20

NEXT LEVEL:
TAKE YOUR WRITING TO THE

EDITING
TIPS FROM
PROFESSIONAL
WRITERS
BY CHRIS BANKS, FOUNDER
OF PROWRITINGAID.COM
& LISA LEPKI, EDITOR OF
THE PROWRITINGAID BLOG
ProWritingAid

ProWritingAid
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 3

TIP #1 Use adverbs very carefully 4

TIP #2 Avoid sticky sentences 5

TIP #3 Don’t hide your verbs, rejoice in them! 6

TIP #4 Favor active verbs 7

TIP #5 Vary your sentence length 8

TIP #6 Don’t overuse overused words 9

TIP #7 Clichés are boring and redundancies are annoying 10

TIP #8 Don’t repeat yourself 11

TIP #9 Use more transitions 12

TIP #10 “De-tag your dialogue!” the Editor shouted angrily 13

TIP #11 Chop away deadwood 14

TIP #12 Beware of Purple Prose 15

TIP #13 Watch your pronouns 16

TIP #14 Use all five of your senses 17

TIP #15 Always delete words that you misspell and type them again 19

TIP #16 Check your pace 21

TIP #17 Strengthen your metaphors 22

TIP #18 Read your work aloud 23

TIP #19 Always get someone else to read your work 24

TIP #20 Stop tinkering and get it out there 25

 INTRODUCTION
Whether you are writing a novel, essay, article or email,
good writing is an essential part of getting your readers
to understand your ideas.

In this e-book you will find the best tips and techniques
from a wide range of professional writers. Some focus on
the minutia of specific word selection; others focus on
the more complex ideas like finding the right metaphor,
policing your work for Purple Prose, or figuring out when
it’s time to send it off to potential publishers.

Before you begin your first edit (and indeed all future
edits), we recommend taking some time away from the
text, so that when you come back to edit and redraft,
you will be much more able to see what’s actually
there rather than what you meant to get across.

When you are ready, focus on one tip at a time. Make

one session just about “adverb eradication” and then
go through as much of your text as you can on just that
element. Your brain will get in “strong verb” gear and it
will get easier as you go along. If you try to cover every
tip for every paragraph, it’s easy to lose focus. Too many
writers have very strong beginnings followed by mediocre
middles and terrible endings simply because they have
run out of editing steam. Choose small bite-sized goals
and go from top to bottom.

Remember that editing often takes as long or longer

than writing, so be prepared to put the time in. We
promise that you will not regret it.
TIP #1
ProWritingAid

USE ADVERBS VERY CAREFULLY

Adverbs are words that add color or emphasis to a verb. We certainly don’t suggest that you remove ALL adverbs; sometimes they
will be exactly right for what you are trying to get across. But adverbs tend
Compare these sentences:
to prop up weak verbs and so you should always ask yourself “Is there a
• The barista made a cup of coffee. stronger verb I can use here instead?”
• The barista grumpily made a cup of coffee. You can highlight all the adverbs in your writing by running the
Style Report in ProWritingAid.
The adverb “grumpily” offers an additional layer of understanding to the
scene. But, as Stephen King famously said, “The road to hell is paved with
adverbs.” Lazy writers tend to use adverbs to modify a weak verb instead
of searching for a stronger verb. Look at these examples: BRAINSTORM FOR STRENGTH
QUICK If you can’t think of the right strong verb by looking
Weak verb: James ran to school. TRICK at your weak verb in context, write it alone in the
middle of a blank page and add as many variations
Weak verb + adverb: James ran quickly to school.
as possible. It doesn’t matter if they are only tangentially related.
Strong verb: James sprinted to school.
Write as many as you can think of and check back with your sentence.
If there’s a perfect fit, go for it! If not, consult a thesaurus: you now
Weak verb: Nicola spoke to her daughter. have lots of options to input rather than just the original weak verb.
Weak verb + adverb: Nicola spoke quietly to her daughter.
Strong verb: Nicola whispered to her daughter.

Weak verb: Scarlett looked at Stan.

Weak verb + adverb: Scarlett looked angrily at Stan.
Strong verb: Scarlett glared at Stan.

In all three examples the strong verb paints a much more nuanced
and compelling picture of the action.

4
TIP #2
ProWritingAid

AVOID STICKY SENTENCES

Nobody likes it when gum gets stuck to their shoe. Likewise, nobody likes That’s a good thing! It’s up to us writers to rework our sentences to be the
too many sticky sentences in writing. best they can be.
A sticky sentence is one that is full of glue words. Glue words are used to A sticky sentence here and there is usually fine, especially if there’s no other
make the essential pieces of the sentence stick together. They don’t carry way to phrase your thought. A whole book full of them is another story.
much meaning in and of themselves, yet are still necessary to create a
coherent sentence. Use your judgment. You’re the writer, so you have the final say. If you love
your sentence despite its stickiness, keep it. If you side with our app and
Working words, on the other hand, carry the load of most sentences. decide it needs revision, revise it.
Working words convey meaning to the reader and contain
essential information.
Every sentence has (and needs) glue words. But when you get too many
in a sentence, the sentence becomes sticky. In practical terms, that
GLUE WORDS
means it’s difficult to read. The most common words in English, including,
but not limited to:
You should aim to have less than 40% glue words in your sentences.
Some sentences might go over that mark, but that should only happen
rarely and for a good reason. in of think is

Check out this example: on to some this

the there new from
• S
 TICKY: I went over to my friend’s house after school and then we just
played basketball for a really long time. was will make with
Glue index: 61.9% for be much have
• R
 EWRITE: After school, I headed to my friend’s house and we played that what every an
basketball all afternoon. said get should by
Glue index: 33.3% a go just it
Our app is advanced enough to identify sticky sentences in your writing if like and asked
using the Sticky Sentences Report. It is not, however, advanced enough
to rewrite them for you, and in all honesty, it probably never will be.

