Thread: A Question About Word Processors

I'm sure most, if not all of us, use a computer and a word Processor to write our books. Rather it be, Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, Open Office.org, or others, I'm curious about which one you use and why.

I also have a question regarding Word Processors and the importance of their grammar checkers. All Word Processors have spell checkers now that are just about identical. The grammar checkers though, vary from WP to WP. My question is, how important is the grammar checker? I used to write my books by hand and I'm somewhat new to using a computer to write (going on three years now)

When I got my Apple Macintosh a little over two years ago, I opted to have iWork '09 preinstalled for $49 over Microsoft Office 2008 Home and Student for almost $200.

I've used Pages 4 (Part of iWork '09) to write two whole books in the last two years and I'm really used to how it looks, operates and the lack of clutter it has. That coupled with its quickness and hardly using any RAM is important for using the laptop on the battery.

However, compared to Microsoft Word 2011, the grammar checker misses certain things that I don't notice while I'm writing. Things like placing ; instead of , and other smaller things that may or may not be important.

I have no problem with using Microsoft Word 2011 as I have a trial installed at the moment. However, I do have a certain attachment to Pages which is a little hard to explain. The grammar checker is really the only advantage that Word has over Pages in my opinion and I haven't found the grammar checker in Open Office.org to be much better than the one in Pages.

I suppose the next question is, how important are those small details when it comes to a grammar checker? $119 is a lot to spend at the moment on Microsoft Office 2011 Home and Student. However, if these minor (or major) details the grammar checker catches it might be worth it.

Should I leave small grammatical things like that to the editors and not worry about it myself? How important is the grammar checker to you? Why is it important and what WP do you use to accomplish that task?

Also, when most agencies, publishers, take a document I'm assuming it would be in .doc or .docx if sent through email. Pages exports in .doc currently but one tiny advantage is saving in .doc or .docx with Microsoft Word.

Thanks!

Pages - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Link to more information about Pages

Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Link to more information about Microsoft Office for Macintosh 2011

Some of us use what we learnt at school, and from life, and don't depend on technology at all.

I'm a big fan of Word, though I don't use it for writing but only for formatting, but I'm a bigger fan of using what you are comfortable with using. That's a bigger factor than any technical details. Unless you see an obvious need for change, stay with what has worked well for you.

Grammar checkers aren't useful at all, in my opinion. I never have them turned on when I'm formatting something in Word. If your writing is good, and if all you have are minor problems in spelling, punctuation, and grammar, and not many of those, they will be silently corrected by an editor.

Grammar checkers on word processors are bog standard. They can identify a few things like fragment sentences and passive wording. That's about it. I also have mine turned off because it's annoying. Sometimes a writer uses a fragment sentence for impact, or a passive one for other reasons, and I don't particularly like a green squiggly line telling me it's wrong.

Learn grammar by reading. That's the best solution to your problem.

Thanks for the great replies! I've decided to not worry about it. The things all of you have mentioned in grammar checkers are exactly what Word pops up.

One thing I have found is Word wants to change how I have worded something (no pun intended) and sometimes I feel like, though it might be more correct it kind of messes up my particular voice or the way I'm trying to say something. Passive seems to be the most annoying out of the bunch because I always stop and think, well, how else am I supposed to explain the situation?

With the replies, I will probably go back to Pages and just write. After all, the editors need a job and I'll be catching at least the obvious typos when I proofread it myself.

Word's grammar checker is not much of something to rely on.