websites to edit essays

• Link to facebook
• Link to linkedin
• Link to twitter
• Link to youtube

Academic Proofreading And Editing

Whether you’re writing a thesis, research paper, or PhD proposal, Proofed’s academic proofreading and editing services will help ensure your writing reads smoothly and your ideas are communicated effectively.

Enhance Your Academic Writing

No matter what you’re working on, with Proofed’s academic proofreading and editing services, you can rest assured that your writing will be clear and concise, with a strong academic style and tone.

We can even check references and citations in your work. Because good writing is vital for success in academia, our proofreading and editing services can help you achieve your career goals.

Experienced Academic Editors

Our team includes editors with PhDs and master’s degrees in a wide range of subject areas. We’ve also edited thousands of academic documents so we understand the high standard of writing required in academia and will use our skills and expertise to make your writing the best it can be.

Are You Looking To Publish Your Writing?

Proofed’s academic proofreading service has helped thousands of academics in many fields of study prepare their papers, reports, and articles for publication. Visit our researcher page to learn more about how we can polish your writing, thus increasing your chances of publication.

Make sure your writing is the best it can be with our expert English proofreading and editing

A Dedicated Team Of Expert Editors Working 24/7, 365 Days A Year

We pair your document with an editor who understands your field of study. If you’re happy with the results, let us know, and we’ll make sure the same editor works on all of your documents. That way, you can be sure the proofreading we provide will always meet your standards.

Expert Editor

Highly Educated Editors

Female Editors

Hold Graduate Degree

Qualified In Over

Subject Areas

How We Work With Academics

Lightning-fast delivery.

You’ll never miss a deadline with our speedy services: our Next-Day Guarantee means we’ll return any document up to 8,000 words long within 24 hours.

And if you need a faster turnaround, simply select your desired delivery speed when you submit your document. We have three options

We can also meet custom deadlines! Just let us know what you need. 

* For documents up to 8,000 words

** For documents up to 3,000 words

Great Pricing

Our pricing is affordable and transparent – the cost is based on the exact length of your document. Check out our pricing calculator for an instant quote, and rest assured that you’ll receive the highest quality proofreading and editing for the best value on the market.

Referencing Expertise

Our team includes experts in various referencing styles and systems, including AMA, APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, Vancouver, and IEEE. No matter what style you’re using, though, we can check that your citations and references are correct and let you know if any information is missing. Visit our referencing page to learn more.

Subject-Matter Experts

Our team includes over 750 professional editors with backgrounds in a wide range of disciplines, so we’ll always match you with the best editor for your writing, whether you need help with a sociology dissertation, handouts for a music theory lecture, or a biology research paper.

24-Hour Support

Our support team is available around the clock to address any concerns or questions you have about your order. This means you’ll never be left in the dark, no matter where you are or what time it is.

We Work With Every Major Format

Our system supports over 15 document formats, making it easy to submit content for proofreading and editing. Click on a file icon below to learn more.

MS Powerpoint

Google Docs

Google Slides

Google Sheets

Illustrator

Select Your Document Type Below To Learn More

Research papers.

Present your findings with pride by having your research paper checked by our expert academic proofreaders.

Journal Articles

Prepare for publication by letting our expert academic proofreaders check your journal article for errors.

Let our expert academic proofreaders help you put the finishing touches on your PhD thesis or dissertation.

Make sure your arguments come across clearly by having your thesis checked by our expert academic proofreaders.

Research Proposals

Enhance your application by letting our expert academic proofreaders check your research proposal for errors.

Instant Quote

You can also upload a document to get an instant quote

Drag & drop your file

or browse your computer

Browse from your device

Drop your file here!

Your file is being uploaded!

Looking For The Perfect Proofreader?

We can help you improve everything from journal articles to theses. Let us show you how!

• Features for Creative Writers
• Features for Work
• Features for Higher Education
• Features for Teachers
• Features for Non-Native Speakers
• Learn Blog Grammar Guide Community Events FAQ
• Grammar Guide

Essay Checker: Free Online Paper Corrector

Your Best Chance for an A+ Essay. Try Our Free Essay Checker Below.

Start typing, paste, or use

Get more suggestions to enhance this text and all your future writing

Your suggestions will show once you've entered some text.

Great job! We didn't find any suggestions in your text.

Why Should You Use a Free Essay Checker?

The simple answer? Good grammar is necessary, but it’s not easy. You've already done countless hours of research to write the essay. You don’t want to spend countless hours correcting it, too.

You'll get a better grade

Good grammar or its absence can determine if you get a good grade or a failing one. Impress your lecturer not just with how grammatically sound your writing is, but how clear it is and how it flows.

You'll save time

Essay writing can be a long and tedious process. ProWritingAid's essay checker saves you the hassle by acting as the first line of defense against pesky grammar issues.

You'll become a better writer

Essay writing is a particular skill and one that becomes better with practice. Every time you run your essay through ProWritingAid’s essay corrector, you get to see what your common mistakes are and how to fix them.

Good Writing = Good Grades

It’s already hard to know what to write in an essay. Don’t let grammar mistakes hinder your writing and prevent you from getting a good grade. ProWritingAid’s essay checker will help you write your best essay yet. Since the checker is powered by AI, using it means that grammar errors don’t stand a chance. Give your professors something to look forward to reading with clear, concise, and professional writing.

How Does ProWritingAid’s Essay Checker Work?

Your goal in essay writing is to convey your message as best as possible. ProWritingAid's essay checker is the first step towards doing this.

Get Rid of Spelling Errors

ProWritingAid’s essay checker will show you what it thinks are spelling errors and present you with possible corrections. If a word is flagged and it’s actually spelt correctly you can always choose to ignore the suggestion.

Fix Grammar Errors

Professors aren’t fans of poor grammar because it interrupts your message and makes your essay hard to understand. ProWritingAid will run a grammar check on your paper to ensure that your message is precise and is being communicated the way you intended.

Get Rid of Punctuation Mistakes

A missing period or comma here and there may not seem that serious, but you’ll lose marks for punctuation errors. Run ProWritingAid’s paper checker to use the correct punctuation marks every time and elevate your writing.

