Writing Software: How To Use ProWritingAid To Improve Your Writing And Self-Edit Your Book

We all need to improve our writing craft and working with a professional editor is the best way to do that. But there are ways to improve your writing before you submit to an editor (or an agent or a publisher), and writing software, ProWritingAid, can help you do that.
In this video tutorial, I'll show you how I'm using ProWritingAid and why it beats Grammarly for fiction authors, in particular.
In the video, I go through:
Why it's worth using an online writing tool as well as professional editors and proofreaders
Grammar issues, passive writing
Spelling issues - you can choose the country-specific spelling in settings
Sentence length, sentence structure, overused words, repeated words, dialogue tags, clichés and redundancies
Fixing curly vs straight quotation marks
Thesaurus and Word Explorer - for word nerds (like me!)
Integration with Scrivener
Emails and website copy within Chrome
ProWritingAid vs Grammarly
Get the free edition: www.TheCreative...
Get 25% off the premium edition: www.ProWritingA...
If you want to do a comparison of writing software, you can also check out my Grammarly tutorial here: www.thecreativ...
Transcript and links: www.thecreativ...
[Please note, I am an affiliate of both ProWritingAid and Grammarly, which means if you use my link, I will receive a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I personally use and think are great for authors.]

[@richardkeenan3079]

Thanks so much Joanna, picking it up! Got Scrivener, and outlined and plot of my first novel completed and i'm 7% of the way through my first fantasy novel draft! YAY!!! hahaha it's happening, and I'm learning and improving a ton as I go! It's never about being perfect our first go, just doing our best right and this tool is really going to help me with that I think! Thank you!

[@thecreativepenn]

Great!

[@mrsiz218]

How are you reading my mind?! I just opted in to the paid version of this. Perfect timing! Wish I had waited now. Could have used your affiliate links. Oh well lol. You freakin’ rock, Joanna!!❤️❤️

[@thecreativepenn]

I hope it's helpful!

[@michael7770]

So glad I found your Channel, it's fabulous. And love the look of ProWritingAid.

[@patriciavonjohnson]

This a short yet concise video, power packed with pertinent information for all writers. Thank you Joanna.

[@RhiannonFutchAuthor]

Thank you for this video! I tried it while listening and I am in love. Was still going through a manuscript when I heard you say we could use your link for 25% off. SOLD! I went straight to the site and got 2 years.

[@thecreativepenn]

Great! Glad it was useful :)

[@jessicaargyle6015]

I just used your affiliate link so thanks for the discount! What convinced me is the ease of use with Scrivener. I'm still using a professional copyeditor for my sequel to "No Name Key" but this will easily pay for itself when I don't have to hire a proofreader.

[@thecreativepenn]

Great! I LOVE using PWA with Scrivener.

[@JohnJLillie]

Thanks for this great vid. I used your link and got it. After having used it I think I am going to change my word list to always put in a comma. LOL Thanks and keep up the great work.

[@thecreativepenn]

Commas are my nemesis!

[@kmandu5028]

Sweet. I copped it just because you're awesome.

[@lauralai9694]

It's obvious that you're super excited about this software! If a (British) English native speaker (and writer!) is so thrilled with it, I can rightly assume that I'll do, too, as a non-native speaker. It improves both writing and vocabulary. Your repetitive word is 'really'? Mine is 'very'. Joanna, thank you VERY much for this explicit tutorial! 😃

[@thecreativepenn]

I also use 'very' too much :) Glad you found it useful.

[@lauralai9694]

@@thecreativepenn Good luck with your writing! Keep up the great work!

[@drewmonroe3747]

Hello Joanna. Thank you for your honest reviews for ProWritingAid. I use grammarly (subscription) BUT it cannot interact with Open Office or Scrivener like PWA does. I have trusted your words, and along with your discount, I have just subscribed to ProWritingAid. I see you have a video on how to use Scrivener. I have Scrivener, and hope your video helps because it's one tool that I have not been able to fully understand how to use. I do love Open Office, which I have used for years for writing my novels. Thank you and have also subscribed to your channel👍

[@thecreativepenn]

Thanks, and I hope you find PWA useful. I still use it on every book, as well as Scrivener. They are my main writing tools.

[@shellieenteen8126]

You say near the end that you write in Scrivener, and I write in Windows 10. Just getting clarity about the fact that this will interface with Windows 10 without being in Scrivener first. Thank you. This looks awesome.

[@ferdous_khalifa]

Thank you so much!