5
TIP #3
ProWritingAid

THEM!
DON’T HIDE YOUR VERBS, REJOICE IN

Verbs are the engine of our writing. They excite, engage and thrust it
forward. Many novice writers end up accidentally hiding their verbs. This FIND YOUR VERBS
process (called nominalization) turns verbs into nouns and adds a weak QUICK To search out your hidden verbs, watch out
verb in their place. For example: TRICK for words with the following endings:
-ance (assistance), -edge (knowledge),
• We will make an announcement of the winner on Friday
-ery (discovery), -ity (accountability), -ment (government),
verb noun
-sion (expansion), -tion (attention).
• We will announce the winner on Friday
verb And, keep your eye out for the following linking verbs that are
often followed by a hidden verb: Make, give, achieve, have, reach,
The first sentence uses a weak verb (make) and hides a strong verb
take and undertake.
(announce) as a noun (announcement). The second sentence is shorter,
clearer and stronger. It relies less on those extraneous glue words that
we mentioned in Tip #2.
Hidden verbs are particularly common in business writing when
writers are trying to use an “official” voice:
We are not nouns, we are verbs.
analyzed ➡ undertook an analysis I am not a thing - an actor, a
discussed ➡ held a discussion writer - I am a person who does
decided ➡ made a decision things - I write, I act - and I never
reviewed ➡ carried out a review know what I’m going to do next.
explained ➡ gave an explanation I think you can be imprisoned if
Highlight all the hidden verbs in your writing by running the
ProWritingAid Style Report and reveal your strong verbs in all their glory.
you think of yourself as a noun.
Stephen Fry

6
TIP #4
ProWritingAid

FAVOR ACTIVE VERBS

This is one of those rules passed down by generations of writers: sentences Sometimes in the passive voice the subject is completely omitted:
written in the active voice tend to be more engaging for the reader. Using
• The ball was thrown over the fence.
the active voice instead of the passive voice is one of the best things you
noun verb
can do to improve your writing.
• Action was taken against the three trespassers.
In an active sentence, the subject is at the start of the sentence and the
noun verb
ordering is subject - verb - object. For example:
• Katy was kissed at prom.
• Jane watched the video.
noun verb
subject verb noun
By whom? For the sake of clarity, it is usually better to tie your action to
In the passive sentence, the subject is relegated to the end of the
the person or thing that is doing the action. Otherwise your reader is left
sentence and the ordering is object - verb - subject:
having to draw their own conclusions.
• The video was watched by Jane.
noun verb subject
BEWARE! The passive voice can sometimes be sneaky and
Like many of these rules, this does not mean that you must remove every
hide within a reduced sentence or get broken up by a modifier.
occurrence – sometimes it works – but more often than not, you should
Don’t let them slip in this way:
rearrange your passive sentence to make it active, and therefore more
effective. Consider: • The ball, thrown over the fence, was later found.

• The doorbell was rung by the mailman to deliver the package. is a reduction of:
noun verb subject • The ball (that was) thrown over the fence, was later found.
• The mailman rang the doorbell to deliver the package. noun passive verb split passive verb

subject verb noun Turn it into the active voice:

The first sentence is written in passive voice, which means the person • D
 aniel threw the ball over the fence. Caroline found it again.
or thing doing the action (the mailman) follows the action (ringing the subject verb noun subject verb noun
doorbell). Using the active voice turns the sentence around and puts the
subject first. This makes the meaning clearer and the sentence shorter.
ProWritingAid’s Style Report will highlight all the passive verbs in your
text so you can find them and turn them into active verbs.

7
TIP #5
ProWritingAid

VARY YOUR SENTENCE LENGTH

Varied sentence length is an important feature of good writing. The late 1. CHECK OUT YOUR STATS
Gary Provost illustrated it best:
ProWritingAid counts every word in every
sentence of your selected text, and then it gives
This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word
you two scores:
sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to
what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. a) Average Sentence Length
It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. The average sentence length for most published
writers is between 11 and 18 words. If your average
Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The
is above 18, then your writing might be too
writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short
verbose or complicated. If your average is below
sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes when
11, your writing will likely feel choppy. Check your
I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of
score and then rework your text if you need to.
considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with
all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the b) Sentence Variety Score
cymbals – sounds that say listen to this, it is important. The sentence variety is calculated using a concept
called standard deviation. This is a mathematical
So write with a combination of short, medium, and long sentences.
measure of variety from the average. The higher
Create a sound that pleases the reader’s ear. Don’t just write words.
the standard deviation, the more your sentence
Write music.
lengths vary within the document.
To maintain your readers’ interest, use a variety of sentence lengths: some
short and punchy, others long and flowing. 2. GRAPH YOUR SENTENCES
Create a visual representation of your work so you
There are two easy ways to check your sentence length variety. Choose the
can easily scan to find areas that need more variety.
method that works best for you.

Whichever method works best for you, you will be amazed at how much
better your writing sounds when you use good sentence variety. As Gary
Provost said, “Don’t just write words. Write music.”
Use ProWritingAid’s Sentence Length Check to find your stats or create
a graph of your sentences.

8
TIP #6
ProWritingAid

DON’T OVERUSE OVERUSED WORDS

An overused word or sentence construction is one that has the potential Here are the types of words we flag in this report:
to weaken your writing. Examples of overused words include words that
are too wishy-washy (like “could” or “might”), intensifiers (like “very” or 1. WISHY-WASHY WORDS
“really”), and words that tell rather than show (like “feel” or “believe”). Words like “could”, “might”, and “maybe” are indefinite in their
meaning. If your writing is peppered with these hedging words, it will
These words cheapen your work and go against the principles of
feel unconvincing.
good writing. For example, consider the following two sentences:
• Mary was really mad at her parents. 2. TELLING WORDS
• Mary raged at her parents. Words like “knew”, “felt”, and “saw” tend to be indicative of “telling” rather
than “showing”.
While both sentences are technically correct, the second sentence
contains more vivid language showing how Mary felt, rather than telling Look at the difference:
how she felt. • John knew that Jason was lying.
At their core, overused words are those that make your writing less • Jason avoided John’s eyes as he stammered, “I don’t know where it is.”
powerful, even though they are grammatically correct. The ProWritingAid
Overused Words report identifies those types of words in your writing so If you use too many “telling” words, your writing will be less evocative.
you can choose to remove them and strengthen your work.
3. INTENSIFIERS
It’s important to note that the words we flag in the Overused Words Intensifiers like “very”, “so”, and “really” add little to your reader’s
report are subjective: they are not technically wrong. However, if used too understanding. Writers use them when they are trying to give strength
frequently, they can weaken your writing. to a dull word.
Instead, replace your weak words with something strong enough that
you don’t need the “very”.A small rewrite can make a big difference to the
impact of your words:
• She was very pretty.
• She was stunning.