Improve Readability

Make sure that in the grand scheme your language is not too complicated. The essay checker's built in readability report will show if your essay is easy or hard to read. It specifically zones in on paragraphs that might be difficult to read so you can review them.

What Else Can the Essay Checker Do?

The editing tool analyzes your text and highlights a variety of key writing issues, such as overused words, incohesive sentence structures, punctuation issues, repeated phrases, and inconsistencies.

You don’t need to drown your essay in words just to meet the word count. ProWritingAid’s essay checker will help to make your words more effective. You'll get to construct your arguments and make sure that every word you use builds towards a meaningful conclusion.

Transition words help to organize your ideas by showing the relationship between them. The essay checker has a built in Transition report that highlights and shows the percentage of transitions used in your essay. Use the results to add transitions where necessary.

An engaging essay has sentences of varying lengths. Don’t bore your professor with long, rambling sentences. The essay checker will show you where you need to break long sentences into shorter sentences, or add more sentence length variation.

Generally, in scholarly writing, with its emphasis on precision and clarity, the active voice is preferred. However, the passive voice is acceptable in some instances. When you run your essay through ProWritingAid’s essay checker, you get feedback on whether you 'r e using the passive or active voice to convey your idea.

There are academic specific power verbs like appraise , investigate , debunk , support , etc., that can add more impact to your argument by giving a more positive and confident tone. The essay checker will check your writing for power verbs and notify you if you have less than three throughout your essay.

It's easy to get attached to certain phrases and use them as crutches in your essays but this gives the impression of boring and repetitive writing. The essay checker will highlight your repeats and suggest contextually relevant alternatives.

Gain access to in-house blog reports on citations, how to write a thesis statement, how to write a conclusion, and more. Venture into a world of resources specific to your academic needs.

What Kinds of Papers Does ProWritingAid Correct?

No matter what you’re writing, ProWritingAid will adapt and show you where your edits are needed most.

• Argumentative
• Descriptive
• Textual Analysis
• Lab reports
• Case studies
• Literature reviews
• Presentations
• Dissertations
• Research papers

Professors and students love using ProWritingAid

If you're an English teacher, you need to take a look at this tool - it reinforces what you're teaching, highlights strengths and weaknesses, and makes it easier to personalize instruction.

Jennifer Gonzales

Only reason I managed to get an A in all my freshmen composition classes.

Chris Layton

Great tool for academic work. Easy to use and the reports and summary evaluation of your documents in several categories is very useful. So much more than spelling and grammar!

Debra Callender

Questions & Answers

1. how do i use the essay checker online tool.

You can either copy and paste your essay in the essay checker field or upload your essay from your computer. Your suggestions will show once you enter text. You’ll see a number of possible grammar and spelling issues. Sign up for free to get unlimited suggestions to improve your writing style, grammar, and sentence structure. Avoid unintentional plagiarism with a premium account.

2. Does the essay checker work with British English and American English?

The essay checker works with both British English and American English. Just choose the one you would like to use and your corrections will reflect this.

3. Is using an essay checker cheating?

No. The essay checker won’t ever write the essay for you. It will point out possible edits and advise you on changes you need to make. You have full autonomy and get to decide which changes to accept.

4. Will the essay checker auto-correct my work?

The essay writing power remains in your hands. You choose which suggestions you want to accept and you can ignore those that you don’t think apply.

5. Is there a student discount?

Students who have an eligible student email address can get 20% off ProWritingAid Premium. Email [email protected] from your student email address to access your discount.

6. Does ProWritingAid have a plagiarism checker?

Yes! ProWritingAid’s plagiarism checker will check your work against over a billion web-pages, published works, and academic papers, so you can be sure of its originality. Find out more about pricing for plagiarism checks here .

A good grade is closer than you think

Drop us a line or let's stay in touch via :

Slick Write

Check your grammar in seconds.

Slick Write is a powerful, free application that makes it easy to check your writing for grammar errors, potential stylistic mistakes, and other features of interest. Whether you're a blogger, novelist, SEO professional, or student writing an essay for school, Slick Write can help take your writing to the next level. Curious? See why Slick Write is the best. Try the interactive demo , or check your own document . No software download or installation is required.

Why Slick Write?

The grammar checker is lightning fast

Customizable feedback to suit your style

We do not redistribute your documents

Add impact to reports

Improve your grades

Engage your audience

Inspire confidence

English is a difficult language, so using correct grammar and diverse vocabulary will set you apart from the crowd. Using good sentence structure and wording improves your content's impact and readability while building your readers' trust. Slick Write goes beyond spell checking to teach you the habits of effective writers. How does your writing rate?

Improve your resumé

The job market is competitive. Gain an advantage, impress employers, and land more interviews by demonstrating professionalism and superior communication skills on your resumé.

Get the extensions

Using an extension is the easiest way to submit your work to Slick Write. They are available for Chrome and Firefox .

Bust your writer's block, and create new metaphors by playing the word association game . To begin, type a word or phrase in the box below, and hit enter. To quickly find associations for your own text, highlight a word or phrase in it, and use the toolbox popup.

The associator learns contextual word associations from real literature, so it may return offensive results.

Results for:

I know what I'm doing. Disable these hints.

• Submission Limit There is a limit of 200,000 characters, which is approximately 30,000 words. Anything longer should be submitted in smaller chunks, or it will be automatically trimmed.
• No document It looks like you forgot to enter your document. Paste it in and try again.
• Structure This tab shows sentence structure within the context of the document. Hover over a sentence to see its word count. Select a word or phrase, or click a sentence to get more information.
• Quotes This tab shows your quotations highlighted as Slick Write sees them.

