Do Writing Apps Like Grammarly Mean You Can Skip Editing?

“But I’ve already put my manuscript through Hemingway [or Grammarly, or some other writing or grammar app]!”

More than one prospective client has told me this, usually after reading my proposal with recommendations for their book.

I get it. Editing can be expensive. In fact, it’s the most reliably expensive component of the publishing process, other than perhaps marketing (which can go from $0 to infinity, and beyond). Setting yourself up to make editing as affordable as possible (while still maintaining quality) is a great idea.

Can tools such as Grammarly, ProWritingAid, or Hemingway make your writing better? And if so, can they make you good enough to skip professional editing?

There’s An App For That… Or Is There?

First, let’s take a look at what these apps actually do.

All of the writing apps I’ve seen include spelling, punctuation, and grammar checks. Some will go further and note writing tics such as passive voice, repeated words, and the like.

This makes sense, since most people tend to worry about their grammar or spelling—more than one client has warned me, as they send over their document, that they are notoriously a bad speller, for example. Spelling is a popular worry, so these apps make sure to address it.

Unfortunately, editing is about more than good grammar and spelling. As anyone who has tried to write a book knows, more goes into the process. Story structure, organization, characterization, clarity, audience, dialogue, and research are only a few considerations. Apps do not (as yet) touch on these subjects. (Reading grade level is not the same as audience, though it’s part of the equation.)

In editing lingo, writing apps are mostly of the copyedit/proof variety, not development.

Are You Writing a Blog, or a Book?

Writing a book is distinct from writing a blog post. Storytelling (if that’s what you’re doing) in a blog post will necessarily be of the flash variety—short and concise. Presumably, if you are writing a book, you want to develop your ideas/characters/stories further than the limitations of short prose.

Many writing apps are designed to work for digital tools, such as blog posting and emails. Only one that I have seen so far, ProWritingAid, seems to have the longer-form writer in mind. And while that app is more fully featured than others I’ve previewed, it also focuses on the mechanical, rather than story aspects, of writing—such as character arcs and building complex ideas through organization.

All of this to say, writing apps are more useful for shorter writing and/or for later stages of the revision process. They won’t help you tell a good story—other than save you from grammatical embarrassment in the telling.

All Apps Are Necessarily Limited—Including Writing Apps

Sorry, folks. Grammar and other writing apps are just like any other apps out there—tools, hopefully useful ones, and limited by technical parameters as well as the skill, knowledge, and biases of their creators.

In the same way none of us should trust Microsoft Word to proofread a document of any importance to us, you shouldn’t lean on grammar apps as your writing tool of only (or first) resort.

They can point out repeated words, passive voice, and sentence length and complexity. They certainly spot proofreading and possible punctuation errors.

What they lack is discretion.

One video I saw about the Hemingway app pointed out that you don’t have to accept all of the suggestions… that in fact, doing so removes any of your unique voice and style from the work.

Apps correct to rules. A professional editor suggests (and corrects, if needed) with discretion.

About Skipping Professional Editing…

You’re probably unsurprised when I tell you: Don’t.

I am by no means suggesting you avoid these apps entirely. They are useful tools and for the writer who pays attention to what trends these apps pick up in their own writing, can help make your writing better, at least on a line level. You learn, you improve, and as you do so you make your editor’s life easier.

You also free them up to concentrate on those bigger elements of good storytelling—elements the apps don’t address. Structure, organization, characterization, clarity, and so on.

Most importantly, your editor is more than a walking repository of writing “rules” (yes, I’m using quotes advisedly). A good editor knows that writing is more than that.

Bottom Line

Just as films make different choices, or musicians, or dancers, or painters, so can (and should) writers. Words are the tools of our craft. How we deploy them and the ways in which we combine them are up to us, and our stories are uniquely ours. A good editor knows that and helps writers be more awesomely themselves on every level.

Use the tools that make you feel comfortable, and invest appropriately in editing. Your writing deserves both.

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Are you ready for that personal, professional touch with your work? Let’s talk about what editing could look like for you.

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CC image “smartphone app” courtesy of HS You on Flickr. Some rights reserved.