Writing is not easy. Often you may think a sentence looks fine only to find spelling and grammar errors when it is too late.
Here are some online writing tools to use to upgrade your next writing project; whether it be a school report or a personal story project.
Grammarly
If you haven’t used it, you’ve definitely at least seen it.
Grammarly is a digital writing tool that you can install as a browser extension or use to write your draft on their website. The browser extension essentially acts as an upgraded spell-checker tool, not just immediately highlighting any wrong spelling, but also any improper grammar usage. The extension also has support for Google Docs which is currently in beta.
The webpage version goes more in-depth into checking your sentences, informing you if your sentence is too wordy and detecting if your piece fits the overall tone. There is also a premium version that brings more features like suggesting different word usage, letting you know if the writing style is consistent and checking for plagiarism, among others.
The premium version is available in three different plans, offering plans to people who either want to be billed monthly, quarterly or annually. Monthly payment comes in at US$29.95 (S$40.65) per month, quarterly payment at US$19.98 (S$27.12) per month and annual payment at US$11.66 (S$15.82) per month.
Hemingway
Hemingway is another digital writing tool you can use to refine your draft. Though it does not have a browser extension available, you can do your edits over on their website or purchase their desktop application.
Hemingway functions similarly to Grammarly. You can simply write your draft on the website itself or copy and paste what you’ve already written beforehand. What makes Hemingway stand out is visuals. Mistakes found are highlighted to the user, with different colours representing different aspects like red for hard-to-read sentences — making for a more visually appealing editor.
What Hemingway does not offer is suggesting alternatives like Grammarly. While this may seem inconvenient in comparison, it helps writers practise on their writing skills.
Their desktop app is available to purchase at US$19.99 (S$27.13) and allows you full access to their features without needing any internet connection — perfect for those who write while out and about. Additional features include one-click publishing on sites like Wordpress.
SentenceCheckup
If you want a quick and simple way to check if your writing is up to scratch, SentenceCheckup is the best option for you.
Every feature is on the website itself. That means that no need to worry about price plans or having the inconvenience of creating an account before having access to its features. All you have to do is simply write or copy over your draft and click on the “Checkup” button. It’ll analyse what you have written and suggest corrections for grammar and readability.
One thing that makes it stand out from the rest is the fact that you can copy and paste images within your draft — extremely helpful for people who are using images in their writing work and keeps them from having to attach the images later manually.
There’s an option to for a Deep Check as well which redirects you to Grammarly for a more thorough check on your work.
Who are these editors for?
These language editors are indeed useful for checking your work, but which editor is more useful for you?
Those who like to be thorough with their work might want to consider using Grammarly. Grammarly is able to catch most mistakes while also offering suggestions to help with readability. However, if you have a long draft, you may get lost if there’s a lot of corrections and you’ll need to pay a hefty amount to get access to it’s full list of features.
Then there’s Hemingway, which provides visuals cues for suggestions, making it easier for writers who enjoy working with colour-coded prompts. You can also do edits offline unlike Grammarly but it is a feature that you have to pay for.
Finally, SentenceCheckup is the quickest option for writers to use. Though it may not necessarily boast the most functions compared to the others, the convenience it offers with things like image attachments bring a all-new level of convenience which the other two language editors don’t offer.
These editors appeal to a wide variety of people. Students with massive report assignments can use these editors to quickly weed out the mistakes on route to getting that A+. Working professionals can also use these language editors to help them write in a more appropriate tone as they work towards securing that all-important client. With these language editors, writing can be a little easier for you.
