Get the most out of ReallyWrite
We created ReallyWrite to empower you to write clearly. We want to help you learn to make your own decisions about your writing.
The ReallyWrite Editor can help you see your blind spots at the sentence level and push you to more clarity and accessibility.
You may have noticed that the line-by-line feedback you receive in the ReallyWrite Editor is coupled to a learn page. The learn page explains why that issue matters and how you can go about fixing it.
ReallyWrite does not fix your text for you. Instead, it acts like a fresh, critical reader and helps you identify issues that are hard to see when you have been working on a text for a long time. It cannot tell you what to write, but it can automatically recognize the potential issues and show you how to fix them. Think of it as a teacher looking over your shoulder.
Notice the potential issues in your text in the ReallyWrite Editor, then read about how you can fix them in the learn pages.
You won't fix ALL the issues that ReallyWrite points out. They are potential issues, so you need to think critically about each issue and decide whether it makes sense to rewrite your sentence to remove that issue.
Photo by Brooke Cagle
For example: the passive voice
You will choose to keep some passive voice in your text. ReallyWrite prompts you to notice each instance of passive voice and to decide whether the passive voice is the best option for that situation. Sometimes it will be, and sometimes it won't be.
For example: complicated sentences
You will decide what makes each "complicated" sentence complicated:
- Does it have too much information?
- Is the structure unclear?
- Does it have a list at the end?
- Does it have multiple phrases that use parallelism, like in a comparison/contrast?
Reasons 1 and 2 will require revision, whereas reasons 3 and 4 will not. When I revise my complicated sentences away, I aim to leave no more than one complicated sentence per paragraph. But it’s up to me to decide which complicated sentences I will choose to leave and for what reasons.
The Clarity Score should motivate you, but don't expect to reach 100.
Why not?
First, because perfect doesn't exist.
Second, because texts with many longer, multisyllable words will automatically have a lower clarity score. If these words are key words, you cannot remove them. You can only change how the sentence is shaped around them.
While writing this blog post, I ended up with a clarity score of 98 (YES!). I left two passive voice, four zombie nouns, and two bits of wordiness. Because it’s a blog post, I revised away every single complicated sentence. (After all, I want you to read it!)
But when I am working on academic writing, about more complex topics, the clarity score is lower. I use the clarity score to help me gauge where I need to work and how much work I need to do. I also choose to leave some issues because I've looked at them and decided that they are fine (that's why there is an "ignore" button).
ReallyWrite draws your attention to issues that you can think critically about, but it does not think for you.
Want to hear how I work my way through a text using ReallyWrite? Watch the videos here.