Short Stories – Page 66

I can now report that I’m pleased with my new editing tool – Grammarly. Proofreading is hard to do accurately on your own work, and if you pay for it to be done by somebody else, you will pay dearly. Grammarly I’ve decided is better than a ‘halfway house’.

As my graphic would suggest, it gives you four main areas of back-up; Punctuation, Grammar, Spelling and Synonyms. In the programme synonyms are referred to as ‘enhancements’.

Like all wonder tools, it has it’s drawbacks, but even when taking them into consideration, I would still recommend the tool for the independent publisher. If, like me, you are publishing eBooks on Amazon or another site then you may allow eagerness to take over, just when you should be considering the reader. Yes, remember those nice people that you want to spend money on your hard work – well, they’ll be expecting a well-written, well-presented book. We can’t blame them can we, because it’s what we would want too.

I’ve just spent two weeks with Grammarly and used it on both of my e-published novels. At one end of the scale I was delighted with my spelling, but at the other end, I was dismayed at my grammar. Nothing more to be said there.

Until recently, I didn’t realise how many proofreading programmes were out there. There are those you can use free, and there are those you pay for – and like all things in life; you get what you pay for. I read the profile, pricing, and reviews on three different systems before opting for Grammarly. It’s affordable, easy to download, and easy to use. It does have the need to connect to the Internet – and keeping your browser clear of excess cache files is a good idea, because that will allow the system to run smoothly.

Write the document, open Grammarly and watch those numbers accumulate; Grammar, Spelling, Enhancements. It will tell you when it’s completed the check.

It’s still a good idea to insert the ‘suggested’ amendments manually. There is an option to click and let the system change the punctuation, but occasionally there is a suggestion to drop a comma within a word. On odd occasions, the programme will suggest that there is no punctuation at the end of a sentence. When the system is wrong, you will see clearly that there is punctuation.

Apart from that, it might not recognise a word that you abbreviate within dialogue, like, thinkin’, or nothin’, for example. It will give the option to ‘add to dictionary’. Place names are another favourite for non-recognition, as I found out with both my books. Click to ‘add to dictionary’, and off you go again.

A nice touch, if you’re like me and were last taught grammar and punctuation a long time ago, is an option for a short, or long explanation with the suggested amendments. I’ve found that the short explanation is usually enough for my needs.

Was I satisfied with one session of ‘filtering’ my novels with this proofreading system? No, I wasn’t. I went through both books twice, and the fact that the system brought up the same things (place names, etc.,) as the first time, gave me confidence in the method. My books may still not meet the strict criteria of the purist, but I’m happy that I’ve done all in my power to improve them – except pay out excessive money.

If you’re interested in trying it, there is an optional free trial period. As an example, I used the Grammarly system on this piece of writing and it highlighted the need for inserting a comma on two occasions. The programme also highlighted my examples; ‘thinkin’ and ‘nothin’.

Link: http://www.grammarly.co.uk/

I’ve now written hundreds of poems, and my short stories are well into double figures, but my latest passion is novel-writing. We all like to think our writing is to a high enough standard, but as I embark on my next story, I find that I’m still critical of every word.

Typically, I find I will write at least four drafts of anything. On many occasions it has gone on to be the eighth or ninth, before I publish my work.

The ideas are easy enough, and once the writing is underway, it only takes a few pages before I’m able to get rid of the opening paragraph, and replace it with something better. My spelling has always been reasonable, and punctuation is okay most of the time, but grammar is an area where I tend to worry.

Formatting an entire book is laborious, but I find that relatively easy in comparison to ensuring that my punctuation is correct. Everything from word choice to sentence structure is important, if we want to sell our writing, so it’s good that it should be an area to make us fret.

If I was drawing a portrait for somebody and charging money, I’d expect to spend many hours getting it as good as it could be – and though I use the same theory with my writing, I admit my grammar could be improved.

Why am I being so ultra-critical when I’ve already managed to sell copies of my first two e-books? In recent months, in support of fellow indie writers / publishers, I’ve bought five e-books. Three of them had serious issues with grammar, punctuation, and formatting, so I decided I would revisit my own work.

I took the unprecedented step of buying a proofreading programme to help me improve my writing structure. I was delighted to find that within a 3,000 word chapter, my spelling only failed me twice, and my punctuation was wrong five times. My grammar was my worry and in a series of checks on my chapters, I had the grammar 84% right. I thought that was good, but it’s not good enough, so from now on, every chapter will be checked with my new programme at every draft.

The system I’m using shall remain nameless until I return and report my progress in about a week. My reason for waiting, is because I am presently halfway through the second chapter of my new novel, ‘Amsterdam Calling’.