More information »

• Sentence type flow Pieces with good flow will make use of all four sentence types, varying them to keep the reader interested.
• Sentence length flow Sentence length is indirectly related to sentence type, and is a good indicator of flow. Flow can be altered by adding, removing, lengthening, shortening, combining, or splitting sentences. Long sentences will be indicated by a red line on the graph. Sentences that flow poorly with their surroundings will be orange, and the source of the problem can often be found in a nearby sentence.
• Word length flow Word length is a minor contributor to overall flow, but even minor variations are signs of good rhythm.
• Passive Voice Index This is a measure of how frequently the passive voice is used. Consider revising your document if it scores over 100.
• Prepositional Phrase Index This is a measure of how frequently prepositional phrases are used. Consider revising your document if it scores over 100.
• Average sentence length Sentence length is a major contributor to the level of education required to read a body of text.
• Sentence length standard deviation This is a measure of the amount of variation in the length of a text's sentences. In texts that have broad appeal, this tends to fall between 50 and 90% of the average sentence length. You can increase this number by making long sentences longer, and short ones shorter.
• Sentence deviation to length ratio This is a measure of the sentence variety, and a major contributor to flow. Most novels score between 0.5 and 0.9, and popular ones often score near the high end of the range. You can increase this number by making long sentences longer, and short ones shorter.
• Just the stats preset Use this preset when you're only interested in the stats tab. Critique and Flow will be hidden.
• Honesty preset This preset checks for common indicators of deception, either by lying or omission, and is based on the findings of this study . Areas with high concentrations of these indicators should be viewed with skepticism. Note that the presence or absence of these indicators does not guarantee that a statement is true or false, and that the study was done on spoken communications, so it might be more applicable to interviews and speeches. As always, use your brain.
• Doubled words A word used twice in a row may be a typo.
• Commonly confused words This will check for the internet's most frequently confused words and notify you if it looks like you misused one. It is experimental and probably the least reliable feature. Consult a dictionary when necessary.
• Sentences starting with the same word A word should not be used to start more than one sentence in a single paragraph.
• Misplaced conjunctions It is considered poor style to place coordinating conjunctions at either end of a sentence. Placing a subordinating conjunction at the end of a sentence is against the rules.

It is said that one day, passive voice will bring weakness to your prose.

More information » Even more information »

• Overwriting Words like "very" and "really" make sentences wordier and weaken your message. These can be deleted in almost all cases without affecting the meaning of the sentence.
• Abstract words Abstract words lack specificity and overusing them can make even simple concepts difficult to understand. There are times when abstract words are desirable or even necessary; it would be difficult to write about math or programming without mentioning variables or functions, but you should use more specific terms whenever possible.
• Wordy and redundant phrases These phrases make your writing more difficult to understand. In most cases, they can be replaced with one or two words, or even deleted.
• Legalese These antiquated, arcane words and phrases will make your writing look like a contract.
• Double negatives Double negatives are almost always poor style.
• Adverbs They aren't bad in small quantities, but consider revising your document if more than 5.5% of its words are adverbs. Adverbs ending in "-ly" are considered the worst offenders.
• Adjectives They aren't bad in small quantities. A few of the words on this list can also function as other parts of speech. You have been warned.
• Contractions In formal writing, the use of contractions is considered a fault.

The boxer decked his opponent.

• Profanity Profanity should not be used in formal writing outside of direct quotations.

The critic's scathing review hit the nail on the head .

• Similes Similes and metaphors should be used sparingly. This option will detect most common types of similes.
• "Said" replacements Some people think that these substitutes for "said" are weak or obnoxious, especially if overused.

Her dress was long , and it touched the floor.

Her long dress touched the floor.

• Gender-specific pronouns Avoid using gender-specific pronouns in formal writing when the subject's gender is unknown.
• Weasel words Like abstract words, weasel words and phrases lack specificity. At best, they convey uncertainty. At worst, they can be used to "weasel out" of telling the truth in a straightforward manner. When checking a document that is speculative by nature, you might want to disable this detector.
• Third person pronouns According to this study , high concentrations of third person pronouns may indicate deception.
• Bias language These words and phrases often show the author's bias.
• Uncommon words Uncommon words will increase the document's reading difficulty.

Hot peppers burn my mouth, but I eat them anyway .

Since burritos taste good , I like to eat them.

• Sentence fragments A sentence must have at least one noun and one verb. Anything that does not is a fragment, and if it occurs outside of dialog, it should probably be rewritten.
• Long sentences Long sentences tend to be more difficult to read, making them good candidates for trimming or splitting. Alternatively, parallelism may be used to improve their readability, though this will not decrease the ARI score.
• Success with Style: Using Writing Style to Predict the Success of Novels
• Grammar Girl For your obscure writing questions
• Basic Prose and Style Mechanics An excellent, concise resource
• Television Tropes & Idioms Tricks of the trade
• Writing Realistic Injuries An invaluable article for anyone who writes action or horror
• Online Etymology Dictionary Learn the history of English words
• Scribophile Discuss the finer points of writing with other novelists
• Suggestions from the official See Sharp Press blog Learn about the mistakes that will keep your novel from being published.
• Smashwords Easy ebook distribution for indie authors
• Duotrope Find and learn about publishers
• CreateSpace
• Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
• Creative Writing Prompts and Exercises Spark your creativity
• RhymeZone A popular rhyming dictionary
• Seventh Sanctum Name generators and more
• Apache OpenOffice The best free office software
• Literature & Latte Makers of the popular Scrivener editor

Did you find a bug? Do you want us to add a new feature? We would love to hear about it.

• Engineering Entrance
• Civil Services
• Graduate Engineering
• Government Exams
• Study Abroad
• School Level
• Computer & Information Technology
• IT Certifications
• Soft Skill & Aptitude
• Hobby Classes
• Language Training
• Placement Exams
• Consultants
• September 13, 2022
• 6 Best Essay Editing Websites for Students
• Home     
• Articles     

• Author William Grigsby

If you are a student, working on a number of projects at the same time is hard. This can be especially hard for students who may not have a stronghold on their English communication skills. All the good professional essay writers does a lot of research from reliable sources & adds creative ideas throughout the report. These ideas need to be communicated well in order to be effective.

So how can you get all the research done and write a well-rounded essay in less time?

Online Help

When there are many essays to work on, you can be hard pressed for time. Fortunately, there are many editing websites on the internet that can help students, who wish to put in their best efforts to submit a good essay on time. Click here to read the components of a successful essay .

Since you may waste a lot of your time deciding which editing websites to use, here is a quick review of the 6 best essay editing websites for students:

1. Grammarly  

This is a great website that helps you learn the rules of grammar with consistent feedback on your writing. It is very easy to use and is very accurate in detecting errors that you may not see, otherwise. You can use grammarly free trial  to correct minor errors. It is worth paying for their service with grammarly discount if you want an in-depth feedback to write a successful essay. On the flip side, the website takes more time to process the feedback, compared to other essay editing websites.

