In the spring of 2014, I started my first solo blog, and I named it Surprising and Powerful Lives. My first post was about people’s different appetites and how activity could affect your appetite throughout the day. It was awful.
I diligently continued to write more posts and a few kind hearted people read them and offered support and comments. But I didn’t get very many readers, certainly not the rush of avid new followers that I had anticipated. Why I wondered.
As anyone who writes or has a blog knows, success includes many reasons and strategies. Good writing is the first and most fundamental one. If your writing sucks, no one will come back for more.
My writing sucked. Over the years since university, while in the workforce, and then at home raising my kids, I had forgotten how to write correctly. Big time.
I knew that I needed help, so I went on a search. I read a lot of online articles on how to improve your writing and guess what almost all of them suggested? Try a grammar checker.
That suggestion sent me on a hunt where I researched all of the top grammar checkers. I wanted one that was very versatile and easy to use. Also one of my top requirements was that it had to have a browser extension that I could use across the web. Plus, of course, I wanted a reliable and trustworthy extension.
I tried a few of the different ones offered through the Google store, but they all had glitches or limitations of some kind. Then I installed Grammarly. Wow, what a difference. I created my account which allowed me to personalise my settings and I was off and writing.
Here are the Grammarly features I love:
-You have a choice of either American or British language.
-There is, of course, a robust Browser extension that allows for use across the web.
-Every computer that you use can have the extension.
-There is an easily accessible online application for writing distraction free, and it saves all of your writing automatically.
-There is also an excellent desktop application for offline work that also saves automatically.
-You can create a Personal Dictionary of words that you don’t want to be flagged.
-It has a synonym checker.
-It is secure and private.
I don’t usually write posts about the products or tools that I use, but I decided to write this one for two reasons. The first reason is that a few weeks ago I read a post on a well-known blog about the importance of good writing. However, I was shocked at how poorly written the post was. The grammar was appalling.
Secondly, I wanted to share about a tool that my kids and I have been using for years. Grammarly has helped me refresh my writing skills; my kids learn writing skills and all of us become better writers in many ways.
Here are some additional Grammarly features:
-150 critical grammar and spelling checks
-Access your documents on multiple devices
-Integrate with Microsoft® Office (Windows only)
-Use native desktop apps (Windows and OS X)
-See definitions and synonyms via double clicks
-Catch contextual spelling and grammar mistakes
-See explanations of grammar rules
-Get performance stats via email
The Grammarly Premium Edition also features:
-100+ additional advanced grammar and spelling checks
-Punctuation, sentence structure, and style suggestions.
-Vocabulary enhancement suggestions
-Genre-specific writing style checks
-Plagiarism detector that checks more than 8 billion web pages
So if you would like to do yourself, your writing, and your kids a favour and check out Grammarly, The World’s Best Grammar Checker.
Volcano Fuego, Guatemala.
Good grammar is missing as much in the spoken word as in the written. That may get worse a less and less emphasis is put on grammar in education.
Good point. 🙂