Private & non-AI tools
Not every problem in a manuscript is a judgement call, and the ones that are not can be answered by a rule rather than a model. A rule can be inspected, repeated and trusted to give the same answer twice.
These guides cover what rule-based analysis can and cannot do, how to read a writing tool's terms before you hand it an unpublished book, and the tools that do the job without generating anything.
63 articles, page 1 of 2
What a Manuscript Scan Does Not Replace
What still needs a person.
How to Back Up a Manuscript Properly
The rule, applied to a book.
Cloud Sync Risks for Writers
Sync copies your mistakes too.
Working Offline as an Author
Writing without a network.
Account Security for Authors
The accounts that hold your livelihood.
What to Do If Your Manuscript Leaks
It is out. Here is the order.
Watermarking Advance Copies
Marking copies, and what that buys.
Terms of Service Changes and Your Manuscript
The agreement changes after you agreed.
How to Audit the Tools You Already Use
A list of everything that has your text.
How Fuzzy Name Matching Works
How a tool decides two names are similar.
How Term Extraction Works
How a tool decides a word is unusual.
Why a Dictionary Is Not Enough
Why the spellchecker cannot help you.
What a Stop List Is and Why It Matters
The list of words that are never reported.
False Positives and Why They Matter
Noise costs more than a miss.
Precision and Recall for Authors
Two numbers behind every setting.
What Happens When a Writing Tool Shuts Down
Companies close. Books should not.
Lock-In and How to Avoid It
Can you take your book with you.
Exporting Your Work From Writing Software
Do the export before you need it.
File Formats That Outlive Software
The format outlasts the program.
Plain Text for Novelists
Nothing but the words, for ever.
Markdown for Novelists
Plain text that knows about headings.
DOCX and EPUB as Archival Formats
Two open standards, kept together.
What a Rule-Based Checker Cannot Do
The boundary, stated plainly.
Offline Writing Software for Authors
Software that never needs a network.
An Air-Gapped Writing Workflow
Disconnected, and done properly.
Open Source Tools for Novelists
What exists, and what it is actually good for.
Privacy-First Writing Apps Compared
Comparing claims that all sound the same.
PerfectIt vs ProWritingAid
Consistency or prose. They are not the same job.
AutoCrit vs ProWritingAid
Two report suites, and what each emphasises.
Fictionary vs ProWritingAid
Story shape or sentence quality. Different stages.
Marlowe vs Fictionary
A report you receive, or a framework you work.
Confidentiality When Working With Editors
What to agree before the file leaves your machine.
Agent and Publisher AI Submission Policies
What you are being asked to declare, and why.
Non-AI Alternatives to ProWritingAid
The reports, without the generative parts.
Non-AI Alternatives to Grammarly
Checking, without the writing assistance.
Non-AI Alternatives to Sudowrite
You tried it. Here is what else addresses the same problems.
Non-AI Alternatives to Novelcrafter
The codex, without the model attached.
Non-AI Alternatives to ChatGPT for Editing
Job by job, what else does it.
What a Scan Can and Cannot Tell You
The honest scope, stated once.
When AI Is the Wrong Tool for a Manuscript
Where it helps, and where it cannot.
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Private & non-AI tools, on your own manuscript.
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