# Beta-testing the new ProWritingAid MS Word add-in.



## lisalepki

Hey, several of you have volunteered to help us beta test the newest version of the ProWritingAid MS Word add-in (thank you!!).  

I've emailed the download info to you. Whenever you come across a problem or glitch, please add it to this board. That way we will have a central place to keep all support issues.  

I'll also get our CTO Chris to join up so that he can see your feedback and answer any problems.  

Thanks again for your help with this! 

All the best, 

Lisa


----------



## chrisdinsmore

Hi Everybody,

Thanks for helping us with our beta!

Please let me know if you have any trouble installing or using it and I will try to help you out.

Chris


----------



## lisalepki

Mark Gardner said:


> Hey Chris & Lisa!


Hi Mark - thanks for helping out!


----------



## chrisdinsmore

Hi Mark,

If you click the small arrow shown in the image and select 'Move' you should be able to float the side-bar.










Chris


----------



## Scrapper78

Installing now.

First note: 
AVAST hates it.

Other notes:
Working well so far.
Working 3,000 words sections still has it warn me that this is a "large section" of text. This si silly. If it has to warn me about a single chapter, what's the point? Also, the warning is entirely superfluous. PWA easily managed a 30,000-word section without choking, and was ready in about ten seconds. 
Seconding the floating sidebar suggestion. I took a swipe at a a whole 104,000-word manuscript and broke its soul.

It still has the usual PWA false positives and heavy-handed suggestions. 
-Fiction writing is inherently 'sticky' by PWA standards. I've never written anything that PWA doesn't consider to have too many 'glue words.' I've given up on this one.
-Just because the words 'had' or 'was' get used does not automatically mean passive voice.

(If I followed every PWA suggestion for my writing, I would produce a bland, voice-less wall of adverb-free expository text that would very crisply and efficiently deliver a story with no style whatsoever. Actually, when I have some time, I'll re-write a chapter following every PWA suggestion... just for kicks)

That being said, still an amazing tool for someone with the wherewithal to use it. Having it inside word is a huuuuuuuuuuuuge improvement and time-saver for me. Also seems to be handling bigger chucks of text, too.


----------



## chrisdinsmore

At this time we do not offer an add-in for Word on Mac, this is due to limitations of the add-in platform on Mac.
We have a Desktop app for Mac and Windows that can edit MS Word documents directly.

Chris


----------



## Scrapper78

Here is an opening paragraph comparison:
*ORIGINAL (PWA SCORE: 60):*
Roland Tankowicz was once again in a bad mood. 
Astute chroniclers of the man's emotional states might point out that he was often in a bad mood. Brave souls, possessed of courage in excess of intelligence, might go so far as to opine that all of his moods seemed to fall on a spectrum that ranged between 'mild irritation' and 'homicidal fury.' They would not be wrong, but this was a special case.
Specifically, his irritated state was wholly the responsibility of external actors, and not a function of his more general grouchiness.
"I'll give you that one for free." His voice could be likened to the sound of a giant piece of industrial machinery as he growled the words through the evening rain. "The next one of you to try that crap is going to die screaming."

*PWA FIXED VERSION (SCORE:86)*
Roland Tankowicz felt anger. 
Chroniclers of the man's emotional states might point out he was often angry. Brave souls, possessed of courage over intelligence, could opine his moods fell on a spectrum ranging between 'mild irritation' and 'homicidal fury.' While correct, this was a special case.
External actors caused this irritated state, it was not part of his more general grouchiness.
"I'll give you that one for free." His voice sounded like a giant piece of industrial machinery as he growled the words through the evening rain. "The next to try that crap will die screaming."


----------



## lisalepki

Scrapper78 said:


> Here is an opening paragraph comparison:
> *ORIGINAL (PWA SCORE: 60):*
> Roland Tankowicz was once again in a bad mood.
> Astute chroniclers of the man's emotional states might point out that he was often in a bad mood. Brave souls, possessed of courage in excess of intelligence, might go so far as to opine that all of his moods seemed to fall on a spectrum that ranged between 'mild irritation' and 'homicidal fury.' They would not be wrong, but this was a special case.
> Specifically, his irritated state was wholly the responsibility of external actors, and not a function of his more general grouchiness.
> "I'll give you that one for free." His voice could be likened to the sound of a giant piece of industrial machinery as he growled the words through the evening rain. "The next one of you to try that crap is going to die screaming."
> 
> *PWA FIXED VERSION (SCORE:86)*
> 
> That's so much better! Much more clear. Nice work.
> 
> Roland Tankowicz felt anger.
> Chroniclers of the man's emotional states might point out he was often angry. Brave souls, possessed of courage over intelligence, could opine his moods fell on a spectrum ranging between 'mild irritation' and 'homicidal fury.' While correct, this was a special case.
> External actors caused this irritated state, it was not part of his more general grouchiness.
> "I'll give you that one for free." His voice sounded like a giant piece of industrial machinery as he growled the words through the evening rain. "The next to try that crap will die screaming."


----------



## Scrapper78

The first is the one that ended up in the book.

PWA does a great job of sanitizing a narrative, but strict adherence to PWA suggestions produces *extremely* dry prose. Great for tech writing and proposal writing, but lethal for producing compelling fiction.

Which is not to say that PWA is not a great tool. It's an awesome tool. But like any tool, it's up to the user to get what they want out of it.


----------

