Useful software

[prizzley]

Has anyone tried:

1. Proofreading/editing software such as Pro Writing Aid or Edit Minion. I've put a short story through both. I didn't find them particularly user friendly, although they did highlight my repetitions. These two come top in the reviews I've found, but I'd prefer not to post chunks of my writing on someone's website, despite their promises.

2. Cheetaah for Writers. I'm not ready to enter the complications of some of the novel writing software available but this seems to be a reasonable compromise.

Any comments appreciated.

 

[manaheim]

I use editminion extensively for a quick check to make sure I've not gone crazy on adverbs and passive voice and such. I find it invaluable, if a little clunky.

 

[prizzley]

It worked well for that in the short story, except I disagreed on some phrases marked as passive. But I couldn't contemplate putting a novel chapter through it, let alone the whole thing.

 

[M Harold Page]

Has anyone tried:


2. Cheetaah for Writers. I'm not ready to enter the complications of some of the novel writing software available but this seems to be a reasonable compromise.

Any comments appreciated.

Cheetaah is essentially a suite of MS Word macros. I created something very similar - but unreliable - myself some years ago and wrote my first novel that way. Just like Cheetaah, my macros let me include my outline in the body of the text and I found this a great way to draft scenes.

However, Scrivener provides more navigational awareness and is actually pretty simple to use. Can I suggest you download the evaluation version and give that a go?

 

[Tony Jones]

I like Scrivener though it doesn't do what Pro Writing Aid does (which is also free). I wrote a short post on it which I can't link to as I am a newbie!

I evaluated it for non-fiction writing but I am sure it is generally relevant