Everybody makes mistakes. None of us are exempt from that. It’s human nature! When you’re a writer, it’s easy to make mistakes. That’s especially true if you’ve ever stayed up into the wee hours of the night getting those words in.
There’s a tool that I started using about four months after I began freelancing in 2016. It’s been an integral part of how I can write clearly and effectively. This fabulous tool is Grammarly.
How It Works
Grammarly is an automated editor. It will uncover mistakes in your writing and tell you how to fix them, giving you suggestions. Not only that, but it tells you why it’s an error. You’re not only picking up on a mistake you made, but you’re learning why it’s a mistake so you can ultimately improve your writing. There’s nothing better than that.
I don’t know about you, but I am notorious for missing mistakes in my writing. I always say this in my pitches to editing gigs because it’s true. When you’ve written something, and you’re reading it over, you already know what you’ve said (or what you’ve meant) so you don’t always pick up on mistakes. Grammarly is a quick and easy way to identify if you’ve used the wrong word, are being unclear, overusing words, etc. It’s a quick way to get an edit done.
The Ultimate Benefits It Brings You
Simple. It is so simple and easy to uncover silly mistakes in your writing. Even the not-so-silly errors that you didn’t realize you were making can be found!
Reputation. How you write online gives people an impression of you. What impression do you give with your writing? Your writing online is public. If you’re a writer and you have a blog, articles, website, or social media page with glaring mistakes, that doesn’t exactly give you much credibility.
English skills. The last time I took a proper English class was in college over ten years ago. Even then, we weren’t learning too much about sentence structures and all that jazz. Most of that was taught in high school, which was even longer ago. Frankly, I don’t remember every single thing. Luckily, I don’t have to with Grammarly!
Who Benefits From Grammarly
- Authors. This tool benefits authors in many ways. First, of course, is in the actual writing of your work. It’s also a great tool to have if you’re pitching or querying. In this case, it’s even more crucial to have proper writing etiquette. You don’t want an agent to toss your book aside based on a poorly written query letter.
- Freelancers. For most freelancers, you build your portfolio based on previous work, or you use a blog or website. You want your portfolio to be professional, and you want to give your clients the best piece of work. That means keeping your writing pristine.
- Content Creators. If you create content online, you want to appear professional. You want your content to speak volumes of you. Whether you’re writing social media posts or blogs, you need your writing to be clear and concise.
- Business Professionals. You want to be taken seriously in your job, don’t you? Whether you’re writing out an action plan, presentation, or a simple email, you want the words you say to be a reflection of your work ethic.
- Students. I’ve been a student burning the midnight oil to get my work done. I rarely edited my papers. I wish I had had Grammarly back then! It would have been a great way to avoid missing a few marks for stupid errors in my writing. Ensure that you hand in an excellent paper using Grammarly (plus, if you go with the Premium plan, you’ll know if you’ve plagiarized anything).
Finding A Plan That Works For You
Grammarly comes with three plans so you can decide which one will work for you. When I first started, I used the Free Plan. It had everything I needed at the time. Recently, I switched to the Premium Plan. I’m so glad I did. It’s going to be a fantastic tool when I go through and edit my current work-in-progress.
Here’s a brief breakdown of the three plans, but you can click here to learn more about them.
- Free: Basic writing corrections. Evaluates grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors, and wordiness.
- Premium: Advanced writing feedback. Evaluate inconsistent writing style, ineffective vocabulary, inappropriate tone or formality level, and more.
- Business: All Premium features for teams of 3 – 100. Included are powerful management tools such as team usage statistics, priority email support, and more.
One of my favorite features all users get is the ability to add a plug-in on Google Chrome. I don’t always have to go to the Grammarly website to discover my errors. It shows them to me as I’m writing, whether it’s drafting a blog post, writing an email, or creating social media content.
You can also add the tool right into Microsoft Office. That is perfect for writers using a PC!
Grammarly is a fantastic tool, but it’s not the end-all, be-all of editors in most cases. If you’re writing a book, for example, having an actual person edit your book is crucial. But, if you’re a freelancer like me, have a blog, or are a professional, using Grammarly is an efficient way to ensure your writing makes sense.
Please note that this page contains affiliate links. That means that if you click through to make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. I would never attach my name to something that I do not believe in or support, so rest assured I will only promote products and companies that I use and trust. If you have any questions or need guidance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