9
TIP #7
ProWritingAid

ÉS AR E BO RIN G AN D RE DU NDAN CIE S ARE ANNOYING

CLICH

CLICHÉS REDUNDANCIES
Every word in your writing should be there for a reason. Redundant
Never use a metaphor, simile, expressions make writing longer, not better. Look at these four examples:

or other figure of speech which • She peered through the hollow tube.

you are used to seeing in print. • He stepped out on the frozen ice.

George Orwell • She followed her natural instinct.

• His writing was peppered with overused clichés.
Whenever you use a cliché, you are knowingly writing something In all four cases, the penultimate word is superfluous.
unoriginal. Clichés are what you write when you don’t have the energy
or inspiration to think of something new to say. Redundancies can happen across a sentence, too:

Writers often use clichés when they are working on their first draft • The problems first began when Gary lost his job.
because thinking up original wording takes time and can interrupt The word began means “the first occurrence”, so the word first
creative flow. That’s fine. But, when you go back to edit, be creative and is redundant.
brainstorm for fresh ideas. A new analogy or metaphor will make much
more of an impression on your readers than a dusty old cliché. A good • Sam, Tom and Susie gathered together around the fire.
writer may create and reject over a dozen images before finding the The word gathered means “to come together”, so the word together
right one, so don’t worry if it takes you a while. is redundant.
• He reversed the car back down the driveway.
USE YOUR OWN FEELINGS As opposed to reversing it forward ? Drop the word back because
QUICK TO BRAINSTORM it’s redundant.
TRICK If you’re trying to replace “she was happy as a lark”,
Redundancies add quantity, not quality. Eliminate the clutter.
think of situations in which you are happy and
magnify them. For instance, maybe you have a penchant for chocolate, Use ProWritingAid’s Cliché and Redundancy Check to highlight those
which might lead to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which might that have crept into your writing.
lead you to “she felt as if she’d just found Willy Wonka’s golden ticket”.

10
TIP #8
ProWritingAid

DON’T REPEAT YOURSELF

Repeating a word or phrase happens to the best of us, especially if you’re

writing an article and using a specific vocabulary for your topic. You won’t SOMETIMES PURPOSEFUL REPETITION
even notice you’ve used the same word several times in the span of one QUICK MAKES THE BEST POETRY
paragraph because it’s foremost in your mind. But those repeats can set TRICK Use your own best judgment about repeating a
off an echo in the reader’s mind – that subconscious feeling of “Didn’t he word or two in your text. Dickens’ opening lines
just say that?” It can be irritating to read and, worse, it can detract from of A Tale of Two Cities is a great example of effective repetition:
what you are trying to say. The more uncommon a word or phrase, the
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of
more likely it is to echo, even pages apart.
wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it
Consider the following text: was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the
season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of
• At your next get-together, cook together as a family and enjoy the
despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
benefits of creating a meal together and the bond you’ll create.
we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the
It is easy as the reader to point out how many times “together” is used other way.
in the above example, but as the writer, you know what you meant to
express and so the emphasis sounds natural to you.
Although it happens all the time, it can be difficult for you, as the writer,
to spot when you re-read it. When you are editing you usually go over the
same piece several times and so you become impervious to that echo
feeling. And when you are looking at a sentence on its own and making
amendments, you can sometimes input a word that is just right for that
sentence, forgetting that you also used it in the one before or after.
ProWritingAid’s Repeats Check highlights words and phrases repeated
within a few paragraphs so you can easily track down unintended
repetition and replace it with a more diverse vocabulary.

11
TIP #9
ProWritingAid

USE MORE TRANSITIONS

Imagine a road with no street signs. How would you follow the right route • T
 he boy kicked the ball into the street. A speeding car came around
if you didn’t have a sign showing you which way to go? the corner.
Transition words are the road signs in writing. And great transitions help • T
 he boy kicked the ball into the street. At the same moment,
your reader follow your train of thought without becoming bogged a speeding car came around the corner.
down trying to discern your meaning. Words and phrases like “similarly”,
Now we see the action in a wider lens: the ball goes into the street just as
“nevertheless”, “in order to”, “likewise,” or “as a result” show the relationships
a car comes careening around the corner. The first illustration is short and
between your ideas and can help illustrate agreement, contrast or show
choppy. It doesn’t flow well. The second sentence with a transition leads
cause and effect:
you smoothly between two related, but different thoughts.
• Mark avoided the campus dining hall where his ex-friends hung out.
The ProWritingAid Transitions Report will scan your writing and give you
He didn’t like its food.
a “transitions score”, which is based on the percentage of sentences that
• Mark avoided the campus dining hall where his ex-friends hung out. contain a transition. We recommend that you aim for a score of 25% or
Equally important, he didn’t like its food. higher, which means that you use at least one transition word or phrase
every four sentences.
In the second example, you understand that the two thoughts are both
important and related. Mark is not just avoiding the dining hall because
he doesn’t like the food; he is also avoiding the people who used to be
his friends.
• Kate thought her mother was over-reacting to her announcement.
She waited two days after the first phone call to visit.
• Kate thought her mother was over-reacting to her announcement.
Because of this, she waited two days after the first phone call to visit.
The use of “Because of this” in the second sentence makes clear to the
reader that the gap in time between the call and the visit was a direct
result of the over-reaction.