2. Assignment masters

This website is an essay writing service that offers custom essays. All you need to do is place your order, pay and wait for your essay. You will find online chat support on this website and can also reach them via phone.  Apart from the essay, this website offers other services such as writing term and research papers, thesis and dissertation, plagiarism-checker, proofreading, etc.

3. Polish my writing

This website (now known as After the Deadline) makes it very easy to find errors in your essay. If you want to proofread and edit your essay, then all you need to do is copy your essay and paste your work on the Polishmywriting website. The errors are immediately highlighted in three different colors. The errors will be related to spelling mistakes, writing style suggestions and of course, grammar check. Even suggestions for active/passive writing style are offered by this website.

4.  Ginger software 

The biggest strength of the proofreading service by Ginger is that it immediately detects grammar and spelling mistakes in real time as you type your work on web-based apps such as email, blogs or even social media. However, on the downside, it does not explain or give any reasons for the errors highlighted. Another downside is that it does not help you identify plagiarized content.

5. Slick write

Here is another free website that helps you proofread and edit your essay in no time. They even have a browser extension which plays the role of an online editor. It will immediately highlight unnecessary words so that eliminating them would help your essay be more concise. It’s not just grammar or spelling mistakes that can be corrected. This website is for all kind of writers who engage in some form of writing either online or offline. Just highlight the text you want to check and Slick Write will give you the suggestions to make the required changes.

6.   Paper Rater

This website not only checks your grammar, spelling and writing style, but it also gives your essay a grade! Again, you just need to copy-paste your essay on their website and you will get a report with suggestions and the possible grade. Paper Rater is a free application.

What are your thoughts on this list? Did we miss anything? Which editing website do you use to write a successful essay? Let us know in the comments below. Meanwhile, check out the difference between a compare and a contrast essay .

You Might Want To Read: Journalism India Colleges Jobs Much ,  Class Vi Online Test ,  Autocad Online Mock Test ,  National Institute Of Speech And Hearing Nish Thiruvananthapuram ,  Ugc Net Comparative Religion Question Paper 2 2008 ,  Anugrah Narayan College Patna ,  Best Jam Coaching Institutes In Up ,  Ignou Openmat Test Management Programmes General Awareness Mock Test Paper 1 ,  Ugc Net International Studies Question Paper 2 2006 ,  Mathematics Derivatives Integrals Notes

Leave your vote

Total votes: 1

Upvotes percentage: 100.000000%

Downvotes: 0

Downvotes percentage: 0.000000%

This post was created with our nice and easy submission form. Create your post!

Tags: essay , essay editing websites , Students , writing

Like what you read? Give author a thumbs up?

Bookmark this article to read later, drop a remark in comment section and share with your friends..

By William Grigsby

Texas Review

(9 Review) | (9Rating)

(247 Review) | (21Rating)

UTAC Academy

(6 Review) | (0Rating)

Your email address will not be published. Required field are marked

Mail: [email protected]

• Impact Stories
• Career With Us
• Exam Calendar
• List of Coachings
• List of Schools
• All Careers
• Market Place
• Start Your Online Educational Academy
• EduGorilla Publication

Copyright ©2024 EduGorilla Community Pvt. Ltd.

• Disclaimer |
• Terms and Conditions |
• Our Code of ethics |
• Privacy Policy |
• Copyright |
• Return Policy |

New Member?

Username or Email Address

Forgot your password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Processing files…

Report an Error

Please let us know, if you found any error on this page, We will rectify it as soon as possible

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Google
• Share on Twitter
• " target="_blank" class="s_pinterest"> Share on Pinterest
• Post Your Enquiry

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, getting college essay help: important do's and don’ts.

College Essays

If you grow up to be a professional writer, everything you write will first go through an editor before being published. This is because the process of writing is really a process of re-writing —of rethinking and reexamining your work, usually with the help of someone else. So what does this mean for your student writing? And in particular, what does it mean for very important, but nonprofessional writing like your college essay? Should you ask your parents to look at your essay? Pay for an essay service?

If you are wondering what kind of help you can, and should, get with your personal statement, you've come to the right place! In this article, I'll talk about what kind of writing help is useful, ethical, and even expected for your college admission essay . I'll also point out who would make a good editor, what the differences between editing and proofreading are, what to expect from a good editor, and how to spot and stay away from a bad one.

Table of Contents

What Kind of Help for Your Essay Can You Get?

What's Good Editing?

What should an editor do for you, what kind of editing should you avoid, proofreading, what's good proofreading, what kind of proofreading should you avoid.

What Do Colleges Think Of You Getting Help With Your Essay?

Who Can/Should Help You?

Advice for editors.

Should You Pay Money For Essay Editing?

The Bottom Line

What's next, what kind of help with your essay can you get.

Rather than talking in general terms about "help," let's first clarify the two different ways that someone else can improve your writing . There is editing, which is the more intensive kind of assistance that you can use throughout the whole process. And then there's proofreading, which is the last step of really polishing your final product.

Let me go into some more detail about editing and proofreading, and then explain how good editors and proofreaders can help you."

Editing is helping the author (in this case, you) go from a rough draft to a finished work . Editing is the process of asking questions about what you're saying, how you're saying it, and how you're organizing your ideas. But not all editing is good editing . In fact, it's very easy for an editor to cross the line from supportive to overbearing and over-involved.

Ability to clarify assignments. A good editor is usually a good writer, and certainly has to be a good reader. For example, in this case, a good editor should make sure you understand the actual essay prompt you're supposed to be answering.

Open-endedness. Good editing is all about asking questions about your ideas and work, but without providing answers. It's about letting you stick to your story and message, and doesn't alter your point of view.

Think of an editor as a great travel guide. It can show you the many different places your trip could take you. It should explain any parts of the trip that could derail your trip or confuse the traveler. But it never dictates your path, never forces you to go somewhere you don't want to go, and never ignores your interests so that the trip no longer seems like it's your own. So what should good editors do?

