Editing is where the work is. Editing tools, like Grammarly, can make it much easier! Self-editing is never as good as haveing someone else do it.  However, you do not want to pay someone to point out that you confused “you’re” and “your”.  Embarrassing! Better to find those on your own and send the editor a good product to work with.

I use Grammarly. I was given an account through that school I mentioned. It is a great tool for academics and a “good” tool for creative writers. I say good, because even though it has  a style setting called “novel” it really is a stickler for the rules. That was great in school. In fact, the teachers/professors used Grammarly to find our mistakes!  Another great feature is that it has plugins for MS Word and Chrome as well.

The problem with following such strict rules is that your voice can get lost. In fiction, the mood, pace, and voice are often more important than a hanging participle. My advice is to take each “error” with a grain of salt and you decide what is appropriate for your story.

For a more in-depth look at some more self-editing software (some of which are FREE!) I would like you to check out Amanda Shofner’s article over at The Writing Life. It is called From Grammarly to WordRake: A Review of 6 Automatic Editing Tools.

I hope you find something useful. For full disclosure: I recommend Grammarly because it is what I know. I have no agreement with them. Same goes for the folks at The Writing Life. Don’t know them at all, but it was a useful article on a topic I wanted to share with you. Hope they don’t mind the extra traffic! I am going to be experimenting with some of the tools they list as well.

Oh, If you haven’t looked recently, I added a second entry to the Fith Brother over in My Writings. Hope you enjoy it. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.