12
TIP #10
ProWritingAid

G YOUR DIALOGUE!” THE EDITOR SHOUTED ANGRILY

“DE-TA

Dialogue tags are the words that refer dialogue to a specific character.
The two most common examples are “said” and “asked”.
If the dialogue is so weak that
• “I’m not going!” said Charlie. the writer has to re-explain what
They are essential in writing, particularly in scenes that include several emotions or motivations are
characters, because they help the reader follow the conversation. Novice
writers, however, have an annoying tendency to use more flowery
being conveyed, there may be
dialogue tags and pepper them with adverbs. more serious problems lurking.
• “I’m not going!” said Charlie angrily. Joe Moore, author of The Cotten Stone Mystery Series
tag adverb

• “I’m not going!” shouted Charlie. Use the ProWritingAid Dialogue Tags Check so that you can find a
tag better way to demonstrate emotion.
• “I’m not going!” roared Charlie furiously.
tag adverb

More than anything, tags like these tend to distract the reader. Ideally,
your dialogue tags should be invisible within your writing, just signposts
that point out who is speaking. The character’s actions or the dialogue
itself should be carrying the emotion. Don’t depend on an adverb to
make your reader feel something.
Where possible, try to omit dialogue tags altogether. Instead, use
description and action to point out your speaker and build your scene.
• Charlie slammed his fist on the table. “I’m not going and that’s final.”

In this example, Charlie’s anger was shown, not told. The reader knows
that he is the one speaking – even without a tag – and his fist shows
that he is angry instead of an adverb. It gives much stronger sense of
the scene.

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TIP #11
ProWritingAid

CHOP AWAY DEADWOOD

If you take one key message from ProWritingAid, it’s that when it comes Some other examples include:
to writing, less is more. Make every word count. If it doesn’t move your plot
forward or express an essential idea, cut it!
at this point in time ➡ now

Writers often use deadwood phrases: the wordy ways of saying simple
due to the fact that ➡ because

things. Why write “has the ability to” when you can write “can”? You’re in order to ➡ to
just using more words to say the same thing, which actually makes your
writing much less readable. Look through your writing for a simpler way
in the event that ➡ if
of saying the same thing. prior to the start of ➡ before
has been found to be ➡ is
a sufficient amount of ➡ enough

I believe more in at such time as ➡ when

the scissors than for the reason that ➡ because

in close proximity to ➡ near
I do in the pencil. it is our opinion that ➡ we think
Truman Capote serves the function of being ➡ is
in the near future ➡ soon
Use the Diction Check in ProWritingAid to highlight deadwood words or
phrases and replace them with succinct language.

14
TIP #12
ProWritingAid

BEWARE OF PURPLE PROSE

Purple Prose is writing that is so flowery and pretentious that it ruins the Searching for Purple Prose is slightly more complicated as it can
flow of your writing by drawing excessive attention to itself. It feels as if the manifest in many different ways. Try running ProWritingAid’s Diction
author is saying “Look how clever I am with my enormous vocabulary and Check to find overly complicated phrases. The Style Check can also be
intricate description. ” useful in tracking down passages that are overly purple.
It is characterized by the use of overly complicated words (why use
pachyderm when you can just say elephant ?), excessive adverbs (we’ve
mentioned their evils before), and an unnecessary amount of adjectives.
• Discombobulated, Anna lay languidly on her aquamarine Charmuese
WHY PURPLE?
bedspread and speculated forlornly about the myriad of alternatives
available to her. The term Purple Prose was coined by the poet Horace. He found
this pretentious kind of writing unbearable and compared it to poor
• Confused, Anna lay in her room, wondering what she should do next.
people who sewed patches of purple onto their clothing because
See? You can tell that I had to use my thesaurus to write that first one. purple was associated with wealth. The patch was not a signifier of
It’s unnatural and awkward, and the flowery words distract from the true wealth, just as Purple Prose is not a signifier of true great writing.
meaning. The second option is clean and clear. Authors sometimes end
up writing “Purple Passages” when they have run out of places to go
with their narrative. Because they are having trouble moving their plot or
argument forward, they overcompensate by filling the pages with wordy
description. It is both frustrating and dull for the reader to wade through.
If you want to show you’re clever, do so by maintaining the flow of your
writing, cutting the nonessentials and keeping the reader’s attention
until the end.

15
TIP #13
ProWritingAid

WATCH YOUR PRONOUNS

When you are writing in creative mode, you often rely on pronouns PRONOUN CHART
to keep your narrative moving: “He did this,” “She did that,” “They ran
there,” “I found out.” That’s fine. It’s more important to keep your writing SUBJECT OBJECT POSSESSIVE POSSESSIVE REFLEXIVE
momentum up than it is to get every sentence just right. PRONOUNS PRONOUNS ADJECTIVES PRONOUNS PRONOUNS

When you go back and edit, however, you should check your pronoun 1st person I me my mine myself
percentage. Ideally it should fall somewhere between 4% and 15%. Any
more than this and your writing can feel dull. This is especially so with
initial pronouns – those at the start of the sentence. Your initial pronoun 2nd person you you your yours yourself
percentage should be under 30%.
• J 3rd person
 ohn turned the corner and saw Doris marching down the road toward he him his his himself
(male)
his house. She looked like she was angry. He wondered what it was that
he had done this time. He tried to remember if he had cut his lawn and 3rd person
turned off his sprinkler. He sometimes cut through his back yard just to (female) she her her hers herself
avoid running into her.
Pronoun percentage 17.8%. Initial pronoun percentage 80% 3rd person it it its n/a itself
• J
 ohn turned the corner and saw Doris marching down the road toward
his house. What had he done to make her angry this time? She loved 1st person
(plural) we us our ours ourselves
being the first to point out his gardening lapses. Had he cut the lawn?
Had the sprinkler been left on? Sometimes he cut through the back
2nd person
yard just to avoid running into her. (plural) you you your yours yourselves
Pronoun percentage 13.6%. Initial pronoun percentage 17.7%
3rd person
Use ProWritingAid’s Pronoun Check to find those areas in your text that they them their theirs themselves
(plural)
would benefit from a reduction in pronouns.