[@andrewfrost8866]

Excellent, thank you! Oh, and I have taken advantage of your 25% off offer! Thank you again.

[@garyw.feather2750]

Thanks for the tip, Joanna. It sounds useful. I'm thinking about it.

[@simonrubi6404]

Loved to listen to you at the book fair this year! Thanks!

[@thecreativepenn]

Thanks, I should be there again in 2024.

[@dagnole]

A very thorough and helpful introduction to Pro WritingAid, thank you!

[@thecreativepenn]

Glad it was helpful!

[@patrickvanmil1336]

Thank you very much for this tutorial and for the discount! Both my wife and I have taken advantage of it. Keep up the good work.

[@jaqhare]

A very helpful video!

[@al_humphreys]

Very helpful - thank you!

[@thecreativepenn]

Glad it was helpful!

[@chrisdyson5513]

Thank you for this. Really useful.

[@StarBoundFables]

Thanks for making this tutorial, Joanna 😃 I really like the in-depth tutoring within the app + the whole fact that they make eBooks for authors seems really cool! I feel like this will greatly enhance my writing 🙏🏽

[@paulbeckmann]

Fab demo! Very helpful!

[@omwowcom]

Thanks, this was a helpful walkthrough!

[@WFMeyer]

Thanks Joanna, this was very useful.

[@calamityinsane7700]

Fantastic lesson Joanne. Thank you 🙏

[@sarahlouise01]

Great video Joanna and perfect timing - just about to run my WiP through ProWritingAid - thank you!

[@thecreativepenn]

I think you will find it helps :)

[@prowritingaidtv7351]

Great! Let us know if you have any questions. We're always available at [e-mail]

[@kristinaparker5597]

This was extremely helpful and informative. Thank you.

[@sanjaycolaco]

Thanks, Joanna, for this precise, clear and detailed video. Have a Blessed day !!!

[@thecreativepenn]

Glad it was helpful!

[@AgileAcq]

That was really helpful thank you!

[@thecreativepenn]

Glad it was helpful!

[@nikkiguerlain]

Looks great! Thx for the vid & link!

[@nickholmeshistorian]

Very useful video thanks Joanna!

[@RotterStudios]

great video thanks. looking for something for blogs and also when I start writing books. think I'll try this out. subbed.

[@0102city]

Thanks, Joanna. I’m intending to use this. I know it’s no replacement for a pro editor but if you can’t afford one, is Pro Writing Aid the next best thing?

[@thecreativepenn]

Yes, for line edits - although of course, it can't help with structure or feedback on characters or plot etc

[@m.f.hopkins8728]

I'm like you, P.F. I can't afford editors either, so PWA really helps!

[@kamm7981]

Really useful. Thank you, Joanna. I have it and love using it. The only thing is, I find when I try working on the whole document that it is very slow. Could be my Internet too!

[@thecreativepenn]

I open it in Scrivener, so then it just does a chapter at a time. It find that very fast.

[@paulrobinson9087]

I am so glad I watched your video, it seems to superior to Grammarly.

[@thecreativepenn]

I found Grammarly very good, but PWA definitely surpasses it, especially with long-form content. I still recommend them both though as for bloggers and article writers, Grammarly can also be useful.

[@kirstencorby8465]

Very helpful, thank you Joanna.

[@ChuObii]

Brilliant video Joanna, thanks so much!

[@thecreativepenn]

You're so welcome!

[@Discoverywellness-mh9vf]

Hi Joanna, you hooked me correctly."Get 25% off the premium edition." Thanks a lot for the video.

[@thecreativepenn]

Glad I could help!

[@emmadhesi]

Thank you Jo, as always you're a huge help :)

[@stevemerrifield5580]

Great review. Think I'm going to get this. Maybe I'll stop throwing punctuation around like confetti 😁 Thanks for sharing!

[@thecreativepenn]

It definitely helps with over-enthusiastic exclamation marks!!!!

[@AlexRawlings]

Thanks, Joanna this is really useful. I tried the desktop app but it wouldn't give me the option to split my book, nor did it link with the cloud, very frustrating. So I just use the in-browser app that links with the cloud.

[@eto895]

Thanks Joanna.. used the 25%. It really helpful.. in the email it says Lifetime but at the portal the expiry 2061 .. it supposes to be lifetime as well who know if I live forever :)

[@timtrottproductions]

It works well with Atticus.

[@hans935]

DONE... 15:45 seeing this really sinks it in for me.

