I revisited where I’d gotten to, and decided going through the last few windows didn’t really make much sense. These were all AutoCrit windows, and except for the actual details of the points they want to make you aware of, they’re pretty much the same.
The words or phrases they flag as worthy of review show up in the right sidebar, just like almost all the others. Clicking on one will highlight each occurrence in the text, as shown in the editor window, and allow you to make changes as you see appropriate.
Again I repeat, make no changes just because AutoCrit says you should. Make sure that you believe the change—any change—will improve your work, make it easier to understand, or make your message clearer. Can’t stress that enough. These are tools, not gods of any sort.
In the menu bar, we still have Planning, Readability and Inspiration.
Readability gives you information, but I’m not clear on what to do with it. It seems that making any changes to these measurements would affect your voice, and thus, you should be careful about doing so.
On the other hand, if you have complaints that your work is difficult to read, for example, or perhaps, too simple (going the other way), these data may give you some explanation, though again, it’s not clear just how to use the information or how to correct what is likely a systemic problem.
Complex Words under Readability
The Complex Words tab, on the other hand, may be useful in flagging words that non-cognoscenti will have difficulty with; those may benefit from a judicious edit.
Planning is intended to assist in beginning your writing, and that’s not something I trust to AutoCrit.
Inspiration is much the same, except when you run out of ideas in the middle instead of the beginning.
Personal preference: so far, I use neither of these tools.
I believe that either or both of these tools can help you clean up a ms before sending it on for further editing or perhaps a reading group. However, that’s only true if you remember that you are the author, it is your work, and you pay attention to the recommendations , to ensure they help you say what you want to say.
Don’t be confused by their recommendations. The false positives I pointed out didn’t result from a careful selection of scenes to use for these posts. The tools are not even part way to perfect.
Add to the errors we can all agree on, all the ones that reflect differences in meaning, or worse, opinion. It’s a wonder we can agree on any changes.
If you choose to utilize either of these tools, or any other, make sure you implement changes that improve your work, don’t just change it.
It’s your work, be proud of it!
Til next time.
Questions and comments welcome as always.
