My writing is getting worse. And better. (Grammarly, PerfectIt and WordRake.)

Grammarly, PerfectIt and WordRake are add-on writing aids for Microsoft Word. They do slightly different things, which is why I haven’t been able to give up any of them. We’ll take them in the order I used them.

As with any writing aid, take their suggestions with a pinch of salt. Even though I don’t always accept their recommendations, they always make me stop and think.

I’m not sure how valuable they are for fiction writers. However, I write games and clearly expressing myself is essential, so I find these tools help.

PerfectIt

PerfectIt is proofreading software, and essentially it does lots of checks on your text to ensure consistency.

Spotting different version of cooperate/co-operate

So it does things like check that your bullet points and tables are consistent and that you’ve spelt words consistently (learned/learnt, co-operate/cooperate). I first used it when I was a bid manager in Jacobs, and it was invaluable in checking that our text was consistent and professional before submission.

Perfectit has loads of checks. For example, it picks up where you’ve used an acronym but not explained it, and also where you’ve explained an acronym but then haven’t used it again.

I now use it mainly for my Freeform Games work, and I find it catches easy-to-miss errors that would take me an age to catch.

WordRake

WordRake checks your work for clarity, removes redundant words, and tightens everything up. In addition, I found it draws attention to phrases I tend to overuse—in my case I use ‘a bit’ too often.

Always check each suggestion

WordRake is great at eliminating unnecessary words, making my writing shorter and punchier.

Grammarly

Grammarly is the editor everyone has heard of, and it’s pretty good. It picks up a wide range of grammar issues and makes them easy to correct. (It also picks up consistency issues but isn’t as thorough as PerfectIt.)

Grammarly makes it easy to make changes - just click the button

Grammarly has a free version, with basic spelling and grammar checks. But the paid version is better. I used the free version for about a week before trying the full version—and I haven’t regretted it.

However, I wish Grammarly used the document language when checking for spelling. I’ve set Grammarly for UK English, but we prepare our games for a US audience for Freeform Games. So Grammarly suggests changing color, recognize and so on. It’s a little annoying.

My workflow

My writing/editing workflow is now:

1. Write/edit the text.
2. Run Wordrake to tighten it up and remove unnecessary words.
3. Run Grammarly to sort out other issues.
4. Run PerfectIt to check consistency.
5. Read through it again to make sure I’ve not missed anything.

(And then 6, publish/submit it, followed by 7, spot another obvious error.)

You can’t proofread your own work

The best thing about these tools is that they catch lots of small errors I miss when proofreading my own work. They don’t catch everything, but they’re pretty good.

The worst thing is that I’ve grown used to having these tools to hand, making me sloppy. They don’t stop me from making mistakes, but they make it more likely that I don’t spot them.

Mistakes still slip through, so they’re no replacement for another pair of eyes.

If I only had one

I would pick Grammarly. While I continue to write and edit professionally, I’m happy to use all three. But if I was on a budget, I’d keep Grammarly.