A few weeks ago, I got an email from ProWritingAid that changed my life.

Funnily enough, I had never used ProWritingAid before, but I was subscribed to their emails because of their writing events. Despite the positive reviews I had heard about the software, I used Grammarly instead because its free version was much more robust.

So when I got this fateful email from ProWritingAid, I paid little attention at first because I knew it was an ad for the Premium version of the software. But, for whatever reason, I clicked on it out of curiosity and saw that email subscribers were being offered a massive deal before the Black Friday sale went live: 55% off yearly or lifetime subscriptions. All I had to do was answer a question about which book this opening line was from:

“When Mr Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.”

Ha! Never was I more glad to be a nerd. (I could have googled it, obviously, but still. . .)

I suspected a catch somewhere, but, true to the email’s promise, I clicked the link and uncovered prices discounted by 55%. Lifetime was the only option for me; I don’t like the idea of continuously paying for something when you can pay for it once and call it yours. Without the discount, I never would have considered it. But 55% off was a lot, and I knew I would use the software nearly every day for the rest of my life.

I sat on the decision for a few days and talked it over with my husband, my biggest supporter. He grinned as I explained the software and the discount. “You have to do it!” he said. “I want you to get it right. Now.”

I bought it. Spending all that money at once was difficult for me, but I was instantly glad I’d done it. I got the software just in time to use it for my submission to Globe Soup’s short story competition. I’ve now been using ProWritingAid for two weeks, and while I still have a lot to learn, I can already give you a definitive answer on whether this software is really worth it for writers and how it stands up to the competition.

Why ProWritingAid?

You might know I was once interested in trying Grammarly Premium so I could write a helpful review of it. And, as I mentioned, I already used the free version of Grammarly every day, so I was familiar with how it worked. Additionally, AutoCrit is making a name for itself by being the best fiction writing software out there. So why not pick one of these two instead?

The number one factor is neither Grammarly nor AutoCrit has a lifetime subscription, and I would much rather own something than rent it. But even when AutoCrit announced it was offering a lifetime membership for a limited time, I kept ProWritingAid instead of getting a refund and going for the new AutoCrit deal. Why?

AutoCrit is very good for novels. ProWritingAid (PWA) is good for novels, content writing, and copywriting, all of which I do regularly. AutoCrit may beat PWA in some areas with novel writing, but when I look at the overall picture, I know that PWA is the right software for me—and it might be the right software for you, too!

ProWritingAid Pros

(Try saying that five times fast. . .) Here are just a few things I love about ProWritingAid:

Versatility

As I already mentioned, PWA can accommodate multiple different kinds of writing, unlike what I’ve seen and experienced with Grammarly and AutoCrit, which tend to focus on content/copy writing and fiction, respectively.

Customisable

I love that you can make your own style guide and change which grammar/writing rules you want the software to recognise. This way, if the software is consistently flagging words or phrases you want to keep, you can switch off the rule altogether so the software doesn’t detect them anymore (although there’s a caveat I’ll explain below).

Rephrase feature

This feature flags a negative aspect of a sentence and suggests several rephrases to strengthen your writing. This feature has already shown me so much about how to strengthen my sentences!

Integration

PWA works (almost) everywhere I write. I type exclusively in Pages, and I can turn off PWA while I write and turn it back on to analyse my work whenever I’m ready to edit.

It “gets” fiction

Unlike Grammarly, PWA understands the nuances of fiction and, therefore, produces more accurate suggestions.

Reports

PWA’s reports are insane!! When you plug in your writing, PWA will generate an extremely detailed report that tells you everything about how you write. You can even have it compare your writing to that of famous authors!

ProWritingAid Cons

No software is perfect! Here are the areas of ProWritingAid that could use some improvement:

No mobile app

While this isn’t a major blow for me, as I don’t write on my phone often and mainly use the PWA online app anyway, the lack of an app I can use on my phone or iPad is a bit sad and deters many people who prefer to work on smaller devices.

Odd glitches

There are a few “glitches” in the software that I find pretty strange. For example, once you disable a writing rule, you can’t ever reenable it again (so be really sure about that rule—or else!). However, the PWA team has said that they’re specifically working on this issue.

Learning curve

PWA is quite a bit more complex than Grammarly because it gives you so much info, so it is difficult to navigate at first. However, there are many tutorials, videos, and FAQs to assist you, and by now, I almost have the hang of it (although I still can’t find the word counter—help!).

Is ProWritingAid Worth It?

As with most software like this, it really depends on you. If you. . .

• Write a lot (especially if it’s your job and/or you’re writing 10k+ words per week)
• Write a variety of content (either exclusively non-fiction or fiction and non-fiction)
• Plan on writing for many years
• Want to identify how to strengthen your writing

. . . then PWA might just be for you. I’d wait for another sale, though, as their Black Friday sale just ended. (Stay tuned to the weekly updates on Fridays, and I’ll let you know about the next sale!)

But overall, I’d say yes, ProWritingAid is worth it. What I like about it most is it really helps you become a better writer by showing you a detailed report of your writing and offering pointed suggestions that teach you how to be more concise, engaging, and grammatically correct.

What’s your favourite writing software? Let me know in the comments! And if you have any questions about PWA, I’m happy to answer them.

Happy writing!
—E.J.

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