Grammarly: A UK Book Editor's Advice for Writers Using the Software Plus the Dos and Don'ts
- Chelsea ✨
- Sep 23, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 1, 2022
Professional book editor in the UK offers strong advice for aspiring authors who use Grammarly to edit their manuscripts!
For those who aren't familiar with Grammarly, it's a software that polishes your writing using artificial intelligence. As a professional book editor, I have always been sceptical; I'll always shake my head when writers claim to have edited their published book using Grammarly...but, I have to admit, the software has its benefits.
Grammarly can be an absolute lifesaver in some areas of writing. For example, you may run a weekly blog, submit features and articles to magazines, or write endless essays for course assignments, so Grammarly may come into play in those circumstances.
However, suppose you are an aspiring author with a finished manuscript. In that case, Grammarly can't offer the deep developmental edit your novel may need, and it doesn't provide the same detailed service a professional book editor could provide. And as Grammarly uses artificial intelligence, it doesn't know the ins and outs of the publishing world; therefore, it can only suggest generic solutions to your errors, mistakes, and inconsistencies.
While skimming social media, I have discovered that many freelancers, new writers, and published authors use Grammarly for all sorts of written work, but using this online software for everything won't bring you the desired results.
Keep reading to discover the dos and don'ts when using Grammarly as an aspiring author!
Do: Use Grammarly for Essays, Assignments, and Dissertations
If you're a college or university student, or simply take an online course, you probably don't need to hire a professional editor, unless you want to, of course. Grammarly is the perfect software for polishing essays, assignments, and dissertations, and it's a relatively cheap subscription ($29.95 - approx. £23.10) if you're a student trying to get by and do well. You can also use Grammarly for free, but you can't access as many features as you can when you sign up for Premium.
Do: Use Grammarly for Blog Posts (Like this One!)
Whether you're an experienced blogger or fairly new to the blogging scene, Grammarly is great for perfecting blog posts. As your blog will be published for the online world to see, you want your content to be as polished as possible, but as it takes time and hard work to earn money from blogging, you may not wish to pay an editor for every blog post. For this reason, Grammarly is the ideal solution here.
Do: Use Grammarly for Freelance Articles and Journalistic Features
For all the freelancers and journalists out there, Grammarly is an ideal piece of software that could help you to get your work accepted by magazines and newspapers. However, freelancing and journalism is a tough world, so there's no guarantee that your first few submissions will be accepted, so using Grammarly for your articles and features instead of hiring an expensive editor may just save you a few pennies while you get started!
Do: Use Grammarly for Fanfiction and Writing for Fun
Fanfiction and casual writing is a great way to relax and express your creativity, but as the purpose or intent of these activities isn't to earn some kind of income, you probably don't want to spend much on perfecting the content. For this reason, Grammarly may be your best option.
Do: Use Grammarly When Editing Your Manuscript Before Hiring a Professional Editor
If you are an aspiring author who has just finished writing your novel, you may question your next steps. Some writers recognise that their work needs developmental editing before they query agents or self-publish, while others may need line or copy editing. Grammarly can act as a great stepping stone as it can iron out some of the major errors and wordiness before you hire a professional editor. Using Grammarly before the professional editing stage will make your work clearer and smoother for the editor, ultimately saving you time and money.
Don't: Rely on Grammarly to Polish the Entirety of Your Manuscript
Some writers believe that Grammarly, or ProWritingAid for that matter, is the only thing they need to perfect their manuscript, and while this may be the case for a few geniuses, it's not for the rest of us.
Even professional book editors like myself need editors!
Some manuscripts need some form of developmental editing to enhance the plot and characters, and others need line or copy editing to improve the writing style, syntax, and the overall flow. Only the human brain knows what makes a novel shine in the publishing world, so only use Grammarly as a stepping stone for your manuscript.
If you're looking for professional book editing services in the UK, click here to take a look at my services!
- Chelsea x
ABOUT CHELSEA
Hey! I'm Chelsea and I'm a professional book editor at Stand Corrected Editing, my editorial business in the UK. If you need professional book editing services and are currently looking for a manuscript editor, please get in touch and we can get started today!
With my book editing and proofreading services, I hope to spread my knowledge and expertise on how to make your novel a success, and be a mentor to others who desperately want to pursue a fruitful career as an author!