16
TIP #14
ProWritingAid

USE ALL FIVE OF YOUR SENSES

It’s important to use all five senses in your writing. Every writer has
a tendency to favor one or two of their senses over the others, and VISUAL KINAESTHETIC AUDITORY
this affects the way that he or she experiences the world, processes PREDICATES PREDICATES PREDICATES
information and makes memories. This means that we tend to describe
characters, settings or actions using words related to our own favored see felt heard
senses. Writing that skews too far toward one sense over the others will view grasp silence
resonate more with readers who favor the same sense and less so with
clear hard listens
those who do not.
illuminate rough resonates
The term “NLP predicate” refers to those words (primarily verbs, adverbs showed shape tunes
and adjectives) associated with the specific senses. There are thousands
appeared turn over deaf
of words associated with each but some examples are included, right:

OLFACTORY GUSTATORY AUDITORY DIGITAL

PREDICATES PREDICATES PREDICATES

smell tasted think

fragrant bitter decide
stench sour motivate
sniff flavor consider
odorous ate understand
stank acerbic know

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TIP #14
ProWritingAid

CONTINUED

USE ALL FIVE OF YOUR SENSES

HOW TO EXPERIENCE AN EXPLOSION

Now check out this example where more than one sense is used
We created the following example for a guest post on DIY Author
together:
in 2015. Imagine a fictional situation that can be described using
different predicates to resonate with different senses. • T
 he heat from the explosion hit Jane like a bus. Sirens began to
• The blast from the explosion was blinding. Jane searched the sky wail and a plume of smoke rose from her office. With the taste of
charcoal burning her tongue and her ears drumming like machine
and saw a plume of smoke rising from her office.
gun fire, Jane thought of the files on her desk and knew that she
• T
 he heat from the explosion hit Jane like a bus. Her legs felt riddled needed to go back.
with bullets as she struggled along the rough brick wall toward
her office. The reader experiences the explosion in a much more vivid way when
• The explosion was deafening. Sirens immediately began to wail several of her senses are ignited.
as Jane struggled to her feet, her ears drumming like machine
gun fire.
• The explosion filled the street with an acrid cloud of noxious When you are writing for a broad audience, you should try to use words
smoke. Jane choked on the fumes as she pulled her sweater up associated with all of the senses. It will help emotionally engage with
over her burning nostrils. the widest range of people.
• The explosion filled the street with an acidic cloud of toxic smoke.
With the taste of charcoal burning her tongue, Jane struggled
toward her office.
• T
 he explosion came from behind and Jane knew immediately that
it was her office. She thought of the files on her desk and knew
that she needed to go back.

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TIP #15
ProWritingAid

SSPELL AND TYPE THEM AGAIN

ALWAYS DELETE WORDS THAT YOU MI

I am always doing that Which of these commonly misspelled words do you get wrong?
These examples from Oxforddictionaries.com illustrate some of the
which I cannot do, in order most common mistakes:

that I may learn how to do it. CORRECT SPELLING COMMON

Pablo Picasso SPELLING ADVICE MISSPELLING

accommodate, two cs, two ms accomodate,

This is a great tip for improving your spelling. In today’s world of accommodation accomodation
spellcheckers it’s easy to go on misspelling words forever as you just achieve i before e acheive
correct them with your mouse. We recommend spending a bit of time across one c accross
upfront improving your spelling to save time in the future. Every time aggressive, aggression two gs agressive, agression
you misspell a word, delete the whole word and re-type it again, paying
apparently -ent not -ant apparantly
attention to the spelling.
appearance ends with -ance appearence
We learn best if we are rewarded for getting something right, or
argument no e after the u arguement
punished for getting it wrong. Having to re-type a word is a small,
assassination two double s’s assasination
annoying punishment for getting it wrong. You’ll be amazed how
quickly your brain learns the right spelling. basically ends with -ally basicly
beginning double n before the -ing begining
When you run the Grammar Check in the free version of ProWritingAid,
calendar -ar not -er calender
your spelling mistakes are presented to you in a read-only format. This
is good because it forces you to go back and correct the error in your Caribbean one r, two bs Carribean
document. The premium version allows you to edit as you go along. You cemetery ends with -ery cemetary
can correct errors by choosing from a drop down menu (online) or double- chauffeur ends with -eur chauffer
clicking (add-in). This saves time in the short term and is great when you colleague -ea- in the middle collegue
have a lot of text to get through, but we still recommend that if you see a
committee double m, double t, double e commitee
word that you know you have trouble with, take the time to retype it. It will
completely ends with -ely completly
help stop you from making the same error again in the future.
conscious -sc- in the middle concious
definitely -ite- not –ate- definately

19
TIP #15
ProWritingAid

CONTINUED
SSPELL AND TYPE THEM AGAIN
ALWAYS DELETE WORDS THAT YOU MI

CORRECT SPELLING COMMON CORRECT SPELLING COMMON

SPELLING ADVICE MISSPELLING SPELLING ADVICE MISSPELLING

disappoint one s, two ps dissapoint persistent ends with -ent persistant

ecstasy ends with –sy ecstacy politician ends with -cian politican
embarrass two rs, two s’s embarass possession two s’s in the middle posession
existence ends with -ence existance and two at the end

