ProWritingAid: Grammar Check Your Writing, Improve Your Style, and Become a Better Writer
Have you ever felt that you were just naturally good at something?
It didn’t matter whether you were a fresh beginner or a seasoned expert. You had practiced a skill, gotten the hang of it, and since then, kept doing things the same way. Maybe you were learning to swim, cook, or perform a task at work.
Then someone comes along and tries to help. They offer a suggestion, advice, or some insight. Being used to your way, you brush the person off.
But after awhile, you hit a roadblock. You start to realize that you don’t know everything. You try implementing the person’s advice. And it works!
You begin looking at things in a different light. Gradually, it dawns on you that there is a whole other level… one you had no idea existed.
This is what writing is like. Easy to learn but hard to master, writing often takes a second pair of eyes to help you figure out what you’re doing right, and what needs fixing.
Today, I’m going to discuss ProWritingAid, a popular online grammar checker and style editor. I’ll cover what it does, how to use it, and whether it’s right for you.
Let’s dig in.
What is ProWritingAid?
When you hear the words “grammar checker”, your initial reaction is probably, “I don’t need that.”
You know the rules of writing. You know how to communicate with others. You’ve been writing all your life without a grammar checker, so why would you need one now?
Because you can do better (and you probably don’t know it).
This is where ProWritingAid comes in. It’s an editing program that offers real-time improvements to elevate your writing. Here’s what it does:
· Checks for grammar and spelling errors.
· Improves your sentence structure.
· Fixes vague and abstract wording.
· Gets rid of repetitive words and phrasing.
· Increases readability of your writing.
· Improves your writing skill in the long run.
ProWritingAid provides in-article edits and generates reports that analyze your writing from different angles. These reports give better insight on readability, variation, style, and more.
Here’s a quick tour of their web editor:
Let’s take a closer look at how the editing process works.
How to Use ProWritingAid
There are a number of ways you can use ProWritingAid. Generally speaking, you can use the program either in real time or in-depth reports. Let’s look at real time first.
Using real time, ProWritingAid catches potential issues within the document while you type. It underlines the errors right on the document so you can see specifically what needs fixing. You can click on these underlined errors to see explanations and suggestions for improvement. You can then choose to accept, ignore, or “add to dictionary”.
Real time is useful when you go through your document word by word. But if you want to take a look at particular areas of your writing, you can go to the reports section. ProWritingAid offers 20 different reports, including (but not limited to):
· All-in-one summary report — Provides document stats and an overview of each report.
· Style report — Improves the clarity and effectiveness of your writing.
· Overused words report — Catches repeated words.
· Sticky sentence report — Shows when run-on sentences are used, diluting your message.
· Readability report — Helps you communicate better with your readers.
· Thesaurus — Suggests alternate words to create the meaning you’re looking for.
· Plagiarism checker — Compares your work to over a billion web-pages for originality.
When you access a report, it opens up on the side of your document so that you can easily compare it to your writing.
These reports are useful when you want to hone in on a particular aspect of your writing. While some reports provide quick solutions to sharpen your writing, others provide an in-depth analysis.
How ProWritingAid Integrates Wherever You Write
ProWritingAid integrates with a number of online and desktop platforms. Integration saves you the hassle of copying and pasting, and avoids the risk of losing your formatting in the process. Here are the platforms that ProWritingAid works with:
· Web Editor — You log onto the ProWritingAid site, create or upload a document, and edit away. You can save documents and view reports under your account. Note: In terms of privacy, the ProWritingAid Web Editor is safe to use. ProWritingAid never uses or accesses your content unless you specifically permit them to for support reasons.
· Microsoft Office — The ProWritingAid Add-In allows you to use their editing software right within Microsoft Word and Outlook. It shows up as a tab that contains all of their reports and checkers. This integration is a huge help if you’re a Windows user and rely on Microsoft programs.
· Browser Extension — The browser extension provides editing suggestions right on your browser. It works on sites including Gmail, Facebook, Wordpress, Reddit and other places. The extension works with Chrome, Safari, and Firefox. For the free version, you get real-time spelling and grammar checking, while the premium version provides full editing features.
