When I write, I turn off my internal editor, a skill
I learned early on. Therefore, before I share any work it needs a good edit,
often several. I find myself too close to the
work. I see the content and have a hard time
switching my mind to see the punctuation
and grammar.
Most of us will turn
to Spell Check in Word to edit our
work. That’s a good place to start, but I
have never found it to be enough. Of course, authors
and publishers will tell you to invest in having your work edited by a professional, and I completely
agree. This is great if you’re publishing
commercially and making a living at it. However, for those of us
self-publishing, writing blogs or
producing a family history book for the family, the cost of a professional
editor is just unrealistic. We have to rely on other means, sometimes that’s a
family member or friend. I have a few teacher friends I lean on. But they have
lives, so I needed some extra help.
Recently, I decided to invest in grammar software. I
felt it would close the gap between Spell Check and a professional editor. I
felt the amount of writing I was doing warranted the small investment. I chose
Grammarly for Microsoft Office Suite.
I downloaded the program and it quickly and easily
integrated with my Microsoft Office programs. It now works with Word and with
my email through Outlook to correct grammar and spelling errors. Grammarly watchs
for punctuation, sentence structure, style, spelling and grammar. I love that it
offers you a thesaurus. If you’re
overusing a word, it suggests some
alternatives. It will also check your work for plagiarism. You can also choose
the kind of document you are writing, such as a blog post, creative
non-fiction, essay, report or research results are a few of the options.
I love that Grammarly offers grammar explanations with
examples. It becomes a teaching tool. I find myself actually catching my
mistakes now before I look at Grammarly for the explanation. Maybe there is
hope for me.
If you’re like me and like to write distraction free
including turning off that internal editor, you have the option with Grammarly.
You can disable Grammarly and write focusing on the content and creativity of a
piece. Enable Grammarly and edit away. Grammarly opens in a window alongside
your Word document. It does not change your text.
It highlights the errors it sees and makes suggestions. It keeps you in control as you decide the changes you wish to make to the
document.
Grammarly is a great tool for those who aren’t quite
in the position that warrants the price of a professional edit. It’s ideal for bloggers
and family history writers. It’s another set of eyes and has become my first
line of defense in my editing process.
Grammarly
approached me to do this review and offered me a 1-month subscription. I was
already a happy user and thrilled to be offering my readers a chance to win a one-month subscription to Grammarly. Fill in the ballot below for a chance to win.
