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7 Best Proofreading Tools For Writers

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As a writer, you likely have a pretty long list of fears. What if people don’t love your work? What if you don’t find your audience? What if your writing is riddled with typos?

While online tools can’t help with the first two concerns, they can certainly eliminate the fear of embarrassing mistakes in your novel. These proofreading tools can cross one thing off your list, at least:

1) Hemingway Editor

The best writers can take long, complicated thoughts and turn them into simple, easy to read sentences. Nobody did this better than Ernest Hemingway. Bring a little Ernest Hemingway into your writing style with this editing tool. Hemingway Editor will scan your writing to find any long, run-on sentences. The site offers suggestions to shorten them. It also points out any instances of passive voice, so you can modify them to active voice, which is stronger and more interesting. MORE: What Script Editors Do AKA 5 Tips To Edit Your Own Screenplay 

2) Grammar Girl’s Podcast

Interested in a way to improve your overall writing, grammar, and spelling skills? Add Grammar Girl to your weekly Podcast list. Each episode teaches listeners new grammar rules, as well as methods to improve their writing overall. It’s also just entertaining!

3) Essays Capital

The professional writers at essay writing service Essays Capital can edit your chapters or offer proofreading services. They really take the time to get to know your project. MORE: 3 Steps To Writing, Editing & Submitting Your Novel 

4) Google Docs

Google Docs is a powerhouse in the editing and proofreading game. Not only is the site free and a great resource for collaboration, but it also offers a lot of tools that other sites lack. With Google Docs, you can access in integrated Thesaurus, diagrams, and a template gallery. And you can work with your files on or offline, so you can work on your project even on the go.

5) Polish My Writing

Polish My Writing is an easy to use tool that offers a contextual spell check, a style check, and an intelligent grammar check. It uses artificial intelligence to compare your writing to millions of online samples in order to gain a better understanding of the context of the writing. You can also download a plug-in for WordPress (called “After the Deadline”) if you use the site for blogging.

6) Ginger

Ginger is an exceptional proofreading tool that integrates with Word and the web to offer popup suggestions as you write. You choose whether or not to accept the changes each time. The patent pending software deciphers the meaning of your writing and compare it to similar writing all over the web. MORE: 5 Tips For Editing Your Work

7) Paper Rater

The problem with traditional spellcheck software is that it cannot recognise words that are spelled correctly, but out of context. The word is technically spelled correctly, but you’ll be embarrassed just the same when your readers find it. Paper Rater scans your paper to analyse the meaning of the sentences and point out any misused words. MORE: 5 Questions To Help Edit Your Work

So:

Proofreading is an ESSENTIAL part of the writing process. But human eyes can only catch so much, especially when those eyes have already looked at our novel what feels like a million times.

You could probably recite full pages of your novel or screenplay in your sleep by now. Rather than try to find all the mistakes on your own, take advantage of these tools. They’ll make your life a lot less stressful!

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BIO: Anna Olinger is a freelance editor from Washington, DC. To learn more tips on freelance writing and social media follow Anna on Twitter and Linkedin.

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2 thoughts on “7 Best Proofreading Tools For Writers”

  1. Terrific article!
    I personally use some of these tools daily, they are fantastic. I Would be glad to try Essays Capital and Polish My Writing. I also suggest you to try this plagiarism detector to be always sure your writing is 100% original and perfect.
    Anna, thanks for making proofreading and editing process easier.

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