Technology Vs. The Editor

Editors use a lot of tools to cleanup a manuscript. I’ve heard many say you just need a copy of the Chicago Manual of Style and a good grasp of grammar. No one who says that is an editor. There are many tools, and I’ve talked about them on the old site. But The two I use most are PerfectIt and Pro Writing Aid. And they sometimes can be a challenge.

First, understand these are not AI tools. There are AI versions available, but I’ve never seen the use for them. But for those concerned about AI, understand this is not like ChatGPT or its clones. Those are a crutch. These tools are a flashlight. They are also not plagiarism apps in disguise (Looking at you, Sam Altman!) But you have to understand how to use them. It helps to have a good grasp of grammar and a copy of The Chicago Manual of Style. Because sometimes, the tools get a bit confused.

Specifically, they don’t like swear words. Except when they do. This evening, while working on a manuscript, Pro Writing Aid hilariously flagged a writer’s spelling of Samuel L. Jackson’s favorite curse. In case you’re wondering, it’s one word. Or as the meme asks, “Is ‘butt cheeks’ two words, or do I need to squeeze them together?”

But PerfectIt absolutely hates the word “shit.”  PerfectIt scans your manuscript ahead of time and flags inconsistencies and tries to keep your English version consistent. (It let’s you choose between more than just US and UK English, though I’ve heard Canadians are not impressed with its Canadian dialect.) And on every single manuscript, it believes the writer meant to use “shift,” not “shit.” So a male bovine driving a car with stick is a bullshift?

Perhaps most annoying is Pro Writing Aid’s tendency to correct the names of fictional characters, often suggesting a name no one’s ever heard of. I’ve complained to PWA about this several times, I’ve reported it incorrect. Adding to dictionary takes a week or two for it to catch up. But if your character’s name is “Mike Nelson,” and some other user has already embedded “Mike Wilson” in the app’s online database, you can either send back sarcastic reports or grin and bear it. Unfortunately, there is no “Disable Rule” option for this.

In reality, the editor needs to take the suggestions one by one. The tools are better than the original spellcheck in Word or it’s still-deficient grammar check, but they have their limits. They scan manuscripts in small sections and still struggle with tense. As I said, it’s a flashlight, not a substitute. And as often as I reject a suggestion, I find edits one of them missed. But it forces an editor to read what they’re editing. And as always, the human brain is the best arbiter of what a writer wants.