10 editing issues your grammar checker might be missing
For writers, the devil’s in the nitpicking details. Go from mediocre to meticulous by minding your adverbs, sentence structure, redundancies and vague wording.
Grammar checkers in word processing programs can help you catch glaring spelling errors, but you might be missing subtler—yet crucial—editing faux pas.
Here are 10 writing issues that your word processor’s grammar checker is likely missing:
1. Adverbs.
Adverbs are often unnecessary. Stephen King refers to them as a grammatical “atrocity.”
Most editing tools fail to highlight adverbs, which can poison your prose. As Mr. King said: “The adverb is not your friend.”
2. Slow pacing.
You want readers to glide through your work; track how much introspection or backstory you’re including. Excessive detail slows down your reader.
3. Overused words.
It’s easy to let words such as could, might, knew and felt sap your sentences. Keep an eye out for weak, repetitive words that gum up your work.
4. Sentence structure.
Do you vary sentence length? You should. Variety is the spice of life, after all.
Unfortunately, your spellchecker is oblivious to this important writing tactic.
5. Active verbs.
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today
Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.