Help Brainstorm Topics

Sometimes it's easier to bounce thoughts off of someone else. This doesn't mean that your editor gets to come up with ideas, but they can certainly respond to the various topic options you've come up with. This way, you're less likely to write about the most boring of your ideas, or to write about something that isn't actually important to you.

If you're wondering how to come up with options for your editor to consider, check out our guide to brainstorming topics for your college essay .

Help Revise Your Drafts

Here, your editor can't upset the delicate balance of not intervening too much or too little. It's tricky, but a great way to think about it is to remember: editing is about asking questions, not giving answers .

Revision questions should point out:

• Places where more detail or more description would help the reader connect with your essay
• Places where structure and logic don't flow, losing the reader's attention
• Places where there aren't transitions between paragraphs, confusing the reader
• Moments where your narrative or the arguments you're making are unclear

But pointing to potential problems is not the same as actually rewriting—editors let authors fix the problems themselves.

Bad editing is usually very heavy-handed editing. Instead of helping you find your best voice and ideas, a bad editor changes your writing into their own vision.

You may be dealing with a bad editor if they:

• Add material (examples, descriptions) that doesn't come from you
• Use a thesaurus to make your college essay sound "more mature"
• Add meaning or insight to the essay that doesn't come from you
• Tell you what to say and how to say it
• Write sentences, phrases, and paragraphs for you
• Change your voice in the essay so it no longer sounds like it was written by a teenager

Colleges can tell the difference between a 17-year-old's writing and a 50-year-old's writing. Not only that, they have access to your SAT or ACT Writing section, so they can compare your essay to something else you wrote. Writing that's a little more polished is great and expected. But a totally different voice and style will raise questions.

Where's the Line Between Helpful Editing and Unethical Over-Editing?

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether your college essay editor is doing the right thing. Here are some guidelines for staying on the ethical side of the line.

• An editor should say that the opening paragraph is kind of boring, and explain what exactly is making it drag. But it's overstepping for an editor to tell you exactly how to change it.
• An editor should point out where your prose is unclear or vague. But it's completely inappropriate for the editor to rewrite that section of your essay.
• An editor should let you know that a section is light on detail or description. But giving you similes and metaphors to beef up that description is a no-go.

Proofreading (also called copy-editing) is checking for errors in the last draft of a written work. It happens at the end of the process and is meant as the final polishing touch. Proofreading is meticulous and detail-oriented, focusing on small corrections. It sands off all the surface rough spots that could alienate the reader.

Because proofreading is usually concerned with making fixes on the word or sentence level, this is the only process where someone else can actually add to or take away things from your essay . This is because what they are adding or taking away tends to be one or two misplaced letters.

Laser focus. Proofreading is all about the tiny details, so the ability to really concentrate on finding small slip-ups is a must.

Excellent grammar and spelling skills. Proofreaders need to dot every "i" and cross every "t." Good proofreaders should correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar. They should put foreign words in italics and surround quotations with quotation marks. They should check that you used the correct college's name, and that you adhered to any formatting requirements (name and date at the top of the page, uniform font and size, uniform spacing).

Limited interference. A proofreader needs to make sure that you followed any word limits. But if cuts need to be made to shorten the essay, that's your job and not the proofreader's.

A bad proofreader either tries to turn into an editor, or just lacks the skills and knowledge necessary to do the job.

Some signs that you're working with a bad proofreader are:

• If they suggest making major changes to the final draft of your essay. Proofreading happens when editing is already finished.
• If they aren't particularly good at spelling, or don't know grammar, or aren't detail-oriented enough to find someone else's small mistakes.
• If they start swapping out your words for fancier-sounding synonyms, or changing the voice and sound of your essay in other ways. A proofreader is there to check for errors, not to take the 17-year-old out of your writing.

What Do Colleges Think of Your Getting Help With Your Essay?

Admissions officers agree: light editing and proofreading are good—even required ! But they also want to make sure you're the one doing the work on your essay. They want essays with stories, voice, and themes that come from you. They want to see work that reflects your actual writing ability, and that focuses on what you find important.

On the Importance of Editing

Get feedback. Have a fresh pair of eyes give you some feedback. Don't allow someone else to rewrite your essay, but do take advantage of others' edits and opinions when they seem helpful. ( Bates College )

Read your essay aloud to someone. Reading the essay out loud offers a chance to hear how your essay sounds outside your head. This exercise reveals flaws in the essay's flow, highlights grammatical errors and helps you ensure that you are communicating the exact message you intended. ( Dickinson College )

On the Value of Proofreading

Share your essays with at least one or two people who know you well—such as a parent, teacher, counselor, or friend—and ask for feedback. Remember that you ultimately have control over your essays, and your essays should retain your own voice, but others may be able to catch mistakes that you missed and help suggest areas to cut if you are over the word limit. ( Yale University )

Proofread and then ask someone else to proofread for you. Although we want substance, we also want to be able to see that you can write a paper for our professors and avoid careless mistakes that would drive them crazy. ( Oberlin College )

On Watching Out for Too Much Outside Influence

Limit the number of people who review your essay. Too much input usually means your voice is lost in the writing style. ( Carleton College )

Ask for input (but not too much). Your parents, friends, guidance counselors, coaches, and teachers are great people to bounce ideas off of for your essay. They know how unique and spectacular you are, and they can help you decide how to articulate it. Keep in mind, however, that a 45-year-old lawyer writes quite differently from an 18-year-old student, so if your dad ends up writing the bulk of your essay, we're probably going to notice. ( Vanderbilt University )

Now let's talk about some potential people to approach for your college essay editing and proofreading needs. It's best to start close to home and slowly expand outward. Not only are your family and friends more invested in your success than strangers, but they also have a better handle on your interests and personality. This knowledge is key for judging whether your essay is expressing your true self.

Parents or Close Relatives

Your family may be full of potentially excellent editors! Parents are deeply committed to your well-being, and family members know you and your life well enough to offer details or incidents that can be included in your essay. On the other hand, the rewriting process necessarily involves criticism, which is sometimes hard to hear from someone very close to you.

A parent or close family member is a great choice for an editor if you can answer "yes" to the following questions. Is your parent or close relative a good writer or reader? Do you have a relationship where editing your essay won't create conflict? Are you able to constructively listen to criticism and suggestion from the parent?