· Desktop App — The desktop app is a program that opens on your computer. It allows you to work with different formats, including Microsoft Word, Open Office, Rich Text, and Scrivener. This option allows Mac users to open and use a variety of documents on their computers. You’ll need internet access for the desktop app to work though.
· Google Docs — ProWritingAid integrates right within Google Docs, giving you real-time suggestions and full report access. This ability is useful if you need to collaborate and share documents, or you prefer working in the cloud.
Who Uses ProWritingAid
Anyone can benefit from better spelling, grammar, and overall writing. Whether you write short stories in your spare time or regularly draft emails and reports for work, it’s important to write clearly and concisely. Thus, ProWritingAid is suitable for a range of writers.
That being said, ProWritingAid is especially useful for:
· Authors — Writers of short stories and novels often rely on word processing programs such as Microsoft Word and Scrivener to create their work, and then use ProWritingAid for editing.
· Content Writers — Bloggers and online writers create content to share with their audience. To make sure their words come across clearly and effectively, they run content across ProWritingAid before publishing it.
· Students — Essays and reports are a big part of students’ everyday work, which means their grades rely on strong writing skills. Students can run their work through a plagiarism checker to avoid cases of accidental plagiarism.
· Working professionals — People who work in corporate have to deal with emails, reports, presentations, and other paperwork. A grammar checker keeps out typos and grammar mistakes, while delivering communication clearly to clients and colleagues.
Corporate companies also use ProWritingAid to improve team communication with clients and deliver strong, professional content. As you can see, ProWritingAid is a strong fit for people who rely on written communication and write regularly.
Free vs. Premium version
ProWritingAid comes in a free and premium version.
Here’s what’s included in each version:
The free version is good if you want to try ProWritingAid and see its capabilities before you go for their premium version. It gives you the basics so you can fix up those spelling and grammar errors. It’s also suitable if you don’t rely on written communication for work and just need a grammar checker once in awhile.
The premium version is suitable if you’ve tried out the free version, like what ProWritingAid has to offer, and write regularly. If you rely heavily on your writing and communication skills, a full-featured grammar checker can make a difference.
Try ProWritingAid here with a 20% off discount code.
ProWritingAid Pricing
Down to the nitty-gritty: How much does it cost to use ProWritingAid?
To access the premium version, you can opt for $20.00 on a monthly basis, $79.00 for a full year (which ends up being $6.58 a month), or $299.00 for lifetime usage. Note: Check the site’s pricing page for the most up-to-date figures.
If you see yourself using ProWritingAid in the medium to long run, it makes sense to go for the lifetime option. It’s a one-time fee that includes all updates. Compared to the monthly subscription, you’ll have made back the lifetime fee in less than 15 months, or a year and three months.
The lifetime option is pretty good for long-term writers, especially since most companies charge using a subscription model these days.
Below is a 20% discounted rate off their regular prices. With the discount, you’ll have earned the lifetime fee back in less than 12 months compared to the monthly subscription.
To get the 20% discount, use this link to purchase ProWritingAid.
If you want to add the plagiarism checker, ProWritingAid has a Premium Plus version. Premium Plus is suitable for students or academics who want to check work for originality. The 20% discount code also applies to the Premium Plus.
Is ProWritingAid Right for You?
Ultimately, like most other skills, writing is subject to human judgment (that’s you). ProWritingAid will provide corrections, in-depth reports, and suggestions. You need to decide whether to accept or reject them.
That’s why their suggestions are not automatic — it’s up to you to decide what to do. Compared to a human, a grammar checker won’t be able to discern the softer rules in writing, such as purposely breaking conventional rules to make a point, or whether your writing is logical and consistent.
However, a grammar checker allows you to see any potential issues in your writing and fix them as needed. It provides that extra layer of editing to ensure you haven’t missed anything. As you use ProWritingAid, you become more aware of your writing style, what elements can be improved, and things to look out for in the future.
If you think you can benefit from using an online grammar checker like ProWritingAid, here’s what you can do:
1. Add ProWritingAid on Chrome (or whichever browser you use) and see how it works. It’s free.
2. If you’re ready for more, start a free trial and integrate ProWritingAid onto your preferred writing platform.
3. If you find ProWritingAid useful, get the premium version to access the all the features ProWritingAid has to offer using this 20% discount code.
If you’re not sure, try it. You might be surprised at what you find.