[@TedMattos]

Goodness! I was so grateful to hear your struggles with commas. I truly believe that commas were invented by a group of ranting masochists! ;) Thanks for the great video, Joanna! :)

[@thecreativepenn]

Glad you liked it :) It is incredible how many writers struggle with commas!

[@MrIndermakhija]

Thank you for explaining all the features. Agree with you, looks more effective than grammerly.

[@thecreativepenn]

It definitely is for fiction :)

[@kryssysmith1486]

A little trick to remember the comma I was told this many years ago when you need to take a breath is when you need to put in the comma. Example "Well, he did XY and Z for his essay."

[@thecreativepenn]

That's not actually true though :) I also thought that for years, but working with an editor and also narrating my own books, I have learned that commas don't equate to breaths!

[@kryssysmith1486]

@@thecreativepenn Well thank you, for the new information. 😁😁😁😁

[@chistinelee4283]

Thank you, Joanna. A beneficial video. Does Prowriting offer prompts like Grammarly? For example, Rephrasing to make the article more descriptive, and persuasive?

[@thecreativepenn]

Yes, and I find it better than Grammarly for most long form work

[@TheHaratashi]

Thank you for this great video. I'm going to switch to prowritingaid because I was using Grammarly and when I got to page 51 it said it only supports up to 50 pages. Not much help for someone writing novels etc.

[@thecreativepenn]

I use PWA with Scrivener so I can tackle a chapter at a time. You can do longer documents, but all these systems work better when you break it into chunks.

[@TheHaratashi]

@@thecreativepenn Ok thank you for the tip and reply. Right now I'm working on a dissertation but after that I want to work on non-fiction books and novels. The only thing I've published is just a short story book with 4 short stories on Amazon, but I'm just not good at sentence to sentence writing. I've taken like 200 fiction and creative writing classes but they don't teach just basic English writing. Thank you again for the reply and the video.

[@k9hannibal]

This is cool! I didn’t know it did all that thanks!

[@taunasonn-lemarbe7267]

I didn't either and I use it for general fixing.

[@keshabkaflay9075]

Thanks, Joanna- will go through your link for the premium ProWritingAid.

[@thecreativepenn]

Awesome, thank you!

[@asyed1995]

Writing creative .

[@TedMattos]

Question - I like how PWA points out "long sentences". Are we able to click on that number and be taken to those sentences? Is it that user-friendly? :)

[@thecreativepenn]

I'm not sure - just try it out for free!

[@prowritingaidtv7351]

Yes! Just click the bars in the sentence length report and it will take you straight to that sentence in your document.

[@TedMattos]

@@prowritingaidtv7351 - Thanks so much for taking the time to answer! :)

[@1089-w4g]

Don't matter how long you take, long as you do it cause you love to

[@judybackhouse]

It seems that the integration with Scrivener has moved on from what was depicted here. The help text at PWA says "When you download ProWritingAid Everywhere, it won't open as an app like our other integrations. However, it will appear in the Apps & Features settings on your computer or Mac (once available). Instead, it installs onto your computer (or Mac) and then automatically appears within compatible programmes - such as Word, Scrivener, PowerPoint, Evernote, LibreOffice, WhatsApp and more." So I guess this means that you have to open Scrivener and NOT PWA to edit Scrivener docs. (Or maybe that's the way it works for the paid version.)

[@thecreativepenn]

I absolutely open PWA on my Mac, and then open the Scrivener file within that, so I still use as depicted - but they have lots of options for integration so you can use it in different ways. Have fun!

[@chrism.713]

I'm confused about how you save the edited copy to your Word file document.

[@thecreativepenn]

I use Scrivener, make the changes there and then Export to MS Word. But once it's in Word and my editor edits it, I just Accept Changes etc there.

[@bolt8987]

Thank you so much, how do I paraphrase sentences using Prowritingaid?

[@thecreativepenn]

Check out their tutorials for further help. I don't paraphrase using ProWritingAid, I just check and update my own text.

[@mariettasmith6222]

If I am using a Kindle template, will the template need to be recreated after copying and pasting into the Pro Writing Aid software?

[@thecreativepenn]

I don't know, I don't use Kindle templates - but PWA is editing, not formatting software

[@taunasonn-lemarbe7267]

I use two different programs because they never think the same way. ProWritingAid is one of them. They are not only handy when, writing writing, but they also catch the sticking "a" key mistakes on my old computer, and the double periods and double spaces after the period on my other old computer. I will make sure to use it on my Mac when I transfer my manuscripts to Scrivner from Google Docs. I too do not have a healthy association with "," commas. But, I find that in different writing programs, different proofing programs...none seem to be consistent with each other, or with Style manuals.