One suggestion for defusing face-to-face discussions is to try working on the essay over email. Send your parent a draft, have them write you back some comments, and then you can pick which of their suggestions you want to use and which to discard.

Teachers or Tutors

A humanities teacher that you have a good relationship with is a great choice. I am purposefully saying humanities, and not just English, because teachers of Philosophy, History, Anthropology, and any other classes where you do a lot of writing, are all used to reviewing student work.

Moreover, any teacher or tutor that has been working with you for some time, knows you very well and can vet the essay to make sure it "sounds like you."

If your teacher or tutor has some experience with what college essays are supposed to be like, ask them to be your editor. If not, then ask whether they have time to proofread your final draft.

Guidance or College Counselor at Your School

The best thing about asking your counselor to edit your work is that this is their job. This means that they have a very good sense of what colleges are looking for in an application essay.

At the same time, school counselors tend to have relationships with admissions officers in many colleges, which again gives them insight into what works and which college is focused on what aspect of the application.

Unfortunately, in many schools the guidance counselor tends to be way overextended. If your ratio is 300 students to 1 college counselor, you're unlikely to get that person's undivided attention and focus. It is still useful to ask them for general advice about your potential topics, but don't expect them to be able to stay with your essay from first draft to final version.

Friends, Siblings, or Classmates

Although they most likely don't have much experience with what colleges are hoping to see, your peers are excellent sources for checking that your essay is you .

Friends and siblings are perfect for the read-aloud edit. Read your essay to them so they can listen for words and phrases that are stilted, pompous, or phrases that just don't sound like you.

You can even trade essays and give helpful advice on each other's work.

If your editor hasn't worked with college admissions essays very much, no worries! Any astute and attentive reader can still greatly help with your process. But, as in all things, beginners do better with some preparation.

First, your editor should read our advice about how to write a college essay introduction , how to spot and fix a bad college essay , and get a sense of what other students have written by going through some admissions essays that worked .

Then, as they read your essay, they can work through the following series of questions that will help them to guide you.

Introduction Questions

• Is the first sentence a killer opening line? Why or why not?
• Does the introduction hook the reader? Does it have a colorful, detailed, and interesting narrative? Or does it propose a compelling or surprising idea?
• Can you feel the author's voice in the introduction, or is the tone dry, dull, or overly formal? Show the places where the voice comes through.

Essay Body Questions

• Does the essay have a through-line? Is it built around a central argument, thought, idea, or focus? Can you put this idea into your own words?
• How is the essay organized? By logical progression? Chronologically? Do you feel order when you read it, or are there moments where you are confused or lose the thread of the essay?
• Does the essay have both narratives about the author's life and explanations and insight into what these stories reveal about the author's character, personality, goals, or dreams? If not, which is missing?
• Does the essay flow? Are there smooth transitions/clever links between paragraphs? Between the narrative and moments of insight?

Reader Response Questions

• Does the writer's personality come through? Do we know what the speaker cares about? Do we get a sense of "who he or she is"?
• Where did you feel most connected to the essay? Which parts of the essay gave you a "you are there" sensation by invoking your senses? What moments could you picture in your head well?
• Where are the details and examples vague and not specific enough?
• Did you get an "a-ha!" feeling anywhere in the essay? Is there a moment of insight that connected all the dots for you? Is there a good reveal or "twist" anywhere in the essay?
• What are the strengths of this essay? What needs the most improvement?

Should You Pay Money for Essay Editing?

One alternative to asking someone you know to help you with your college essay is the paid editor route. There are two different ways to pay for essay help: a private essay coach or a less personal editing service , like the many proliferating on the internet.

My advice is to think of these options as a last resort rather than your go-to first choice. I'll first go through the reasons why. Then, if you do decide to go with a paid editor, I'll help you decide between a coach and a service.

When to Consider a Paid Editor

In general, I think hiring someone to work on your essay makes a lot of sense if none of the people I discussed above are a possibility for you.

If you can't ask your parents. For example, if your parents aren't good writers, or if English isn't their first language. Or if you think getting your parents to help is going create unnecessary extra conflict in your relationship with them (applying to college is stressful as it is!)

If you can't ask your teacher or tutor. Maybe you don't have a trusted teacher or tutor that has time to look over your essay with focus. Or, for instance, your favorite humanities teacher has very limited experience with college essays and so won't know what admissions officers want to see.

If you can't ask your guidance counselor. This could be because your guidance counselor is way overwhelmed with other students.

If you can't share your essay with those who know you. It might be that your essay is on a very personal topic that you're unwilling to share with parents, teachers, or peers. Just make sure it doesn't fall into one of the bad-idea topics in our article on bad college essays .

If the cost isn't a consideration. Many of these services are quite expensive, and private coaches even more so. If you have finite resources, I'd say that hiring an SAT or ACT tutor (whether it's PrepScholar or someone else) is better way to spend your money . This is because there's no guarantee that a slightly better essay will sufficiently elevate the rest of your application, but a significantly higher SAT score will definitely raise your applicant profile much more.

Should You Hire an Essay Coach?

On the plus side, essay coaches have read dozens or even hundreds of college essays, so they have experience with the format. Also, because you'll be working closely with a specific person, it's more personal than sending your essay to a service, which will know even less about you.

But, on the minus side, you'll still be bouncing ideas off of someone who doesn't know that much about you . In general, if you can adequately get the help from someone you know, there is no advantage to paying someone to help you.

If you do decide to hire a coach, ask your school counselor, or older students that have used the service for recommendations. If you can't afford the coach's fees, ask whether they can work on a sliding scale —many do. And finally, beware those who guarantee admission to your school of choice—essay coaches don't have any special magic that can back up those promises.

Should You Send Your Essay to a Service?

On the plus side, essay editing services provide a similar product to essay coaches, and they cost significantly less . If you have some assurance that you'll be working with a good editor, the lack of face-to-face interaction won't prevent great results.

On the minus side, however, it can be difficult to gauge the quality of the service before working with them . If they are churning through many application essays without getting to know the students they are helping, you could end up with an over-edited essay that sounds just like everyone else's. In the worst case scenario, an unscrupulous service could send you back a plagiarized essay.

