Week 18 – MFRW 52-week Blog Challenge
Join us for week 18~ Apps Time waster or Time saver. I almost skipped this week, but since i missed last week, ( I was sick with a bad cold all week) I decide to try it.
I really am not sure what this means by Apps so I had to go google. Ahhh Ok so now it’s more clear. here is a list I found, for more about it here is the link. I am going to just list the ones I have actually tried but you can find the full list at the link below and more.
https://justpublishingadvice.com/free-writing-software-and-the-best-free-writers-tools/
- . Grammarly
- Grammarly is one that I use and love. I have it on my computer and use it in email, facebook and everywhere. Right now I only have the free one but have used premium and am considering getting it back. I dropped it to go to Prowriting aid and now that I am no longer using that I may go back to premium. Grammarly is a good basic grammar checker. I think it catches a little more than Word does and when I did use the premium in Word it helped me figure out fixes for my mistakes.
- Prowritingaid
- I thought I loved this and it was my favorite. I will say the two years I used it helped me grow as a writer. So why am I talking in the past? this year I made the decision to drop it. Why? It became a crutch and I kept going over and over my work. It is so detailed and has so many reports that it takes forever to use them and I never could get my work perfect. Are you supposed to? No, it’s like an editor and you should feel free to make calls on your own to accept or deny. Also, can you take out every single call it made on overused and vague words? if you did the story would be a heck of a lot shorter and dull. I am a touch perfectionist and very OCD so seeing I had any calls kept me working on it. I have been working two years on the same WIP in this program and my Alpha reader and I decided it was time to move on. Am I saying it’s bad? NO. I loved it and if you are not OCD and no how to pick and choose calls it is great. It made me a much stronger writer and I learned a lot. Someday I may use it again.
- Scrivener (Free Trial) This one is a topic of many writers. I am sure several of you have tried it and have a love or hate relationship. It’s not the easiest program to use, but I love it. I use it to do my rough draft since you can set up chapters, scenes and easily move stuff around. Then I move the entire thing to word and go from there. It came in handy on this WIP since I chose to make it one voice and POV instead of two. I can pull up both views side by side, Cut what I want to work into the new piece from TJ’s view and paste into the new work. I can move scene I want to keep ut can’ use in this to a folder for possible teasers or promo stuff. It is versatile and you customize it to what you need.
- Hemingway Editor I used this once. It isn’t for me. You have to cut and paste it t the program a bit a time. It works something like Prowriting aid generating reports, a few are free but if you want more you have to buy the upgrade. I like working in word and not copy and paste. This would work ok for a blog or report or something.
- Focus Writer I haven’t used it but I am going to look at it. I need more focus.
- Calmly Writer Again I haven’t used it but want to see what this is.
- Six free apps for bloggers and content writers I can always use ideas for the blog so I will look at this one! and this one…Hubspot Blog Ideas
- Privacy Policy Generator This should be a help to get the proper privacy policies with all the new laws.
- The next two I haven’t used but would like to hear about. I am sure any help when it comes to getting the book on Amazon would be helpful. Kindle Create and Kindle Previewer .
Are there any writing apps you use? Let’s go see what the other authors like or don’t .
16 responses to “Apps~Friend or Foe #MFRWauthor #writing #apps”
Hi Cathy, I use Autocrit and love it. You do have to copy and paste or upload the selection into the program. I have found it works best when you make your changes in word, rather than in the program because you can lose the formatting. The reports are very helpful. For me, the repetition report is most useful. They also have a regular blog where they run best sellers through their app and then analyze the results. It’s eye-opening because you realize not even the best writers are perfect and that’s okay.
so you can get autocrit to work in word as well? I loved Prowriting aid but it got so time-consuming and I wouldn’t be happy if it showed any calls so after a long debate with my alpha reader and myself I decided it was time to let go. I do admit I like these writing software things though.
I love Autocrit, and no, it doesn’t really work with Word. You copy and paste your scene or chapter into Autocrit and have it run through it’s diagnosis. Then going to your document in Word, you make any changes you want in your Word document. Autocrit checks for certain things like adverbs, past tense, generic words, etc. and tells you how many, if any, it thinks you need to cull from your manuscript. It’s really good for flagging overly-used words as well.
I like working directly in my WIP that is why I liked ProWriter Aid it does all the reports too but right in word.
I use ProWritingAid and purchased the lifetime license a while back when they had a big special. I agree with Katherine about making the corrections in Word. I certainly don’t agree with all of the ProWritingAid corrections though. Same with Word’s grammar checker. I forgot to mention this app in my post, but I only use it on my computer. I don’t have the guts or time to try Scrivener yet.
I wish I had the money at Christmas for that deal on Pro Writing Aid. I may pick it back up the next time a deal like that comes around but I need to learn to be less critical of myself and not use it as a crutch LOL
I got my deal one February before the end of the month. I haven’t seen that sale since. I did see the one you’re talking about though.
The one at Christmas was what I paid annually for lifetime. Maybe it will come around again and I’ll rebuy.
If you paid for lifetime, you shouldn’t have to rebuy. I don’t use it attached to Word. I always use the online version. Just a personal choice.
I only bought the anually. I let it go this year but may do it again. I prefer it in Word you still only run it when you want and what reports you want. To me it’s easy than pasting back and forth. I guess I am lazy lol.
Hi, Cathy. Did you know that your link on the MFRW blog-hop page doesn’t lead here?
I tried Scrivener for a while, but found it doesn’t offer me any improvement on my current system: Microsoft Word, a physical binder with scene outlines, character sketches, etc., and a zippy bag full of note cards. I’m a kinetic learner, so it helps my focus to have physical pages to turn and physical note cards to arrange.
I don’t use any editing apps. As a former English teacher, I’m pretty good at proofreading, and my editor and critique group find most of the remaining boo-boos. (Not that you won’t find any in my published work, dang it. A few always slip by.)
Now, if someone creates an app for developmental editing, I’ll be first in line!
Crap I did not. and it is too late to fix it now. Thanks for telling me though. I have some memory issues and I like keeping and easy to get to copy of my profiles and settings as well too. I am going back to the notecards as soon as I finish this WIP. I do like Scrivener since it is helping with all this reorganizing and cutting and stuff I am doing. ( changing POV) I am hoping on the next ones I actually start writing instead of redoing old works from NaNo days I won’t be so scattered and can just right straight in word with the help of my cards.
This is a great list, Cathy. I’ll have to check these out.
Thank you! Let me know what you think!
Cathy, I really like this post. Very helpful. I like Outlining Your Novel, based on the detailed outline process of K.M. Weiland. It helps me to think about story alchemy early on instead of just jumping right into the midst of a new book.
Thank you. I have that as well, I have not really tried it though. I do plan to once I get this one book behind me so I can move to fresh works.