Lone_Dancer's recent activity
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Comment on Thoughts on ProWritingAid in ~creative
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Comment on Thoughts on ProWritingAid in ~creative
Lone_Dancer Link ParentDefinitely agree, as a grammar check is where its strengths lie. And yup, familiarity with your own work blinds you to those small things. And to continue off your point, once I’m fixing some...Definitely agree, as a grammar check is where its strengths lie. And yup, familiarity with your own work blinds you to those small things. And to continue off your point, once I’m fixing some flagged sentences I tend to springboard off that into greater changes or just general tightening of words
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Comment on Thoughts on ProWritingAid in ~creative
Lone_Dancer Link ParentI also do similar with first drafts. I disable all tools and distractions and focus on just writing. Afterwards once I’m in revision mode with a second draft do I begin to correct and edit. To...I also do similar with first drafts. I disable all tools and distractions and focus on just writing. Afterwards once I’m in revision mode with a second draft do I begin to correct and edit.
To answer why PDFs, I can export them directly from scrivener and send the compiled file to discord. I occasionally use other methods but PDFs remain quick and none of my friends have complained thus far
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Comment on Thoughts on ProWritingAid in ~creative
Lone_Dancer Link ParentThank you, I’ll look into this. I have a home server I could chuck this into. Ultimately what I do want is an advanced spell checker. Most everything else I can do myself or get the friend poking...Thank you, I’ll look into this. I have a home server I could chuck this into. Ultimately what I do want is an advanced spell checker. Most everything else I can do myself or get the friend poking stick.
When I write I tend to think in sentences so I have an unfortunate habit of skipping words thinking I’ve written them. Normal spell checkers don’t catch this. I’m human, I like to indulge convenience every so often. Having to fine comb a story for missing articles is something I don’t mind tossing to the machine.
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Comment on Thoughts on ProWritingAid in ~creative
Lone_Dancer Link ParentThanks for this write up! To cover the first point, I do have Everywhere enabled solely on Scrivener. (PWA’s shiny new product: Scrivenerthere) They claim they don’t use your writing for training,...Thanks for this write up! To cover the first point, I do have Everywhere enabled solely on Scrivener. (PWA’s shiny new product: Scrivenerthere) They claim they don’t use your writing for training, so I have their pinky promise.
As for LLMs and creative tasks, they suck for the reasons you listed. I’ve tried the method you’ve explained above before (though with clarification I wrote it, something I’ll keep in mind not to do if I try again later)
When I look online it’s praise praise and more praise with the sparse drops of “hey this actually kinda sucks” buried in dead threads. Articles with that Top Ten Tips! How PWA will make You a Better Writer! emblazoned straight in the hyperlink. YouTube videos on how cool the AI tools are, how those Sparks will streamline the process and let you express yourself in your truest form-
Maddening stuff; it’s why I came here.
I appreciate your response mate, I hope your twine game creation goes well.
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Comment on Thoughts on ProWritingAid in ~creative
Lone_Dancer LinkFirst proper post on Tildes, didn't quite expect it to be this but it's been on the brain. Reading it aloud, seems coherent enough. Unsure how to tag it, but did my best.First proper post on Tildes, didn't quite expect it to be this but it's been on the brain. Reading it aloud, seems coherent enough. Unsure how to tag it, but did my best.
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Thoughts on ProWritingAid
Howdy hey folks, I've recently been trying out ProWritingAid (for the unfamiliar: a grammar/spell checker tool) specifically the premium version with the expanded tool set. And now I want to step...
Howdy hey folks, I've recently been trying out ProWritingAid (for the unfamiliar: a grammar/spell checker tool) specifically the premium version with the expanded tool set. And now I want to step onto the internet soapbox and talk about it. It's been.
Okay.
To preface, I've been writing (casually) for 'bout a decade, mainly short creative fiction. (And a few novel attempts. All of which are incomplete but I'm glad I did them) Throughout my time I've gone through a few tools, text editors and what-have-you-nots. With my ever so gleaming credentials established, let's get into the ramble.
Right out of the gate, automated grammar checkers and creative writing have a rather fun relationship. Half the suggestions are useful and the other half are useless. (This ratio can also tip forward and backward). They'll catch syntax errors, spelling mistakes, missing words or punctuation, all good things to fix.
It'll also flag intentional word choice, sentence structure and other creative decisions. Sometimes this can help but more often than not it'll be sucking the You out of your own words.
ProWritingAid (PWA) tries to sidestep this particular pitfall with Style Guides where it'll be more or less rigorous depending on the selected 'genre'. It's a mixed success. This flaw I don't think will ever be truly fixable given the inherent separation between Author and Tool. So we'll have to make do with clicking "ignore."
Now PWA does a bit more than just grammar check. During my time with it, I've currently used two versions. PWA Everywhere, and PWA Desktop. Everywhere is meant to integrate with your text editing software while Desktop is a contained application. They have similar feature-sets, but not identical. Specifically, Desktop has the Word Explorer feature: a tool that if you highlight a word it'll show some synonyms or you can dig deeper with alliteration, cliches, anagrams, rhymes, reverse dictionary and more. Pretty nifty. PWA Everywhere best to my knowledge and searching does not have this feature- which is disappointing.
Especially since everything else Desktop does, Everywhere does better. The UI alone is far more functional, without clipping or cramping. There's the convenience of direct integration. Some features like Single Chapter Critique (which I'll get into later, trust me) also blank screened in Desktop while working fine in Everywhere. Grand.
