Since November, I’ve been using a secret weapon to edit my blog posts.  It’s made my writing tighter and easier to read.  It’s available 24/7.  And it’s free!

It’s called The Hemingway Editor.  There’s a paid version that you can download.  But the online version is free.

The awesome thing about is that it’s so easy to use.  You just paste your text onto the page and it highlights problem areas.  After you finish editing, you copy the edited version out.

It looks for excessive use of adverbs and putting things in the passive voice.  It will flag a phrase if it has a simpler alternative.  It will flag sentences that are “hard to read” or “VERY hard to read”.

It also tells you the “readability” of your text. For example is it a grade 6 level or a grade 4 level?  The lower the level, the easier it is for your readers to read. 

Each issue is colour coded and immediately clear.  It makes editing so easy.

I’ve already noticed that my writing has improved a lot.  My use of the passive voice has decreased substantially!  And I’m more aware of my use of too many adverbs.

You can see the before and after versions of this blog post.  The one with all the coloured text is the before version and the one with less is the after version.  So you can see how it works.  (I had to re-edit the “before” post to add more things to correct and show a more dramatic before and after.)

One of the drawbacks is that it doesn’t always catch spelling error or some other grammar flaws.  But it’s no biggie.  I copy the corrected text into Word and use that editor, as well.  It’s like having a virtual editing team that’s available all the time.

If you want to try it out for yourself, go to https://hemingwayapp.com/

Happy editing!