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Hello, guys!
As you probably already know, bitLanders are in the process of implementing new rules, where videos and galleries will not be counted in the base buzz score. This basically means that they need quality blogs, which will be rewarded higher than the other types of content. In the light of all that, I want to give some ideas regarding useful tools for checking writing style, grammar, and spelling, which can contribute to achieving a better quality of our blogs. And I'm specifically referring to English grammar and this will be the main point of my post as the submissions for blogs can be only in English according to the bitLanders FAQs. There are a lot of grammar tools because many companies try to provide a good solution to their users and eventually improve it in the future, but that's not always an easy task to do.
image source: screenshot of Micky's blog
Depending on the purpose of writing there are different options one can choose from. Some checkers offer more general spelling and grammar corrections while others are looking for in-depth errors as well. It's a question of the main reason or idea of the text. For example, spelling might defer slightly depending on whether you want to write in British English or American English, especially regarding some specific words, common for those languages. On the other hand, grammar will also be different if we compare it in an official email against a friendly blog post. So, when choosing the proper grammar checker it is important to understand that it has to be suitable for our needs. The best grammar tools offer a few options, which one can choose from but there are also checkers that specialize and advance in a particular area of writing.
The word grammar is derived from Greek γραμματικὴ τέχνη (grammatikē technē), which means "art of letters", from γράμμα (gramma), "letter", itself from γράφειν (graphein), "to draw, to write". The same Greek root also appears in graphics, grapheme, and photograph.
I'll be mentioning three grammar tools as these are the ones I've personally tried and have my impression about them already. And I don't feel like talking about a product I've never tried. These tools are Grammarly, WhiteSmoke, and ProWritingAid. And that's the exact order I'm most frequently using them.
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Grammarly
image source: screenshot of Grammarly home page
I'm certain that most people who use online tools to improve their writing have definitely heard of Grammarly. It is so widely advertised and popular that I don't think there is a chance that you type 'grammar checker' in any search engine and this app doesn't pop up. In fact, it will most probably pop up at the first place or near it. To be honest, I like Grammarly and that's the tool I use most often. And the main reason for me to like it is not that I don't know most of the grammar rules. But it's more about fixing unintentional spelling and grammar mistakes made due to fast writing. As usually, I don't feel like wasting time going back and reading each word separately just to find out I missed a single letter. It is far more convenient to have it underlined and fixed right away after one click.
image source: screenshot of Grammarly
For a non-native speaker or even for natives the tool is useful for some more advanced grammar concepts, such as specific punctuation. For me, punctuation is the hardest part in writing. Most of the times I either add a comma that is not needed or I don't add it at all. Grammarly not only shows where the error is but it also gives additional information about the reason for the error, i.e. why there should or shouldn't be a comma at a certain place. This way the tool can also be a good reference and a learning opportunity for one's weakest parts of the English grammar.
video source: www.youtube.com
WhiteSmoke
WhiteSmoke is a different tool in a way; it allows editing directly through your browser. Once installed it can be used as a home page and accessed directly after opening the browser or opening a new tab. It has quite a few statistics which indicate the overall level of writing in regards to style, grammar, spelling, and sentence structure. It also provides additional details about specific writing issues, such as redundancy, voice and sentence length. The tool measures the quality of the text based on the average of all writing issues. Like for example, if one of the components such as an excessive use of passive voice is at a low level, then the text is rated as poor or fair. To reach excellent all of the components need to be near to excellent.
image source: screenshot of WhiteSmoke
The errors are underlined in different colors depending on the type of mistake, and you have the option to click on it and choose out of several suggestions which one suits you best. Another option is to correct it using your own wording ignoring the suggested corrections. Most of the times the suggestions are useful but there are rare exceptions when it is better to ignore the error as in cases of complex sentences. Besides the grammar checker, WhiteSmoke also offers automated translation, plagiarism checker and many document templates which can be modified and used for different purposes. At any rate, it is a useful tool to consider.
image source: screenshot of WhiteSmoke
ProWritingAid
image source: screenshot of ProWritingAid
Another option to enhance your writing is ProWritingAid. The tool can be used online and it is especially useful for academic writing, in my opinion. It has multiple checking opportunities. So, for me, this tool is not only for grammar and spelling but also for other useful checks, like readability, consistency, writing style, repeated words, and many many more. In fact, once you open their editing tool you will see a whole menu bar of options and checks that can be performed. Besides having a free version, ProWritingAid also offers a paid version with a bunch of additional features, like a Desktop app, a Chrome extension, and basically anything needed to implement and use the tool anywhere you need. Plus some other tweaks of the tool, which I'm not going to list, but you can easily find at their official website. When I first started writing blogs, this was the tool I used the most. And since then, it has significantly improved as I see new features have been added and/or enhanced. It is a grammar checker I definitely recommend.
video source: www.youtube.com
All tools I mentioned have a free version. Sometimes they offer discounts for a particular period of time to try or purchase their paid product, so it's up to anyone to decide whether it will be a good investment or not. And of course, using an annual plan, for example, would be cheaper than paying monthly. I'm happy with using all of them to check my writing.
image source: www.google.com
In my opinion, grammar tools are extremely useful up to a certain point. So it's important that besides fixing obvious errors, to consider that there will be exceptions in some cases. For example, I've noticed that if I don't use a comma at its proper place, sometimes the grammar checkers get confused and underline an error based on the pre-defined settings they have. It doesn't necessarily mean I made a mistake but rather that complex sentences are not always easy to be automatically checked. However, for obvious mistakes, it's important to use and fix with a tool for ensuring faster writing.
Basically, that will be all for now. Hopefully, I managed to give some useful information. See you in my next blog!
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Thanks for reading!
- NinaB