Besides the Word Explorer, PWA also gives you AI "Sparks" and Rephrases. I'll be entirely honest, I have these turned off (Which I am glad I was able to do). I don't have much to say here besides I like getting into the creative word weeds myself.
Alrighty, that then leaves me with two more things to discuss: Writing Reports and the Critique features.
Okay. The writing reports are useful. Able to be granular or extensive. They scan every selected element in the text and format the results into a nifty report (or in some modes, direct text highlighting) Having all that data visualized with tables, graphs and bars oh my, (with the occasional cross-work comparison) is a great look-at. Grammar-wise it'll run into the problems mentioned above, but otherwise, this has been the feature I've liked the most.
Finally I can get into the whole thing that inspired me to write this post. The Critique suite. Ohohoho, I have some thoughts about these. Human proofreaders are irreplaceable, just want to toss that out there (PWA also keeps that disclaimer in its header). My friends will never be escaping the random PDFs sent for their lovely review. I am ultimately writing for a human audience afterall. That in mind, I have run into a hilarious problem with the Single Chapter Critique.
Apparently I write too good to get use from it. Truly I am suffering here. In complete honesty, the actual point I'm trying to make is the AI is a kiss-ass sycophant. I fed five of my short stories from across the years into it, just to see what it'd say. It cannot be negative. In each and every one I was praised about various element of the stories. Glowing and gushing, could say no ill.
This is pretty useless. Sure it has the "Potential Improvements" section but it's... eh. In the name of curious study, I am having my non-writer friend compose a piece for me to feed to the machine spirit later. (I also only get three uses a day, compared to the unlimited reports with their nitty gritty)
Now, could this simulated praise be a sign I'm a genuinely good writer? Well I don't need the AI for that- I have friends zip-tied to chairs to feed my ego. (I forever cherish one of my close writing friends telling me: "You have a voice of a fantasy writer from the 70s with a thick series full of wondererous imagination written by a twice divorce middle aged man who is disgruntled with reality. It was never exactly reprinted as it was unknown, but the aging, withered pages hold such a gorgeous narrative that it sticks with you for the rest of your life.")
Back to the AI: Their shining critique falls apart when I look at the story myself and can point to several areas for improvement/refinement with a cursory reading. (Thank you creator's curse, you're my true reliable critic.)
Woe to me, I cannot escape personal proofreading. (Real talk: the hope was have it be able to do the cursory stuff so I could focus on the creative viscera. That's half the fun after all—)
There is two other Critique features, Full Manuscript Analysis and Virtual Beta Reader. I have used neither of these as I do not have any large manuscripts to toss into the jaws. To ensure jolly feelings, it's also a credit based system. So let's talk money.
Scrivener, a writing workhorse that even after years of using I still find new features and has long cemented itself as my text editor of choice, was $45 for a lifetime license. Fantastic software, it has earned its reputation.
ProWritingAid, a grammar and spellchecker was $115 (discounted price) for a year subscription. (Can I mention how idiosyncratic their tier system is? Free, Premium, Premium Pro? Why??? Just name it Free, Pro, Premium. Don't stack luxury words.) For $115, I get several features I don't even use, or aren't very useful. Oh, a discount for the aforementioned analysis credits. ($25 for 1, $70 for 3, $175 for 10. Full priced it's $50, $150, $500 respectively. Spend this money on an actual person please)
Now what's worst off is I wasn't even the one to spend the $115. That was someone else wanting to support me and my writing; an act I am quite grateful for and the meaning behind it. I feel bad complaining. I have hopes for PWA. Something that can act as a quick look proofreader would be wonderful. But perhaps I'm just asking for too much from what is again, a grammar and spellchecker.
So far, I don't know yet. I don't know if I'd call it good or bad. As I started with: it's okay?
Maybe I'll do a retrospective after a while once I've utilized it longer. Maybe features will be better fine tuned in the future.
And that leads me here. What have been y'all's experience with it, if any? Searching online has been miserable; I'd like to hear from other people.
[As a footnote, PWA was not used when writing this. Kinda forgot that I never set it up for browser. Tallyho]
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Comment on LGBT introductions thread: What's your story? in ~lgbt
Lone_Dancer LinkHowdy. I'm a bisexual aromantic. The first half of that I've known since about forever, though I never knew the terminology when I was younger. The latter half, I learned after a relationship and...Howdy. I'm a bisexual aromantic. The first half of that I've known since about forever, though I never knew the terminology when I was younger. The latter half, I learned after a relationship and several other moments where I realized I never felt strongly for a person in the context of romance.
There has been some struggles, especially with being aromantic. The self-doubt can be strong, unlike being bisexual. That I always knew with confidence. Often leads to moments where I sit and contemplate. But it always leads back to a yes, I am aro. Apologies if it's a bit short. I haven't really shared my story before.
Thank you, thank you, I’m flattered (genuinely). As for my public works— they’re quite scattered all over the place. My most current collection of stories that I have out there would probably be on this account: https://www.pillowfort.social/Lone_Dancer. (Wow, looking at that is a graveyard of all the unfinished projects I have strewn about. 2 months since last anything. But ignoring the WIPs, I have some (hopefully) nice short stories to peruse. Got some dragons, some weird places (that’s a favorite- I rather enjoy weird places), one stream of consciousness post, and I think one partially revived vampire.