Getting recommendations from friends or a school counselor for reputable services is key to avoiding heavy-handed editing that writes essays for you or does too much to change your essay. Including a badly-edited essay like this in your application could cause problems if there are inconsistencies. For example, in interviews it might be clear you didn't write the essay, or the skill of the essay might not be reflected in your schoolwork and test scores.

Should You Buy an Essay Written by Someone Else?

Let me elaborate. There are super sketchy places on the internet where you can simply buy a pre-written essay. Don't do this!

For one thing, you'll be lying on an official, signed document. All college applications make you sign a statement saying something like this:

I certify that all information submitted in the admission process—including the application, the personal essay, any supplements, and any other supporting materials—is my own work, factually true, and honestly presented... I understand that I may be subject to a range of possible disciplinary actions, including admission revocation, expulsion, or revocation of course credit, grades, and degree, should the information I have certified be false. (From the Common Application )

For another thing, if your academic record doesn't match the essay's quality, the admissions officer will start thinking your whole application is riddled with lies.

Admission officers have full access to your writing portion of the SAT or ACT so that they can compare work that was done in proctored conditions with that done at home. They can tell if these were written by different people. Not only that, but there are now a number of search engines that faculty and admission officers can use to see if an essay contains strings of words that have appeared in other essays—you have no guarantee that the essay you bought wasn't also bought by 50 other students.

• You should get college essay help with both editing and proofreading
• A good editor will ask questions about your idea, logic, and structure, and will point out places where clarity is needed
• A good editor will absolutely not answer these questions, give you their own ideas, or write the essay or parts of the essay for you
• A good proofreader will find typos and check your formatting
• All of them agree that getting light editing and proofreading is necessary
• Parents, teachers, guidance or college counselor, and peers or siblings
• If you can't ask any of those, you can pay for college essay help, but watch out for services or coaches who over-edit you work
• Don't buy a pre-written essay! Colleges can tell, and it'll make your whole application sound false.

Ready to start working on your essay? Check out our explanation of the point of the personal essay and the role it plays on your applications and then explore our step-by-step guide to writing a great college essay .

Using the Common Application for your college applications? We have an excellent guide to the Common App essay prompts and useful advice on how to pick the Common App prompt that's right for you . Wondering how other people tackled these prompts? Then work through our roundup of over 130 real college essay examples published by colleges .

Stressed about whether to take the SAT again before submitting your application? Let us help you decide how many times to take this test . If you choose to go for it, we have the ultimate guide to studying for the SAT to give you the ins and outs of the best ways to study.

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Improve With Our Famous Guides

• For All Students

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points

How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section:

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading

Score 800 on SAT Writing

Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section:

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading

Score 600 on SAT Writing

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For?

15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points

How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section:

36 on ACT English

36 on ACT Math

36 on ACT Reading

36 on ACT Science

Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section:

24 on ACT English

24 on ACT Math

24 on ACT Reading

24 on ACT Science

What ACT target score should you be aiming for?

ACT Vocabulary You Must Know

ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide

Should you retake your SAT or ACT?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Looking for Graduate School Test Prep?

Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here:

GRE Online Prep Blog

GMAT Online Prep Blog

TOEFL Online Prep Blog

Holly R. "I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Welcome to the Purdue Online Writing Lab

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.

The Purdue On-Campus Writing Lab and Purdue Online Writing Lab assist clients in their development as writers—no matter what their skill level—with on-campus consultations, online participation, and community engagement. The Purdue Writing Lab serves the Purdue, West Lafayette, campus and coordinates with local literacy initiatives. The Purdue OWL offers global support through online reference materials and services.

A Message From the Assistant Director of Content Development 

The Purdue OWL® is committed to supporting  students, instructors, and writers by offering a wide range of resources that are developed and revised with them in mind. To do this, the OWL team is always exploring possibilties for a better design, allowing accessibility and user experience to guide our process. As the OWL undergoes some changes, we welcome your feedback and suggestions by email at any time.

Please don't hesitate to contact us via our contact page  if you have any questions or comments.

All the best,

Social Media

Facebook twitter.

Online Video Editor

The online video editor that helps you create faster

Kapwing is a full-featured video creator with intuitive tools designed for fast edits and effortless collaboration.

Powerful and ultrafast timeline editing

Our flagship video editor features a drag-and-drop timeline that's easy to learn regardless of skill level. Go from first draft to final video 10x faster with smart features built for modern content creation.

Create once and repurpose everywhere

Turn one video into five with Kapwing's suite of content repurposing tools. Resize videos for any platform, convert or compress files, or apply Safe Zones for Instagram and TikTok.

Edit a video by editing text

Trim videos or create clips by editing the text of your content's auto-generated transcript. Finish rough cuts at lightning speed and make editing videos as easy as editing a document.

Supercharge video creation with AI-powered tools

Create content fast with AI editing features. Save time and streamline workflows with one-click automations.

Automatic silence removal with Smart Cut

Smart Cut automates your editing by detecting and removing silences from any video in seconds. Save hours of production time and finish your rough cut faster than ever before.

Word-by-word subtitles in a single click

Magic Subtitles instantly converts speech into highly-accurate video subtitles , complete with a ready-to-edit video transcript. Style your subtitles to perfection with turn-key design and animation options.

Generate a video with a text prompt

Turn any idea into a video concept with a simple text prompt. Type a description and Kapwing will create an AI-generated video for you with clips, subtitles, background music, and transitions.

How to edit a video online

• Upload video footage Upload your original video footage to Kapwing's advanced media library. Media library will convert and optimize your uploads and serve as an easy area for organizing all your clips. Once you're ready to assemble your video, drag and drop clips to the timeline or canvas.
• Edit video clips Using the timeline, trim and split clips until you have highlighted the key parts of your footage. Append these clips together to assemble your full story. Add text, audio, animations, and any other elements that you need to make your video stand out.
• Export and share Once you're done, hit the green "Export" button and your final video will be generated in just a few seconds. Unlike other video editors, Kapwing works completely online for free. Download your final video and share it on your favorite social media platform.

Create professional video content with extra effects

Studio-grade quality is in reach. Polish videos with animations, filters and effects, and audio enhancements.

