Writing goals

[thecatumbrella]

Ooo, I also want to share one of my favorite free writing tools:
OneLook Thesaurus

It's probably in my top 10 most visited sites. I'm using it right now to find an alternative phrase for "one-stop", so the thesaurus is good for more than just single words.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

I actually have a lifetime license for ProWritingAid! I tested it against AutoCrit and Grammarly after finishing my first book, and I admit, it was challenging to choose between the 3. My biggest editing hangups are repetitive word usage (like your "was" catch) and keeping a consistent tense. I'm pretty good at varying sentence structure on my first go.

Editing just triggers my need to "pick". Oh, could this be a better word? Or what if I changed this around? It can snowball into an editing trap that I never get out of, then ultimately start to resent my work.

I like your idea of getting into a routine. I'm not a routine person myself, but it's a quality I should probably work on! I'm very accountable when other people are involved; not so much with myself and personal goals.

That's so cool you have a lifetime license to it! I'm only using the free, which adds an extra challenge because it doesn't show me how to fix the things it's underlining, and unlike Grammarly, there's no "dismiss" buttons for those, so I have to take the information they give me and try figuring out the issue on my own.

I get the editing trap. I pick apart my stuff so much that I'm picking apart published books by best-selling authors. But, actually, since I've caught myself picking on published work, it has actually helped me with my own. If that work has hundreds to over a thousand of reviews on just Amazon alone, and I'm picking at things, then my work isn't as bad as I thought it was. I've just accidentally taught my brain to tear it apart when it's actually good and others are selling enough to make a living off it.

Ooo, I also want to share one of my favorite free writing tools:
OneLook Thesaurus

It's probably in my top 10 most visited sites. I'm using it right now to find an alternative phrase for "one-stop", so the thesaurus is good for more than just single words.

I was going to mention a Thesaurus! That one looks like it has more to offer than what I've been using. I've been getting frustrated because I'm typically looking for verbs, and mine likes to give everything but. Seeing that can do phrases too makes it even more helpful and I wish I had it earlier. I got stuck on trying to find a word for how someone was holding their mouth and not even Google could give me a word!


If you don't mind me asking, have you published anything yet?

 

[Isabella7Storm5]

I don't use any writing aids.

The only one I use is the built in and very inaccurate red squiggly line on Google docs

And I don’t really use it cuz it’s usually just a name

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

The only one I use is the built in and very inaccurate red squiggly line on Google docs

And I don’t really use it cuz it’s usually just a name

Google docs LOVES Thing's name and always offers to rewrite perfectly good sentences because she's not allowed to do 90% of things

 

[thecatumbrella]

That's so cool you have a lifetime license to it! I'm only using the free, which adds an extra challenge because it doesn't show me how to fix the things it's underlining, and unlike Grammarly, there's no "dismiss" buttons for those, so I have to take the information they give me and try figuring out the issue on my own.

If anyone's ever interested, they discount 50% for Black Friday. But yes, the underlining can be so frustrating and nonspecific. It also flags things that are completely fine, which makes you get into your own head a bit too much!

I pick apart my stuff so much that I'm picking apart published books by best-selling authors. But, actually, since I've caught myself picking on published work, it has actually helped me with my own. If that work has hundreds to over a thousand of reviews on just Amazon alone, and I'm picking at things, then my work isn't as bad as I thought it was.

Same! If I can actually shut my brain up and read, that means I'm reading something quality. But I've heard a few times that good writing doesn't = good sales. You just need to keep people interested in what comes next. Now I write in constant fear of boring readers.

If you don't mind me asking, have you published anything yet?

Not yet. I wanted to publish this year, but I've been sluggish getting back into a groove (hence all the articles to warm up). But it's only March, so it could still happen!

How about yourself (and everyone else here)? Has anyone published?

 

[Isabella7Storm5]

Google docs LOVES Thing's name and always offers to rewrite perfectly good sentences because she's not allowed to do 90% of things

It loves all my names
It loves MY name

 

[notabitail]

The only one I use is the built in and very inaccurate red squiggly line on Google docs

And I don’t really use it cuz it’s usually just a name

Yah, it flags a lot of tech things for no good reason. I don't use Google Docs but supposedly the I in iPhone has to be in caps if it's at the start of a sentence.