Tips for Writing an Order Effectively and Quickly with Grammarly

When it comes to being a freelance author, there isn’t one right way to create and submit work. However, there are a few ways that we have found to be the most effective, time-saving, and easy to understand. You should always run your work through a grammar/spelling checker before submission, and our favorite tool for that task is Grammarly. 

Like any tool, there are right and wrong ways to use Grammarly. From where you first check the article to how you submit can all affect the editing process. Here’s what to know if you want to make the most out of using Grammarly for Textbroker orders. 

Drafting Your Order:

The first step in any order is to write it! So, when you begin to write an order, think about where you are doing so and the tools at your disposal. If you’re writing in a plain text document, there will be far fewer grammar and spelling tools than if you used Microsoft Word or Google Docs. While nothing is wrong with this, it could lead to more work down the line, especially if it’s a longer order with more to revise. To save time here, we would recommend writing your orders in Google Docs or Microsoft Word so you can take full advantage of their tools. Unlike some basic text applications, Word and Docs have tools that check spelling, grammar, format, and more to polish your piece as you write! 

However, for an even quicker experience, you can draft your order right into Grammarly! This will save you time from copying and pasting from another document and give you suggestions as you write. As with any other writing tool, you can save and create new documents so that you never need to worry about losing old work. When you have finished an order, hit “Menu” and “My Grammarly” to return to your homepage and create a new document. Furthermore, installing Grammarly doesn’t require you to only use their website. 

Once you have the application installed, Grammarly will appear in textboxes across other websites to help you write, and one of those boxes is the one we use at Textbroker! This means that you can write your order directly into your author account and have Grammarly provide the same suggestions as if you were writing your Grammarly account.

Taking Suggestions:

In the same way that buying a better, faster car doesn’t make you a better driver, an editing program doesn’t make you a better writer on its own. Just like with a new car, you need to learn how to use what you have, figure out what works best for you, what doesn’t, and how you can overcome any challenges. 

The best suggestion we can offer when using any program, not just Grammarly, is to use discretion on every suggestion. While it might be tempting to spam through the “Accept” button and polish your article that way, sometimes tools can be wrong. For example, one of the biggest challenges authors might face is the use of the Oxford (serial) comma. Textbroker’s rule is clear: If a client asks for it one way or another, that is what authors must do, but if there is no specification, whether to use the Oxford comma is up to the author. However, Grammarly doesn’t base its revisions on Textbroker, so it will mark any instance of a missing Oxford comma as wrong, as pictured below.

These types of edits will not only add issues to your orders but could result in more work for you. The example above is only a small sentence, but imagine a 1,000-word or 2,000-word order where you mass-accepted every suggestion just to get it back with notes on everything you thought Grammarly “fixed” for you. Not only would you be frustrated and have to spend more time on an order you thought you had completed, but you would think that Grammarly isn’t a worthwhile tool and might dismiss it from then on out. Just because these tools aren’t 100% accurate doesn’t mean you should write them off, and there is a way to take those errors and turn them into more help!

For even more help and in-depth suggestions, you may consider subscribing to Grammarly Premium! While by no means necessary, as we understand not everyone can afford to pay for a grammar checker, the suggestions offered by their paid service can cover more than basic grammar and style issues and will give feedback on things like complex punctuation, possible awkward phrasings, and vocabulary suggestions. However, whether you pay for Grammarly or not, both offerings can greatly aid you and your writing journey! 

How to Utilize Wrong Suggestions:

While every suggestion might not be correct, that doesn’t mean it should be ignored. The most common of these suggestions is what Grammarly calls “clarity” issues. These are issues Grammarly thinks might be affecting how your order reads. While the solution might not always be right, there might be some merit in flagging that area. Here is an example of Grammarly trying to correct some text we wrote for a social media post.

As you can see, it marks that I overused a qualifier and should remove “basically” since it is paired with “almost” as well. In an example like this, you might not want to just remove “basically” like suggested, but this does bring attention to a sentence that could benefit from reworking. Instead of taking the suggestion at face value, you could edit it your way to see if it corrects the issue. While just deleting “basically” would work, I was able to reword the sentence my way by utilizing where the suggestion was made, but not taking the correction verbatim. 

Final Thoughts:

Grammarly is a great tool that we recommend to all our authors, experienced or new, to help improve your work! However, it’s important that you use the tool — don’t let it use you by accepting inaccurate suggestions. Once you’ve mastered Grammarly, you are one step closer to broadening your freelance experience!