Fahrenheit begins with Fahr- Farenheit preferred, preferring two rs prefered, prefering

fluorescent begins with fluor- florescent publicly ends with –cly publically

foreign e before i foriegn receive e before i recieve

foreseeable begins with fore- forseeable referred, referring two rs refered, refering

gist begins with g- jist religious ends with -gious religous

glamorous -mor- in the middle glamourous resistance ends with -ance resistence

harass, harassment one r, two s’s harrass, harrassment separate -par- in the middle seperate

idiosyncrasy ends with -asy idiosyncracy siege i before e seige

immediately ends with -ely immediatly successful two cs, two s’s succesful

incidentally ends with -ally incidently supersede ends with -sede supercede

independent ends with -ent independant tattoo two ts, two os tatoo

irresistible ends with -ible irresistable tendency ends with -ency tendancy

liaise, liaison remember the second i: liais- liase, liason therefore ends with -fore therefor

millennium, millennia double l, double n millenium, millenia threshold one h in the middle threshhold

necessary one c, two s’s neccessary tongue begins with ton-, ends with -gue tounge

noticeable remember the middle e noticable truly no e truely

occasion two cs, one s ocassion, occassion unforeseen remember the e after the r unforseen

occurred, occurring two cs, two rs occured, occuring unfortunately ends with -ely unfortunatly

occurrence two cs, two rs, -ence not -ance occurance, occurence wherever one e in the middle whereever

20
TIP #16
ProWritingAid

CHECK YOUR PACE

In many cases when a reader puts PACING VISUALIZATION

a story aside because it ‘got boring,’
the boredom arose because the
writer grew enchanted with his Any areas shown in white are areas of slower pacing. Try to add some
powers of description and lost more action to areas that contains lots of white.

sight of his priority, which is to

keep the ball rolling. FIND THE RIGHT PACE
Stephen King QUICK FOR YOUR STORY
TIP Different stories will allow for different paces.
Readers will expect more slowly paced passages
Pacing refers to the speed at which a story is told and how quickly the
in a dense historical drama than in a modern thriller.
reader is moved through events. Good writing contains faster-paced
sections, such as dialogue and character action, as well as slower-paced
sections, such as introspection and backstory.
A book that is entirely composed of car chases without taking the time to
make you care about the character being chased just won’t be effective at
bringing readers into the story. Likewise, a story that has four chapters in
a row dedicated to your main character’s Zen contemplation may need a
bit of action to keep readers interested. Differently paced sections should
complement each other, allowing the reader to move with you through
the narrative.
ProWritingAid’s Pacing Check finds those areas in your writing that are
paced more slowly so that you can spread them out. Too many slower
paced paragraphs in a row and your reader’s attention may wane.

21
TIP #17
ProWritingAid

STRENGTHEN YOUR METAPHORS

ST
A strong metaphor has an unparalleled ability to convey your meaning. We THE ROAD NOT TAKEN BY ROBERT FRO
understand new things by relating them to things that we already know.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
Writers often use events from their own lives that parallel what they are And sorry I could not travel both
trying to explain. In As You Like It, Shakespeare wrote “All the world’s And be one traveler, long I stood
a stage, / And all the men and women merely players.” Of course, he And looked down one as far as I could
didn’t literally mean that the planet is a giant stage. He used his own To where it bent in the undergrowth;
understanding of theatre to create a metaphor that helps us understand
a larger point about human nature. It is much more effective than if Then took the other, as just as fair,
he had just written “People undertake many different roles throughout And having perhaps the better claim
their lives and sometimes pretend to be something other than their true Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
selves.” The metaphor gets across a nuanced insight because readers and Though as for that the passing there
audience members are able to take everything that they know about Had worn them really about the same,
stage performances and apply it to this concept. As such, there is a great
deal of depth already embedded in their understanding. And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Robert Frost’s poem The Road Not Taken (see box) is another brilliant
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
metaphor. Frost never mentions anything other than the physical
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
elements of a road, yet the reader understands that his point is about
I doubted if I should ever come back.
choosing the right option in life, even if it is difficult or unpopular.
Similarly, the parables in the Bible are extended metaphors aimed at
I shall be telling this with a sigh
teaching a moral lesson. Some writers even use metaphor as the basis for
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
a whole book. This type of extended metaphor is known as an allegory.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
Animal Farm by George Orwell is an allegory of the events leading to the
I took the one less traveled by,
Russian revolution, and was written as a critique of Stalin.
And that has made all the difference.
Finding the right metaphor is like dating: you may have to reject many
before you find the right one, and when you find it, you’ll know it’s the
perfect match.

22
TIP #18
ProWritingAid

READ YOUR WORK ALOUD

The human brain is always trying to be helpful by filling in missing

information. Most of the time, that’s great. It’s how animation works. CHANGE YOUR FONT
Animators just need to show you a succession of images, and your brain QUICK Before you read your writing aloud it is a good idea
links them all together and provides the missing information that turns TRICKS to change the text to an unfamiliar font. Your brain
them into a movie. needs to work that extra bit harder to read each
word, so you are more likely to catch those errors.
The same thing happens when you are reading, especially if it’s your own
writing. I’m sure you have all carefully proofed a sentence and still missed USE TEXT TO SPEECH SOFTWARE
an obvious typo. That’s because your brain guesses what’s supposed to You could also try listening to your text by inputting it into a Text to
be there and so replaces it in your head with the correct word or spelling. Speech app like Ivona. Hearing your words read aloud, even if it’s by
This was circulating on the internet a while back: a computer-generated voice, is a great way to catch errors.

I cdn’uolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg:

the phaonmneel pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rseearch
taem at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the
ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and
lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you
can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid
deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Scuh a
cdonition is arpppoiatrely cllaed typoglycemia.

Isn’t your brain clever to make sense of all that nonsense? Yes, but, this
very same skill is what makes self-editing so much more difficult. Your
brain sees what you meant to say, rather than what you wrote.
When you are reading aloud, however, it’s much harder to skip over errors.
You are more likely to hear what is actually on the page rather than what
you meant to write.

