Hemmingway

Comment: I should have changed the order of the blog posts. In an ideal world, I would’ve started with Hemmingway, moved to Grammarly, then wowed (overwhelmed?) with ProWritingAid. I say this because the program has underwhelmed me.

Hemmingway is an online grammar editing tool. You can purchase the software for desktop for a mere $20 for a full license. I’ve opted not to buy the software as I don’t think I will use the program for more than the blog. 

The app checks grammar and clarity issues. Cut and paste the text on to the web page and Hemmingway will go to work. 

•  Readability—The app uses a grade level to assess readability. (My work got Grade 3, “Good.” An article on Facebook got a Post-Graduate rating, with a “Poor, aim for 14.”)
• Word Count Plus—Word count is listed next, but if you click on the down arrow, you also get reading time, letters, characters, words, sentences, and paragraphs.

Highlighted Items
In this section, the program highlights each issue to differentiate problems.

• Adverbs—Blue. It counts adverbs with a percentage of the entire piece with a goal number for the word count. (E.g.: I had a 675-word piece and it advised no more than 10 adverbs.) The suggestion to fix it is usually Omit.
• Passive Voice—Green. Highlights all cases of passive voice with a target. (Again, for 675 words, the passive goal was 15 or fewer.) It does not suggest corrections.
• Easier Phrases—Purple. Highlights places where simpler terms could be used. The program will suggest a few word choices or Omit.
• Hard-to-Read Sentences—Yellow. The app highlights any sentences that are difficult to read. No suggestions given to fix the problem.
• Hard-to-Read Paragraphs—Red. Red coloring indicates paragraphs that are tough to read. (The The Facebook article was completely red.)

Hemmingway is also a word processor. You can write on the app with some simple formatting options like Bold, Italic, Headings, Making a Quotation, Bullets, Numbers, and Links. But there is no way to save your work. Cut and paste anything you’ve written to another app to save it.

And that’s it. Hemmingway is a quick, simple editor that will not do the work for you. It works great if you are looking for a straightforward scan of your doc to see where you are. If you need more complex editing, try a heftier grammar app.