The Tale of the Tape

In one corner, WordRake: editing software with more than 50,000 algorithms designed to improve clarity in professional prose.

Admit it: You’re proud of your writing skills. They give you enviable power. You can wield English grammar and vocabulary like a sculptor’s chisel or a warrior’s axe. You’ve thrived in fields where your long, complex (but clear) sentences with lots of Latin syntax and vocabulary roots show your expertise. But what if, by setting these skills aside sometimes, you could make your writing even more powerful? What if you could have a greater effect on your audience by changing your writing style to better fit their needs? You can create more powerful and effective messages when you write in plain language. WordRake can help you achieve this transformation faster and more efficiently.

Dialog boxes often feel disruptive, but sometimes we’re so quick to dismiss dialog boxes that we miss key information. Some hidden gems are tucked away in WordRake’s dialog boxes.

WordRake’s complex algorithms are contextual—that’s what makes its editing suggestions so powerful and accurate. The algorithms operate using signals and triggers. So when you Rake a document and accept changes or otherwise edit the document, the available signals and triggers change. When you Rake a second time, WordRake might make additional editing suggestions your new wording revealed.

Our users rely on WordRake for quick and reliable editing for clarity and brevity. Every feature and function was designed to work within that streamlined user experience, focused solely on delivering accurate editing suggestions to improve your work. But the simplicity of the track-changes style and sleek interface means some WordRake features go unnoticed. Here are five hidden features you should check out.

When asked to edit an author’s work, how quickly can you turn around a document? If you’re an editor getting paid a flat or per-word fee, every second you save adds to your bottom line. And if you’re simply doing a favor for a colleague, you want to help them and get back to your own work quickly.

The most vocal and dedicated software users are powerhouses. To work more efficiently, power users tweak their apps and seek out hidden features. You hear about Microsoft power users, but did you know you can be a WordRake power user, too? Here’s how to use Microsoft’s customization options to customize your WordRake experience. Check out these three power user tricks.

What gave you the idea for WordRake?

Although I have a law degree, I’ve devoted my career to writing and teaching writing. I’ve taught to businesses, universities, government agencies, and writing/publishing conferences. But most of my teaching was in the thousand-plus writing programs I taught to lawyers around the country. While I was teaching to lawyers, I noticed patterns in their writing, and I wondered if I could use those patterns to help them. After years of studying the patterns, I realized that a finite set of “signs” showed up consistently in words and phrases that added no meaning or formed a dull expression. And I saw that this was not peculiar to lawyers: these signs appeared in all writing. I analyzed the writing of the best writers, from Pulitzer Prize-winning novelists, to writers in Esquire and Vanity Fair, to Supreme Court Justices. In about 2000, I wondered if I could work with software engineers to put these signs and patterns into algorithms. I was astounded to see how the signs and patterns so consistently hunted down useless words and dull phrases.