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YouWriteOn Message Board > Literary Forums > Professional Writing Tips and Techniques - New Help Search Recent Posts
Editing software -
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SusieHolmes
 22 May 2011, 15:05 #118122 Reply To Post
Just saw a post where someone mentioned editing software - Autocrit.

I hadn't realised that these could be of any use. I tried their trial sample by putting in 500 words and was slightly impressed by how it called up cliches, overuse of words etc.

Does anyone know if this is a good use of time or not?
CaroA
 22 May 2011, 16:50 #118142 Reply To Post
Quote: SusieHolmes, Sunday, 22 May 2011 15:05
Just saw a post where someone mentioned editing software - Autocrit.

I hadn't realised that these could be of any use. I tried their trial sample by putting in 500 words and was slightly impressed by how it called up cliches, overuse of words etc.

Does anyone know if this is a good use of time or not?


Auto crit is no substiture for humans, but I've found it useful because highlighting the overused words, phrases etc. changes the look of the text. This makes it easier to spot things I need to change.. I do a few chapters, then find that those common errors get eliminated more easily in chapters i haven't put through auto crit.
I hope that it will make future reads flow better and reduce the number of edits needed to get the work perfect..
SusieHolmes
 22 May 2011, 18:53 #118153 Reply To Post
Thanks CaroA
As someone with the grammatical skills of a herring, I was interested in how often I got things 'wrong' but also that it encouraged me in the things I was doing well.

I may just think about investing in it. Did you just buy it online?
SIODAI
 23 May 2011, 10:38 #118212 Reply To Post
I've got autocrit and find it really useful. I got it online. Helps with reviewing too although I don't just base my review on what is highlighted. That would be cheating lol!
Waking the Dragon

erict
 25 May 2011, 08:19 #118419 Reply To Post
Never heard of it, but often mused on writing something like and so I gave it a try.

I'm not that impressed. 3 issues for me. Context - It reported 'Morning sunlight touched the sky' as starting a para with an "ing" word and 'Felt hat' as too many Felt/Feel. Whilst these are trivial examples, I had to re-read the piece to find what the software was complaining about.

I'm english and find yay, way ya go, and far out insufficient units of measure.

More to the point - whilst I know the "rules" I also read published books and none of them conform 100%. Didn't try, but I suspect popping an extract from Dan Brown into it would achieve a poor rating.

It doesn't do enough for the cost (for me) My own 'repeating phrases' cross scenes and chapters and I find them by a complete read thru, therefore, only the top of the range package would detect them.

Interesting idea though and probably worth keeping an eye on it. I have come across free software (somewhere - ywriter I think) that did simple "top used word" and this helped. There was an article in Writers Forum with a word macro to highlight "-ly" words, again, quite a useful check.
harrisondavies
 06 Jun 2011, 16:55 #119525 Reply To Post
I use a Macintosh based app called Scrivener. it has Statistics built in and word frequency, and grammar checking. Available via the appstore and http://www.literatureandlatte.com/index.php

Apparently you can get it for windows too.
This post was last edited by harrisondavies, 06 Jun 2011, 16:56
rinkytink
 07 Jun 2011, 16:40 #119662 Reply To Post
I've tried auto crit but not sure how adapted it is to Brit writing-plus the Yays! and Way to goes! put me off too. Any other options? These things hate my writing but I like to use them for non-ficiton too.
Only an "s" stands between laughter and slaughter.
olady
 07 Jun 2011, 17:17 #119679 Reply To Post
You do Word? Then you can write your own macro and customize it by using the replace function.

If you are in hell, keep on going! Winston Churchill
rinkytink
 07 Jun 2011, 22:05 #119724 Reply To Post
Thanks for that-I suppose it could be worth a try although I was looking for something a bit fancier.
Quote: olady, Tuesday, 7 Jun 2011 17:17
You do Word? Then you can write your own macro and customize it by using the replace function.



Only an "s" stands between laughter and slaughter.
olady
 10 Jun 2011, 22:29 #120083 Reply To Post
Quote: rinkytink, Tuesday, 7 Jun 2011 22:05
Thanks for that-I suppose it could be worth a try although I was looking for something a bit fancier.
Quote: olady, Tuesday, 7 Jun 2011 17:17
You do Word? Then you can write your own macro and customize it by using the replace function.





It works for me (after some mishaps, lol). What I haven't found out yet is how to program the repetition finder.
If you are in hell, keep on going! Winston Churchill
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