Is Slick Write good? Can it compete with other free web-based editing software like Grammarly, ProWritingAid, Ginger, or Hemingway Editor? Can it improve your writing style and help you detect common spelling and grammar errors?
You may wonder if it is any good because it is free. I was surprised at the features and statistics Slick Write offered. This Slick Write review reveals what I discovered about Slick Write…
What Is Slick Write And What Does It Do?
Slick Write is a free online proofreading tool that checks your writing for grammar and spelling errors, potential stylistic mistakes and includes other exciting features like the Associator, an excellent writing tool you can use for writing prompts. Slick Write makes it easy to critique different writing genres and styles by customizing the grammar checker for fiction, essay, resume, the basics, and more.
The Slick Write software is web-based and integrates online with WordPress, Open Office, and Libre Office. No downloading is necessary; you use the free software online.
You can also add the Slick Write web browser extension available for Chrome and Firefox.
Is Slick Write Really Free?
Yes, Slick Write is entirely free; there’s not pricing structure or free trial. The Slick Write software doesn’t limit features, and most bloggers and freelance writers won’t even notice the word restriction.
The submission limit is 30,000 words or 200,000 characters, which is a large chunk of a manuscript. Most essays, web pages, blog posts, white papers, case studies, and articles have a much lower word count, closer to 10,000 words than 30,000. Novelists can overcome the word length limit by uploading a few chapters at a time and not the entire book at once.
How Can Slick Write Proofreading Software Help You?
You don’t have to worry about being compatible with Windows or Mac; the software works online. Open the Slick Write website and write directly on the site or copy-paste your content in the free online proofreading tool. Click the “Check” icon at the top or in the side menu to begin searching for grammar errors.
Slick Write critiques the text in four categories, features, sentence structure, quotes, and vocabulary. It works as an editor, critiquing your work; it is up to you to edit and improve your writing skills based on its critique and statistics. This method helps you identify your standard errors, and you learn by correcting the mistakes.
Slick Write Features
You will probably use the features tool the most; the grammar checker finds issues like passive voice, adverbs, excessive prepositional phrases, and wordy or redundant phrases. The software grammar checks the work and underlines the word or phrase it finds with stylistic features and errors. By clicking on the words, Slick Write tells you what type of grammar issue it is.
Structure Tool
The structure tab shows sentence structure within the document’s context. Hovering over a sentence gives you the number of words in the sentence and the type of sentence. Clicking on the sentence provides you with an explanation of the sentence type.
Quotes
Slick Write highlights what it recognizes as quotes.
Vocabulary Variety
The vocabulary variety tool selects passages with the least variety to help writers avoid writing mundane or boring content. Bright green is good, indicating plenty of variety, but red identifies the areas in your work with the least variety. Click on a word to see the most common words around it and the score of each. The information helps you decide if you want to reword the section or not.
Flow Tool
The flow tool visually displays sentence flow with a graphical distribution that weighs word length to the sentences before and after. Rolling waves indicate excellent flow, and flat waves mean boring content. Separate graphs display the structural flow, sentence length flow, and word length flow.
- Structure flow divides percentage scores between simple, compound, complex, and fragment sentences.
- The average word and sentence length flow scores in numbers to the first decimal.
- The sentence length flow is a good flow indicator. Orange indicates sentences with poor flow. Shortening, splitting, or removing long sentences changes the flow.
- The word length flow score contributes the least to the document’s overall flow but does affect it.
Key Statistics
When the Slick Write completed its grammar checking, the statistics report pops up, offering writers valuable information. The key statistics report appears at the bottom of the text; the sidebar’s statistics tab shows the key statistic scores and more statistics in pie charts for easy understanding. The statistics include:
- Document word count
- Estimated reading time of the document
- Readability index based on the Automated Readability Index
- The prepositional phrase index score
- Average word length
- Average sentence length
- Average paragraph length
- Number of long sentences
- Adverbs score
- The passive voice index score
- Vocabulary variety keeps readers engaged
- Uncommon words that make sentences hard to read
- Function words versus other words
- Percentage pronouns
- Filter words that weaken the story creating distance between the reader and the action.
The Associator, A Writer’s Block Remedy
Writers sometimes get writer’s block; then we stare at the computer screen or empty pages of a notebook, unable to write a thing. The Associator is a word association game that can help creativity flow again. It is also an excellent tool for novelists looking for descriptive words.
The Associator learns contextual word associations from real literature. Type any word or phrase in the text box, and the Associator presents you with a list of word association words. You can look up the word or add it to your original word and see the new set of words the Associator provides.
The surprise option relieves you from choosing a word but offers a selection of words to choose from. Play the word association game for fun, use it as writing prompts to remedy writer’s block, or improve your writing skills.
Slick Write Alternatives
We tested Slick Write’s accuracy and ability to find grammar errors with a test that would challenge human proofreaders.
Slick Write Versus Hemingway Editor
The Slick Write application reacted similarly to the test than the Hemingway Editor app did. Both proofreading editing tools were robust at identifying passive voice, adverbs, sentence fragments, readability of the text, and word count.
Slick Write and the Hemingway Editor focuses more on how to improve your writing skills and style than spelling and grammar errors, like Grammarly.
Slick Write Vs. Grammarly
Grammarly is the most accurate spelling and grammar checker. Slick Write is better than other proofreading software, but it is not as precise as Grammarly.
Slick Write is a free web-based editing product with no feature limitations. Grammarly’s free version is good; it does restrict free users compared to the premium version application.
If you were looking for a free editing tool to proofread your document, paper, essay, article, or blog post, Slick Write is an excellent choice. Writers can save time with the customizable feedback that allows you to select the categories you want checking according to a preferred writing style. Slick Write is one of the best free editing software and compares well with ProWritingAid, Ginger Software, and Hemingway Editor.