My Experience with Some Editing Tools for Authors

Let's be honest: not all of us want to pour hours of our time correcting, rereading, drafting, redrafting, cutting content, adding content... I'm sure you get the point. But unfortunately, it's a necessary EVIL.

There are a lot of tools out there that can make it a little less painful. I, for one, am glad to have them. It keeps me from slamming my head repeatedly into a wall or scaring my family into stunned silence. Though I still scare them a bit when I wake up and am undercaffeinated, that's a story for another day.

The tools I currently use are as follows:

• Word

• Grammarly

• Bing Chat/ChatGPT

First and foremost, SHUT OFF EDITING IN WORD while you are using Grammarly. I made the mistake of leaving them running at the same time. I wanted to poke my eyes out and hit something. The problem is that they conflict with one another. I wound up in a continuous loop like a scene from Groundhog Day. You can thank me later for my sacrifice.

Second, if you use these programs or ones like them, really look at the suggestions and ask yourself these questions:

• Does this sound like MY voice?

• Does this add to or take away from flow or engagement?

• Does my target audience speak this way?

• Would I read this?

Now, let's talk about the AI (i.e., ChatGPT, Bing) in the room. There are hundreds of articles that discuss the use of AI in writing. I won't touch on any of those subjects beyond the benefit of helping with editing. I just won't go there.

The way I use it is as follows:

• Proofreading for grammar and dialog flow

• Show, don't tell, where I did well or need improvement.

• Is my writing fitting for my Genre, where it works and where it doesn't?

I've personally found the AI aspect helpful. It can become very frustrating to send it to an editor and come back looking like a redacted file of some secret operative. Remember that these are just suggestions; your final product should come from your creativity and/or warped mind. Okay, maybe yours isn't warped. No judgment here. The point is AI helps me to improve my editing skills without taking away from my creativity. A few points to consider if you choose to try this:

• Be specific in your prompts (questions you ask it). For example, include specific attributes in the prompt, such as the genre, audience, and writing style. Here is an example question from my current project: - How does this prologue fit within the YA genre targeting YA fantasy/romance readers? Suggest some edits to improve the appeal with mystery, romance, and a little wit.

• Rewrite if you incorporate any and ask for feedback.

• Always check for plagiarism, especially if you pull any wording changes.

These are my opinions and experiences. Was this helpful? Do you have any experience with these or other tools? I'd love to see your experiences and comments.