Grammarly and ProWritingAid

Grammarly and ProWritingAid—Are they helpful?

Yes, most of the time.

I’ve recently purchased subscriptions to both editors. Both are free if used online but with limitations. Grammarly doesn’t show all errors unless you have a subscription. ProWritingAid only allows 500 words per session.

They both offer great features to help improve writing skills. Features for Grammarly include – critical grammar and spelling checks, conciseness, readability, vocabulary enhancement suggestions, and genre-specific writing style checks. (Underlined offered for free.) ProWritingAid has – in-depth reports, style, grammar, overused words, clichés, sticky words, repeats, combo, length, pronoun, alliteration, transition, and a thesaurus.

Why do I use them?

I’ll be honest, I love creating stories, but my punctuation and sentence structure skills are lacking. Most of the errors found through the critique group are punctuation and sentence structure related. Even after edits, Grammarly and ProWritingAid found areas to tighten.

As I continue to use the editors, my critique submissions and the final product will be a lot more enjoyable to read.

Be careful!

Be cautious in accepting the recommendations given in the generated reports—sometimes they’re way off point. Grammarly allows you to note that the suggestion is wrong. I haven’t found that feature in ProWritingAid. I’m new to using the editors. There’ve been several times when one editor will instruct me to remove a comma and the other to put it back. Grrr.

If you‘re uncertain about a suggestion, please check with someone who knows her/his grammar rules. Do your research as well.

So, should you buy the subscriptions?

Maybe. Try the online versions first. They may be all you need.

If you already use them, what are your thoughts?

Let’s talk.

PS: NOT SPONSORED.