23
TIP #19
ProWritingAid

YOUR WORK
ALWAYS GET SOMEONE ELSE TO READ

Even the most popular authors in the world have people in their lives that
read their work and give them feedback. It may be their husband, best ASK GOOD QUESTIONS
friend or a professional editor (or all of those people at different points in QUICK To avoid generic feedback like “I liked it” or “it
their writing process) but they find the person they trust to give them that TRICK was good”, ask your reader specific questions. For
essential feedback to improve their writing. articles and blog posts, ask a friend or colleague:

Use an editing tool and some of the techniques listed here to get your 1 D
 id it read smoothly from top to bottom, or were there areas
writing as close to perfect as you can manage. Ideally 80% of your that felt rough or out of place?
technical editing should be done by you so that your beta reader or editor 2 Were there any sentences that you had to read twice to
can focus on the meat of your writing. They can help you develop your get the meaning?
strengths as a writer and point out areas that need further development. 3 Were there words that you were unfamiliar with?
4 Was the argument cohesive?
5 Are there elements that should be fleshed out further?

At its foundation the role 6 Is the tone right for the target audience?

of the editor is a blend of For fiction writing, here are some questions that you

meddler and midwife might find helpful:

1 Did the beginning of the story capture your interest right away?
Nell Frizzell, journalist
2 Did you find the main character relatable? Did you care what
happened to him or her?
There are huge numbers of online writing communities that help writers 3 What was your favorite scene?
find readers for their work. “Beta readers” are non-professionals who love 4 What sections did you find boring?
reading and giving feedback and there are millions of them around the 5 Were there points in the story that didn’t make sense or that
world. Try websites like Scribophile or Creative Critique to find an online you found frustrating?
beta reader, or use Google to find local writers’ groups. 6 Did you feel compelled to keep reading? Why or why not?
7 Did you ever get confused about who was who?
8 Were there any sections that you felt got bogged down with too
much backstory, dialogue, or description? Or that needed more?

24
TIP #20
ProWritingAid

E
STOP TINKERING AND GET IT OUT THER

BUT... ...too many writers tinker away at their manuscript far

Art is never finished, past the moment when they should have sent it off to
prospective publishers and agents. At some point you will reach the

only abandoned. stage where you are no longer improving the piece, just making it
different. In your final edit (which may be your 3rd, 9th or 21st, depending
Leonardo da Vinci on how long it takes you to get there), you should be able to read each
paragraph and not be able to come up with any substantive differences
that you are confident will improve on your ideas or how they are
communicated. You can always waffle over decisions like whether
Writing is not like doing a mathematics equation. It’s never perfect. It’s
“division” or “separation” is best, or whether “has been” or “went” makes
never solved. There is never a moment when you think “Yep, every word in
the most sense in this context. But you will no longer be rewriting
this manuscript now adds up completely to form the perfect story.” The
sentences entirely or moving paragraphs around.
tricky part is knowing when to stop.
At the end of that edit, you are probably ready to let it go. Stop focusing
We have stressed throughout this document that editing is essential.
on making the book, and start focusing on getting it out into the world.
Writers should expect to spend almost as much time editing as they do
writing. Every paragraph should be reassessed, revised or even rewritten at And that, my author friends, is a whole other e-book!
least a couple of times. No one writes so well on their first draft that they
can’t think of ways to express some of their ideas in a better way. It is an
essential process if your writing is going appear polished and professional Good luck and happy editing!
to readers and potential publishers.