[@thecreativepenn]

Agreed on commas - and sometimes, I ignore the software or my proofreader anyway :)

[@xiangl481]

Hi Joanna, I love your accent. Could you please tell me where your accent is from?

[@thecreativepenn]

I'm British

[@xiangl481]

@@thecreativepenn May I know if you are from England?

[@robertvoliton]

Is there a word limit for ProWritingAid? Am I able to upload a whole book to it?

[@thecreativepenn]

I use Scrivener which has chapters, but you can use a big MS Word document. It just might be more manageable by chapter.

[@leighbalius1821]

Will the code work for a PWA Teams account?

[@thecreativepenn]

You'll have to give it a try :)

[@brendakaywilliams6518]

My question is can you start your work straight away, or do you do it on Microsoft...etc first.

[@thecreativepenn]

You use PWA after you have finished a draft - in whatever software you use. I use Scrivener

[@miasantiago4583]

So, ProWriting Aid is not available for Mac OS...

[@thecreativepenn]

Yes, it is - I use it on my Mac - prowritingaid.com/everywhere-download-mac

[@richardmclaughlin545]

These video gurus all start once the programs are intalled, set jup and ready to go. I desperately trying to just get to the opening and having things work. My word documents aren't working with the WPA. I can't get the PWA logo to get into the toolbar, which seems to be part of the problem. Can we please start with the very beginning where I'm stuck?

[@thecreativepenn]

If you're having problems with installation, then definitely ask PWA support as that is about your computer setup and everyone has a different computer. This is just a tutorial on how to use the software. I hope you get it sorted.

[@mariettasmith6222]

How does this differ from the Word editor?

[@thecreativepenn]

It's a different program - you will have to compare the two to see which you like best.

[@MalcolmXtreme]

Appsumo is running a promotion for a Lifetime Premium License for 199 worth?

[@thecreativepenn]

It's always good to get an Appsumo deal if you can!

[@sheilaklein3822]

Do use both a copy editor and a content editor? Or does Prowriting aid cover the copy editor portion?

[@thecreativepenn]

Copy editing can be on different levels. If you're an experienced writer, then yes, it pretty much covers line editing e.g. grammar, passive voice, typos etc, but it can't cover how the book hangs together or structure or character development etc. Just check with an editor what they cover.

[@sheilaklein3822]

@@thecreativepenn tyvm!

[@TheMrJoestraub]

I have heard that Scrivener is no longer used by authors and that Scrivener does not support the writer's platform. Can you comment.

[@thecreativepenn]

I still use Scrivener for every book. It's by far the best writing software. But it is not editing software :) There are different tools for different stages of the writing process.

[@TheMrJoestraub]

@@thecreativepenn Thank you for the quick response. I would like to ask another question on this topic. Does Scrivener still support those who are still with them? Or are they setting themselves as the dinosaur that is in a slow spiral to get out of this side of the business? I have it and still use it to organize, much like one of you guest said the other day, as I was working my way through the hugely informative library of yours. He is the fellow who continues to repeat, "I am a full time parent of 3". Thanks for all your work!

[@lovelymawithbrains05]

Can ProwritingAid be used with Mozilla Firefox?

[@thecreativepenn]

Yes - prowritingaid.com/en/App/FirefoxExtension

[@sandrarr5434]

Hello you recorded this two YEARS AGO?

[@thecreativepenn]

I'm still using it the same way!

[@karendrury3137]

I have the same issues with all those pesky commas!

[@thecreativepenn]

It is surprisingly common!

[@irisheyes9864]

Things have changed since my school days! No comma with an 'and' was the teacher's refrain! Also, there was this little boy at the other side of the classroom who thought the word 'drug' was the past tense of 'drag'. First the class all laughed then looked at him with great pity. There was obviously something wrong with him.

[@ACyrrock004]

Can someone help me find a reasonable alternative to Pro Writing Aid and Grammarly that works just as well?

[@taryn3961]

The Hemmingway app is $20

[@ACyrrock004]

@@taryn3961 Thank you so much. Grammarly is $30 a month; it's a little ridiculous.

[@iguano88]

I paid $120 for a lifetime Pro Writing Aid license. Search for coupons or discount links.

[@fthorlin]

Disappointed! You trolled me on with talk of Scrivener integration but never got there.

[@thecreativepenn]

You just open your Scrivener project within ProWritingAid. I demoed this at 13:05

[@samcarrozza6720]

This was great, thank you very much !!