? Is there anyone on here that has purchased the software? I need a lot of help with pacing and grammar I'm dedicated to learning (in fact I've taken a class and it makes me feel like I'm back in year 7) But yeah any feedback on this product would be so helpful. Not sure if this should be here or in resources (sorry mods )

 

[Guru Coyote]

The free version has helped me a lot in the past, but from the features I saw... and from what the features you can use freely do... I don't think I would purchase a full version.
Using the tool for two or three stories gave me the right hints of what to watch out for, and I haven't used it since. The tool perfect for pointing you in the right direction, but its advice should not always be followed anyway.

My suggestion would be to use the free version from time to time to check your work for stuff you might have missed... Purchasing the tool - to me - would mean I'd want to rely on it, and I think that's asking more of it than it can do.

 

[Grimmlore]

what do you think has helped you the most about this software in the past?

 

[Graylorne]

I bought the pro version and it simply isn't worth it.

And it's true imo what Guru Coyote says. I used it intensively for a while and I still do now and then, but not enough to justify the money spent.

What helped me most as a non-native speaker, was grammar. And consistency in UK/US English.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Grimm, is your primary issue pacing or grammar? If it's pacing, you can probably solve that by delving into a couple of good writing books (not the literary ones, the ones for us pros) and using that to adjust your outline to help keep you on pace. There are TONS of them out there. I just finished a book called 90 Days to Your Novel which had lots of lovely advice on the 3 Act Structure among many other things.

If it's grammar, a program may give you some limited help, especially if you are a second-language writer.

I used to use a program back in the day, and honestly I can say it was ok, but the best tool you have in your arsenal is your brain. The only programs I use for writing anymore are Word and OneNote.

 

[Guru Coyote]

what do you think has helped you the most about this software in the past?

Let's see... basically I would paste in a 250-500 word chunk of my text and see what issues it found. then I would try to see if I could change the text so the issue-reports went away.

Most helpful were:
Diction Report - find words that I may have used icorrectly
Sticky Sentences - this one drove me crazy, until I learned to notice my own patterns and correct them. I now do that 'naturally'
Cliches and Redundancies - this was also a big eye-opener for me! All those words I tend to use that are just not at all so very neccessary. (hehe)
Overused Words, Repeated Sentences/Phrases - very helpful too.
Sentence Lenght - this was useful in an informative way, but only when the whole piece was in one pace.

And I very much agree with Graylorn regarding the helpfulness for non-native writers (yes, I am, too. Not many people believe me when I tell them).

 

[Penpilot]

The short answer is NO. I've been using it on all my stories, and though it's useful, it's not worth the price. It misses a lot and it's constantly pointing out errors that aren't errors. It's a useful tool to point things out to double check, but honest there are better programs out there. I use three things to aid me in my final polish: Pro Writing Aid, Word grammer check, and this thing calll Style Writer. I use Pro Witing Aid mostly for the consistency check. Word for the basics of grammar. Style writer detects passive structure, points out commonly confused words, and does a lot of other things that Pro Writing Aid does, but I find it to be more accurate and it explains the rule it thinks is being broken, so you can use your own judgement too. Also Style writer is it's not a subscription. It's a one time expenditure and it's yours forever.

 

[BWFoster78]

A while back, I did a blog post on using Pro Writing Aid. You may find it useful.

Using Pro Writing Aid | Brian W. Foster

 

[Grimmlore]

Thanks BW and I enjoyed reading through your blog as well very inspiring.

 

[BWFoster78]

Thanks BW and I enjoyed reading through your blog as well very inspiring.

Good. Glad you enjoyed and got something out of it.

 

[Naman Modi]

Every writer needs ProWritingAid editing software to develop better writing skills and help them become excellent writers. It doesn’t focus only on writing mistakes but also deals with overall writing quality. This results in high quality, easier to read, unique, and free from any errors content. It makes your writing worth to publish and read.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I use it whenever editing for lots of reasons, but like any and all software, much of what it points out are POTENTIAL mistakes, not mistakes. In that respect it can force one to learn or relearn rules, and accept when you're breaking the rules and want to. Is it worth the money? I dunno, depends on who you are. I don't like using free stuff without throwing the creator a bone. A lot of work went into the program, I don't see why not to pay something.

In particular, if I'm writing a piece I'm not going to pony up for a pro editor on, then I'm going to use PWA to go over it with a fine toothed comb. And Grammarian, too. It pulls out a lot of details I don't always catch on my own, although most of them aren't "wrong".

So, I'd say... use it free until you feel it's earned your money. Then pay. You can always go back to free.