As a followup to my complaints on good editing software for my writing process, I’m wondering if I’m thinking about this whole thing the wrong way. Maybe instead of counting on software, I should listen to my own words and just edit what I’m writing more closely. 

I was struck by a recent podcast with Gruber (I apologize I can’t remember which one, I listen to too many podcasts) where he shared that he doesn’t use any software to edit his work. He just edits it himself. 

This works for him because he’s good at writing, and comfortable with the rules of writing. That’s not to say he’s perfect, I’ve emailed him a few times over the years for quick grammar and spelling fixes. But it’s good enough and it fits into his process. 

I’m wondering if, instead of forcing software to work how I want, I just slow down and edit my own work. The only thing I want to be mindful of is improvement. I don’t want to get stuck in how I write and not learn and grow. When I wrote fiction for a few years, I ran everything through ProWritingAid. As a result I started improving on my grammar. I want to make sure that continues. 

So, either way, if you see a word messed up in here feel free to email me. But I’ll work on improvement over time.