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|Our brains have a far easier time listening to and speaking English than we do writing, editing and reading. So when we simply read the text we have written, we often read what we think we wrote and not what we actually wrote.
When you hear your writing read out loud, your brain processes the information in a new way. That's when you might notice that there are gaps or sequence problems in your explanation. Or that you have abruptly moved from one topic to another, without transition words. You may notice some of your writing lacks 'rhythm' because the sentences are the same length. Or that you are repeating ideas rather than bringing forward new points.
This is why periodically hearing your text being read out loud is a good way to stay on track as you write.
Read text also breaks your sentences up into syllables, highlights parts of speech and even offers a translation feature.
Read Text is available in the top menu of the Scribo editing space on web, or in the popup modal in the Google docs plugin.
| | **Timer** |Editor
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|Preparing click the timer icon to switch on the clock.
It's a great way to prepare for a timed writing task, where using your phone timer probably means being distracted by your socials. 😁
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| Hitting your word and paragraph count is pretty important. Especially if you know you will have marks deducted for over- or under-writing. | | **Paragraphs** |Writing Check
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| Scribo looks at each paragraph written and gives an overview of the aspects of writing that need your attention. | | **Grammar** |Writing Check
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|Grammar errors impact the meaning and clarity of your writing, so this section highlights words or phrases that may have an error in construction or use.
You will see the grammar issues underlined in your text. Hover over the error in your text to see suggestions and make any appropriate changes.
Click on ‘Tell me more’ in the grammar section for helpful information on the more common grammar errors.
| | **Spelling** |Writing Check
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|Spelling issues can confuse and distract your reader, and can even change the message you are trying to communicate.
The Spelling section highlights words or phrases that are not in our dictionary, in case they are misspelled.
Hover over the spelling issues underlined in your text to see spelling suggestions and make any appropriate changes.
| | **Passive Voice** | Writing Check Sidebar |Active voice is preferable in most writing styles because it is direct, clear and often shorter than passive voice. If your writing is direct and clear, then people are going to be able to follow your ideas easily.
We do need to point out that passive voice isn't always wrong, especially if you are writing technical or scientific texts. Your teacher will be able to give you guidance on what they expect in your subject.
However, we suggest you always consider changing the instances of passive voice highlighted. Would active voice give your text greater clarity?
Not sure what passive voice is? Here's a simple example of voice:
A cake was made by Angela. 👈 Passive voice
Angela made a cake.👈 Active voice See? Direct, and shorter.
Click on the ‘Tell me more’ button in the Passive Voice section for more information about active and passive voice.
| | **Cohesives** | Writing Check Sidebar |Cohesives are sometimes called linking words or transition words because they link your ideas and show the relationship between sections of your writing.
They guide your reader through your text by creating cohesion.
Without them, your writing would be a collection of disconnected statements.
The Cohesives section will give you information about your overall use of cohesives. You should aim for more than 25% cohesive words in your writing.
The section will also break down your balance of simple vs advanced cohesives to see if this can be improved. To see what words you could be using, click on the blue Cohesive Explorer button in this section.
| | **Vocabulary** | Writing Check Sidebar |A strong vocabulary means the words you choose communicate your ideas in a clear and interesting way. It should also be appropriate for your audience.
The vocabulary section highlights the three main categories of words you have used – common, intermediate and academic words (Advanced words are all the rest).
Over time, try to decrease your use of common words and try to use more intermediate, advanced and academic words.
The Vocabulary section will also highlight the 5 words that you have repeated the most. See if you can use synonyms for the repeated words. As you resolve repetition, further writing checks will reveal a new top 5.
| | **Sentences** | Writing Check Sidebar |To keep your readers’ interest, try to use a variety of sentence types and sentence lengths – some short and punchy, others long and flowing. Use this section to review your sentence types, and try to change them up where you have the same sentence lengths or types grouped together.
Pay particular attention to sentence fragments – these may be missing a subject or verb, or both.
Also check any long sentences highlighted – these can make your writing hard to read.
| | **Readability** | Writing Check Sidebar |The readability section shows you a readability score for each of your paragraphs. The readability score is a score which tells you how simple or how difficult your writing is to read. Use this information to make sure your writing is appropriate for your audience.
When writing for younger children, scores above 70 are OK. For a general audience keep your text in the green zone (45 to 69). For academic texts, aim for 44 to 29.
Try to make sure readability is consistent across your paragraphs.
| | **Keywords** | Writing Check Sidebar |If your writing prompt includes keywords, you really should make sure you are using them to guide your writing.
Looking at the keywords you have used and their distribution across paragraphs helps you make sure you're writing on topic and in enough detail.
See if you can avoid repetition by using synonyms for your most frequently used keywords.
Check any missed keywords and make sure you have covered all aspects of the question.
| | **Styles** | Writing Check Sidebar |The Styles section highlights the words you have used to frame aspects of your writing, such as arguments for and against, examples or quotes and citations.
Highlighting various styles in your text helps you track how well you have presented your arguments, whether you are sticking to the first person in a recount, whether you have used enough quotes to support your argument, and many more aspects of writing.
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