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I started using Grammarly, https://www.grammarly.com , three years ago as a spelling checker for my Apple computer. It was cumbersome but effective. As time has passed, it has become streamlined and works everywhere I write.
Recently, it has incorporated several features using artificial intelligence, which I wanted to discuss. Its latest option is a paragraph rewrite offering. Sometimes, it shows alternatives to what I wrote, giving me a choice to incorporate and replace to improve clarity. It acts as an assistant. It is not composing stories for me.
It's even correcting my mistakes as I write in here.
I like this option. I don't pretend to be a professional writer—I'm a house painter who's gotten good enough to paint a wall—but Grammarly has made me feel more secure writing for others.
It is a tool that allows an editor to sit next to me and offer alternatives to my composition efforts.
I was just curious what others think of this
Comments
Strengths and weaknesses
I'll admit I haven't tried Grammerly or anything like it, and I'm not really tempted to. This isn't a matter of arrogance on my part; it's more an honest assessment of my strengths and weaknesses as a writer.
Writing for clarity and precision is something I spent decades doing; it's probably one of my strongest suits. I have lots of areas that fall into the "desperately needs improvement" category, like having dialogue that reads smoothly but still seems realistic for the people who are speaking. Finding a fresh metaphor to express a concept. Adding descriptive elements that bring the reader into a scene in a way that is vivid. By their nature, these aren't areas where a computer program, even with AI assistance, is likely to be helpful.
Just by way of an example, Iolanthe's latest chapter of Seconds and Irregulars had this amazing bit of prose:
That -- that! -- is how I would love to be able to write. But what makes this passage of writing so strong is its novelty -- the originality of both the idea and its expression. Computer programs can help formulate alternatives based on algorithms that extrapolate from things that have already been written, so they can't help me in the areas where I most want to improve.
Emma
Uniquely Yours
Dear Emma Anne,
Nicely stated. Your work is superior to anything I have ever written. Just reading your stories leaves me breathless. I admire your work and know that my humble efforts fall short of your writing. I agree that an algorithm could not effectively emulate or improve your stories.
On the other hand, my efforts are first written for myself and then, hopefully, to entertain others. I just want to do better.
I guess that's my pact with the devil...
as far
as i'm concerned, as soon as you go beyond spell checking, use of grammarly et al should be declared as written by AI, you didn't come up with the words, a computer did.
If that's what you want to do, fine but don't pass it off as your own worms (if you know, you know). I'd be the last to claim to be perfect at grammar and i often change sentence/paragraph construction, sometimes as i go, sometimes months/years down the line but they are my words not something produced by some algorithm in some server farm.
FWIW, all the AI generated 'writing' i've read has been very flat, lacking the very passion that writers hope to convey onto the page. Sometimes quirky syntax or spelling makes a story stand out from the pasteurised masses that AI use promotes, Shakespeare edited with AI would be a poor substitute.
So don't do yourself down, do a spell check, play with the flow of your sentences, do it yourself and (hopefully) you will learn what works for your style of writing, indeed you will develop a unique personal style rather than a robotic algorithmic mix up,
Madeline Anafrid Bell
no
Dear Maddy,
I appreciate hearing your opinion. But let's agree to disagree.
This is why I brought up the topic. I wanted to hear opinions and create discussion. What is different between my human editor reviewing my manuscript and an AI program doing the same thing? (Grammarly suggested 'reviewing' instead of what I wrote- 'looking over').
Whether I use a human or AI editor, I believe I am still writing the story. (Grammary suggested 'human or AI editor' instead of human editor or AI editor'). They are my characters that I attempt to make three-dimensional. This is my plot, my setting, and my climax.
Sometimes, I read a story here full of typos, poor sentence structure, and run-on sentences that hide the best part of the author's efforts. Some stories become unreadable because the author did not care enough to reread and correct their grammar, syntax, etc.
Just my opinion...
I agree
I agree with you. You don't want to rely on tools too much. To add color to your writing you often have to break the rules. My editors won't believe this but I do use a spell checker. The grammar checker built into MS Word doesn't seem to understand dialog or even fiction. I'm afraid that in the long run, AI will kill creativity. I hope that takes awhile.
Melanie
Heeding Your Advice
Bravo!
I try to eliminate all my grammar, punctuation, and spelling efforts before any of my work is viewed by others. I like Grammarly because there's always a suggestion that I can choose to ignore or accept. (For example, I can never remember whether it's choose or chose). When I want my dialog to sound like a teenager talking, I don't need suggestions that would make them sound like adults.
Maybe you are right and I am drinking the Kool Aide. I hope not. My brain is what makes me unique.
Also a House Painter
One of my favorite writers was also a House Painter. When I think of who it was....
Gwen Brown
Working
There are too many talented people to acknowledge. Nicki Minaj was a server at Red Lobster. Jeff Koons was a commodity broker. Gwen Stefani works at Dairy Queen. Margot Robbie worked at Subway.
I'll pass
My latest version of Word has finally had major improvements in it's grammar and spell check feature. My standard operating procedure is just type as fast as I can, trying to keep up with storyline dump that my muse is spitting out. I wait for my muse to run down and then go back and read from the beginning. The grammar/spell check function has been busy as I type marking my errors.
It's at this point that I consider if the wording conveys that message I want. Being a fiction writer is about being able to paint a word picture that allows the reader a good mind's eye understanding of what something looks like and/or how the characters are dealing with what's going on.
I think that if I had Grammarly running as I wrote my stories it would tend to make me stupid while it polished what I'd written. One of my goals as a writer is to get a better handle on the use of the English language. Somehow, I think, having an AI assistant that cleans up after my sloppy prose would get in the way of achieving that goal.
Back when I was doing some technical writing, I could see that something like Grammarly might have been good, because there I needed absolute clarity and needed it now. I didn't have the luxury of multiple edits and re-reading or a beta reader to help me get it right. I was working to a deadline documenting the how-to of a new, original, custom software package that was being delivered to a customer within the week; sometimes even sooner.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
Grammarly waits to be called on
I agree that interrupting your muse is foolish.
Grammarly waits to be called on. It posts a digital number at the top of what I've written, and if I click on the green, G will start to go through my efforts, allowing me to click Dismiss or Accept single words, punctuation, or structure suggestions.
Because I lack the knowledge or talent to perfect my work on my own, I might rewrite it a handful of times before I sleep on it. I still value my editor bafore I publish.
When I read the suggestions from that dreaded AI (waiting to suck out my soul), I have a choice.