Advances in technology always disrupt.
I’m sure hard-working scribes were pretty annoyed at the invention of the printing press.
How many bank employees lost their jobs over the years due to cash machines and then online banking?
Self-scanning and checkout in supermarkets cost cashiers their jobs.
Technology continually changes our lives and how we work. There is hardly a profession that hasn’t had to change and adapt to information technology.
When it comes to writing, grammar, and spell checking, are human editors and proofreaders in danger of becoming redundant?
Grammarly and Prowritingaid are the two most popular online English language writing checkers at present.
So many writers use them every day to correct and improve their writing and make it easy to read.
But can the technology in these tools honestly replace a qualified professional human editor?
Do these tools perform all the tasks of an experienced proofreader?
In a lot of respects, yes, they can and do, but not entirely.
Related reading:Is Grammarly a safe and secure application?
This post was proofread by Grammarly
How you use Grammarly
Like all tools, you need to set it up and use it correctly. Grammarly is not a wonder tool that will perform magic on its own.
You need to set your English language choice, your style, and your type of writing. You might decide to integrate it with Microsoft Word or use the desktop editor.
The right answer to the question, can Grammarly replace an editor, is no, not by itself. It’s not an automatic robot.
The only way Grammarly can work is when you use it and work with it together.
In other words, tools like Grammarly and Prowritingaid help you to become the replacement for an editor and proofreader.
The tools can certainly help you, but you are the decision-maker.
Although AI is smart, it’s not perfect, and far from it. But I must say that in my experience that with a premium account, it gets things right 80-85% of the time.
That’s not too bad and can save you a lot of time when checking your writing.
But you can’t publish any text that is only 85% correct, even for a quick post on social media.
That’s where you, your eyes, and your brain have to work to correct a text and make it as perfect as possible.
You need to change hats from being a writer and turn into an eagle-eyed editor.
Writing is about being creative. But editing is about accuracy and attention to tiny details.
With help, you replace an editor
Electronic tools alone, like Grammarly, can’t replace an editor or proofreader.
But when you use them to help you, you can then partially replace them.
This post was proofread by Grammarly
Used wisely, you can find mistakes and typos quickly and easily and make the necessary corrections.
Always remember, though, that you are in charge and not your tools. You need to think about every suggestion your tools make and then decide how you will act.
Will you accept a change, modify it or ignore it?
Here’s an example of a simple punctuation error.
A misplaced comma is the type of error that is often not easy to spot.
With Grammarly, though, it brings it to your attention, and you can fix it with one click. There is also an explanation to help you understand the mistake.
However, you often need to make a decision about some suggestions.
In this example of a passive voice phrase, you need to decide if it is appropriate to change to the active voice.
In some cases, the answer will be yes, but other times, no.
There are some suggestions you will need to ignore. Here is a suggestion to rephrase a famous quotation.
In this case, you wouldn’t want to hit the rephrase button. You don’t change a single word of a quotation.
But here’s an example of making a decision as an editor.
There’s clearly a word choice problem here. You could use ‘nearly’ as recommended, or you could also use ‘next to’ as a replacement.
This is a great example of why you are in charge and not the writing tool. You replace the editor with the help of Grammarly.
For every grammar, punctuation, or spelling point or error that Grammarly highlights, you can’t simply click and approve a change.
Always think about each point and then decide what the best option is for you to take.
You and your writing tools are cheap
You’re not going to replace a development editor with Grammarly or any other tool.
But you can tackle copyediting, which is correcting grammar, fixing mistakes, and polishing a text or manuscript.
The cost of hiring a professional editor is expensive. You can check the rates quoted on the Editorial Freelancers Association for a guide.
In general, you will be looking at somewhere between $30 to $60 per hour.
Grammarly’s annual premium subscription rates cost very little per month, depending on which subscription option you choose.
If you choose only one month, it is $29.00. An annual subscription works out to about $11.00 per month.
Prowritingaid is even a little less by comparison at $20.00 for one month and under $7.00 per month on an annual subscription.
It’s your money. But for most self-publishing authors and writers, it’s a pretty simple choice to make.
Sure, you’re not going to get the help and advice a human editor or proofreader can give you.
But at the same time, can you afford one, two, or three thousand dollars or even a lot more?
For most authors and writers, premium writing tools are a practical and economical solution.
However, you have to invest heavily in your time, energy, and concentration and become your own editor and proofreader.
There is one other benefit. You may still want to use a professional editor.
It will cost you a lot less if you do most of the work before sending off your manuscript.
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