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As a budding writer, I am constantly on the lookout for new tools to improve my work. And true to any broke and starving writer, free online tools are my best friends. If you’re looking for a good writing editor, these might be the thing for you too.
Grammarly
Obviously, Grammarly has to be on this list. It is your go-to for a quick fix. For this one, you’ll have to create an account to use it. The good thing is that Grammarly will save all your work so you don’t have to worry about losing it. The free version gives you a performance score and grammatical corrections, but a lot of its features are behind a paywall. However, if that’s all you’re after then this should do just fine.
QuillBot
QuillBot is one of those things I wish I’d discovered when I was a student. In my humble opinion, this is one of the best tools for assignment writing. You can paste your work into the text box and Quillbot can grammar-check, paraphrase and even (gasp) summarise it. It even has a citation generator with multiple styles – from APA to Zwitscher-Maschine – all at your command. Quillbot is mainly free to use, but they do have a word limit with each input. As a quick fix, insert your text in sections to get away with it.
Hemingway Editor
This is a discovery that has come to be my favourite writing tool. If you are prone to writing long sentences, then this might be the thing for you too. According to The New Yorker,
“Hemingway Editor is, like a good editor, attuned to the places where vanity seems to be getting the better of things.”
The Hemingway Editor improves the clarity of your writing and will point out where your writing gets too dense. Suggestions will be given to remove unnecessary words or break your long sentences into shorter ones. A special feature of the Hemingway Editor is that it evaluates the readability of your text (not your life choices, sadly). This nifty little thing measures your writing and lets you know your current level and whether you need to simplify or adjust your style to suit your target reader.
Of course, showing off your vocabulary repertoire isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it’s indispensable for writing literature essays or mingling with high society. But in day-to-day writing, why not make it easier for readers by using simpler words? Using these writing tools for the first time, I was a tad miffed by the amount of ‘mistakes’ highlighted. However, after adjusting my text (and my pride), I have to admit they came out better than before. Be that as it may, rules are meant to be broken. So if you know what you’re doing, don’t let the grammar bots stop you.
Hartwick is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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