25
 ProWritingAid

ABOUT PROWRITINGAID

ProWritingAid analyzes your writing and highlights potential THE GRAMMAR REPORT
improvements. Each report focuses on a particular area of your writing. The Grammar Report is like Microsoft Word’s grammar checker but
with super powers. We use the latest artificial-intelligence algorithms
Some reports will provide quick fixes that will allow you to polish up a
to catch all those issues that Word’s grammar checker misses. What’s
short piece of writing. Other reports will go in depth and reveal areas
more, our team of copy-editors have input thousands of specific checks
where you can do more to improve your writing style.
that they have come across in their years of editing. For example,
While ProWritingAid is not going to do your job for you, it will make they noticed that many writers write “adverse” when they actually
your job easier. You’ll improve your writing style as you use the reports mean “averse”, so when this comes up, the software will offer a short
because you’ll become more aware of the mistakes that you make, just explanation about how the two words are different. This additional
like having a real-life writing coach guiding you. Not every suggestion understanding means you can make sure you select the correct word
will work for every writer, so you’ll have to use your own judgement. not just this time, but every time. You’ll eliminate all the embarrassing
errors from your text and learn not to make them in the future.
THE WRITING STYLE REPORT
The Writing Style Report is one of the most popular and THE OVERUSED WORDS REPORT
comprehensive reports that ProWritingAid offers. We all know that Writers should be wary of many words and phrases in the English
there is a lot more to good writing than just correct grammar, and language that are indicative of poor writing style. Intensifiers like
these suggestions are based on the same ideas you would learn in a “very”, for example, actually weaken your writing, or hesitant words
university writing course. like “just” or “maybe” make your writing feel unconvincing. Words like
these are fine in moderation, but when overused can undermine your
The Style Report highlights several areas of writing that should be ideas. In this report, we’ll flag the problematic words and phrases that
revised to improve readability, including: passive and hidden verbs, are commonly overused by writers, and help you to eliminate them.
over-reliance on adverbs, repeated sentence starts, emotional tells As you work through them, you will be begin to recognize and avoid
and much more. These suggestions are the same as a professional using them in the first place.
copy-editor would give you (in fact many of them use ProWritingAid).
If you are going to send your writing to a copy-editor then, by fixing all THE CLICHÉS AND REDUNDANCIES REPORT
these mistakes upfront, your editor will be able to focus on the more Clichés are the crutch of the lazy writer! Don’t rely on someone else’s dusty
important aspects of your work, such as tone of voice. You’ll get a old imagery. Brainstorm for innovative new ways to express your ideas.
more polished piece of writing as a reward. Fresh metaphors will leave a much stronger impression on your reader.
Never use two words when one will do the job. Redundant wording many short sentences may result in a choppy text. You can see at
adds quantity to your writing, but not quality. Every word in your a glance where adding more short, medium or long sentences will
writing should be there for a reason. This report helps you eliminate round out the piece.
the clutter.
THE PRONOUN REPORT
THE STICKY SENTENCE REPORT Inexperienced writers often rely on pronouns to keep the narrative
Sticky sentences wobble around without getting to the point. They moving: “He did this”, “She did that”, “They ran there”, “I found out.” It’s
are hard to follow, and should be rewritten to increase clarity. dull. On average, published writing contains only 4-15% pronouns. If
your writing contains a higher percentage than that, then you need to
Every sentence contains some words that don’t have any actual replace your pronoun-heavy passages with more dynamic wording.
meaning; they just hold your sentence together: and, in, the, of, etc.
These glue words are empty spaces in your writing that your writer THE TRANSITION REPORT
needs to get through to reach your meaning. Statistics show that Transition words are the road signs in writing – they help your
published texts have a low percentage of glue words, and so should reader move smoothly between ideas. Transitions like “similarly”,
your writing. “nevertheless”, “in order to”, or “as a result” help you show your readers
how separate points go together to support your larger idea. They
THE READABILITY REPORT illustrate agreement, contrast or show cause and effect. One in every
Being a great writer is not about using fancy words – it’s about four sentences (25%) should contain a transition. If your transition
communicating meaning to your readers. If they have to look up score is less than 25%, you should consider adding more road signs.
words or decipher your language in any way, they will be distracted
from your ideas. This report uses the top readability tools out there, THE CONSISTENCY CHECK
including the popular Flesch Reading Ease Score, to analyze your Consistency is essential in writing. It makes it feel professional and
writing and highlight those sentences that will be hard for your reader polished. The Consistency Check highlights inconsistency of spelling,
to understand. hyphenation, capitalization, and punctuation. It also checks to make
sure that you are consistently writing in either American English or
THE REPEATS CHECK British English.
Writers often mistakenly use the same word several times in the
span of one paragraph because it’s foremost in their mind. But those THE PACING CHECK
repeats can set off an echo in the reader’s mind – that subconscious Great fiction always contains fast-paced sections, such as dialogue
feeling of “Didn’t he just say that?” Too much of the same word or and character action, as well as slow-paced sections, such as
phrase can be irritating to read and, worse, it can detract from what introspection and backstory. Both are essential to create a strong
you are trying to say. This report highlights repeated words and narrative and believable characters, but you never want your readers
phrases in your document so you can use a more diverse vocabulary. to feel bored or bogged down by too many long, slow passages. Use
ProWritingAid to monitor your slow-paced sections to make sure your
THE SENTENCE LENGTH REPORT readers never lose interest.
Writing that uses varying sentence lengths keeps the reader’s brain
engaged. Some should be short and punchy, others should be long THE DIALOGUE TAGS CHECK
and flowing. Sentence variety adds an element of music to your Most dialogue tags, aside from “said” and “asked” break that cardinal
writing. ProWritingAid creates a visual representation of your sentence rule of writing: show don’t tell. If you write “Jane exclaimed” after her
lengths so you can pick out areas where you should add more variety. dialogue, you are depending on a word to get Jane’s emotion across.
Too many long sentences may result in a monotonous text, or too Instead, show it to your reader with her actions. Describe how Jane’s
eyes bulge with shock. Make everyone in the room turn to look at her THE HOUSE STYLE CHECK
outburst. Use ProWritingAid to highlight all your dialogue tags and Create customized reports to look for specific issues based on your
get your emotion across in a stronger way. needs. If you are a sports writer, input all the players’ names to make
sure that they are spelled correctly. If you are a fashion designer, create
THE CONTEXTUAL THESAURUS a rule that “fall collection” should always be flagged and corrected to
The contextual thesaurus allows you to explore a range of synonyms by
“autumn collection”. If you’re writing for a client, you can input their
double-clicking any word. Unlike most thesaurus suggestions, our report
style guide rules into ProWritingAid and the software will flag any
offers replacement words that fit within that context of that sentence.
deviations for you. Create the ProWritingAid report that YOU need.
THE DICTION REPORT THE PLAGIARISM REPORT
When it comes to writing, less is more. Too often, writers try to sound
Plagiarism is a major concern for many people, especially those
authoritative by saying simple things in wordy ways. Why write “has the
writing academic works. The plagiarism checks performed by
ability to” when you can write “can”? You’re just using more words to say
ProWritingAid will check your work against over a billion web-pages
the same thing, which makes your writing less clear. We’ll find these
and articles to make sure that you have correctly cited any unoriginal
unnecessarily verbose phrases so you can make every word count.
content. It is easy for unoriginal content to slip into your work, and the
THE ALLITERATION REPORT consequences can be disastrous. You need to purchase credits to use
Alliteration creates a pleasant rhythm when reading and so is often our plagiarism checker, available from as little as $10.
used in fiction, poetry and even advertising. Spark creativity by using
OVER 20 TOOLS IN ONE
ProWritingAid to highlight all instances of alliteration in your text.
We’ve just taken a look at some of our best writing and editing tools.
THE HOMONYM CHECK ProWritingAid is continually evolving to make sure writers have
Homonyms are words that sound the same and are spelled alike but everything they need in one piece of software. Try our free version now
have different meanings – and they slip past spellcheckers all the and see what ProWritingAid can do for you.
time! Our check will also catch homographs (words that are spelled
the same but sound different and have different meanings) and
homophones (words that sound the same but have different spellings
and different meanings). If you write He lost his patients but really
meant He lost his patience, your spellchecker won’t flag it as an error.
The ProWritingAid tool will highlight every word in your document
with a homonym, homograph and homophone so you can double-
check that you have it correct.

THE ACRONYM CHECK

The Acronym Report creates a list of all the acronyms you have used.
Misspelled or inconsistent acronyms are not usually picked up by
normal spell-checkers, so this list allows you to easily scan for errors. It
can also help you create a glossary of acronyms for your text.