I used Grammarly to grammar check this post, because mistakes really bug me!
(This post was sponsored by Grammarly.com.)
SNAP!
I did something I swore I would never do... I sent one of my critique partners an unformatted piece of my WIP (work in progress). Thankfully, she is a good friend and didn't hold my lack of proofreading against me. Normally, I would only send a manuscript for a critique after I had done a spell check, a grammar check, and read the manuscript out loud.
Why is it so important to me that my manuscripts be polished before I send them to a critique partner?
My critique partners are offering their time, energy, and skills to help improve my writing. So sending them my very best is what I should do every time. (Sorry, Theresa!) Even in the WIP phase of your work, you should check your work. I found a great site that helps you do this: Grammarly.
This is what Grammarly said about the piece I sent Theresa:
Grammarly found 45 critical writing issues in your text.
Score: 65 of 100(weak, needs revision)
Plagiarism |
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Contextual Spelling Check | 9issues |
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Grammar | 16issues |
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Punctuation | 4issues |
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Style and Word Choice | 16issues |
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YIKES!
I found out all of this information for free. I copied and pasted my writing into the box and discovered I sent Theresa a really rough draft of my first chapter.
I should have checked it before I hit send. This really seems like a super tool. I won't be sending messy WIPs to critique partners again. I value their time. By sending something that's not polished it looks like I don't value their time.
Have you heard of Grammarly? They also post interesting and sometimes funny things on Facebook. Please check them out if you have a moment.