• Explainer videos. Create product demos, presentations, tutorials, and talking head video quickly with our video maker.
• Social media videos. Make scroll-stopping vertical videos for every platform. Access templates, filters, and stickers / emoji.
• Video ads. Stop browsers in their tracks with gripping Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, or Pinterest video ads.
• Promo videos. Create high-quality videos to promote your event, organization, course, business, or webinar.
• YouTube edits. Compilations, vlogs, explainers, highlights, and more—edit any video you need for your channel.
• Slideshow videos. Take clips and photos and turn them into a slideshow video. Add background music in one click.
• TikTok videos. Edit videos for TikTok without worrying about storage, load times, out-of-frame content, or low resolutions.
• Video intros. Catch and keep attention with customizable templates for video intros. Don't let viewers slip away.
• Video templates. Get started with a free template and make it your own—100+ templates for any content type.

Animation and motion effects made simple

Bring your videos to life with animated intros/outros, text, scene transitions , object tracking, motion tracking, and more. Motion paths are automatically drawn out for you—it's keyframing made easy.

Stand out with filters and special effects

Remix content by applying unique video effects and overlays. Add text , special filters, animations, chroma key, turn your footage into a time lapse video, or apply contrast and color correction.

Enhance your audio with advanced features

Remove background noise and clean audio automatically with our AI-enhanced tools. Trim, clip, merge or extract audio and music tracks to perfectly fit them to your video content.

All-in-one platform for modern video creation

Try our full suite of video editing tools included in our platform. Get started with video templates or our stock library.

• Online video maker. Edit your videos with our fast, powerful video editor. Accessible for beginners, feature-rich for pros. Available on any device.
• Magic subtitles. AI-powered subtitles let you add  word-by-word captions to any video. Change colors, fonts, and add animations or transitions.
• Generative AI. Text to video is here. Create videos with a simple text prompt that include stock videos, music, subtitles, and transitions.
• Collaborative editing. Organize footage and files with a shared workspace. Review and share feedback with your fast with real-time comments.
• Edit video with text. Edit a video just by editing text. Trim or clip sections of a video by removing text from the video's auto-generated transcript.
• Automatic resize. Change the aspect ratio, flip, or crop a video to fit any platform. Social media Safe Zones ensure your content always fits correctly.
• Instant transcripts. Transcribe video to text with a single click. Repurpose audio or video content into articles and text posts, or convert to subtitles.
• One-click translation. Take your content global and translate to and from 70+ languages in seconds. Accurate translation for transcripts and voice overs.
• Enhance audio quality. Clean audio automatically, remove background noise, add music and effects, and split or merge audio with our built-in audio editor .
• Keyframe animation. Add movement and energy, highlight important information, and create polished, seamless transitions with keyframe editing.
• Edit video background. Add, replace, edit, or remove a video's background without a green screen. Apply blur or edit colors and contrast of your backgrounds.
• Effects and overlays. Make videos pop with stunning filters, overlays, waveforms , progress bars, and a bevy of other turn-key special effects.
• Split video. Split a video into multiple parts to capture the best moments and remove unwanted sections.
• Text to speech. Add narration and voice overs effortlessly with our text to speech functionality. Features a range of voices and accurate speech.
• In-app screen recorder. Record your screen or webcam right inside of the editor to create content on the fly. Get high-quality recordings for free.
• Convert or compress. Convert file formats or compress videos to publish or share on any platform and device. All popular video formats are supported.
• Change video speed. Speed up videos or slow things down with a slow motion effect. You can even condense footage into a time lapse video.
• Easy repurposing. Turn static images into video , or repurpose content to any popular video platform: YouTube to TikTok , Instagram Reels to YouTube , and more.
• Free video templates. Unleash your creativity with dozens of free video templates for any content type. Start with a template and make it your own.
• Store files online. Store all of your team's content safely in the cloud. Add and store video projects you're working on in a shared workspace.
• Select custom styles. Choose logos, color palettes, and custom fonts that universally apply to new projects by creating a Brand Kit for your workspace.

Scale content creation with features for teams

Multiply the impact of your content with collaborative editing, custom styles, and automatic translations.

Real-time collaboration for creative teams

Share projects and leave comments instantly by sending a link. Kapwing makes collaboration easy across the entire workflow, so your team can review and act on feedback quickly.

Stay on-brand with custom styles

Select color palettes, logos, and fonts that universally apply to new projects or workspaces with a Brand Kit. Spend less time picking presets and never go "off-brand" again.

Grow your reach with AI-powered translations

Meet customers in every market that matters with built-in audio and video translation , powered by AI. Get accurate translations to and from over 70+ languages in a few clicks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it free to try Kapwing's video editor?

What devices and browsers does kapwing work with, what are some of kapwing's best features, what video files does kapwing work with, what is the best free video editor, why should i edit videos online, how do you make video edits, what's different about kapwing.

Kapwing is free to use for teams of any size. We also offer paid plans with additional features, storage, and support.

Free online proofreading

A reliable proofreading tool for any writer.

A complete environment

Typely is more than just a proofreading tool. It's a complete writing environment.

Thousands of checks

More than a thousand checks are being performed and we've only scratched the surface.

Inspired by the greatest writers

Gain access to humanity’s collective understanding about the craft of writing.

A proofreading tool that does not bark at every tree

Typely is precise. Existing tools for proofreading raise so many false alarms that their advice cannot be trusted. Instead, the writer must carefully consider whether to accept or reject each change.

We aim for a tool so precise that it becomes possible to unquestioningly adopt its recommendations and still come out ahead — with stronger, tighter prose. Better to be quiet and authoritative than loud and unreliable.

Relax, focus, write your next masterpiece...

Writing presumes more than simply laying out words on a paper. Typely helps you get in the mood and keeps you focused, immersed and ready to write your story.

Whether you need a distraction-free environment, some chill relaxing sounds or a pomodoro timer to manage your time we got you covered.

Got questions? We have answers.

No. Typely is completely free and we plan on keeping it that way. We are considering some advanced features however that might be available under a premium plan.

The only limit we have applied thus far is on the number of characters you can submit and that is being set at a maximum of 50,000.

In theory yes but that will require a lot of work and professionals dedicated for this job. We are considering a way of letting the community participate somehow.

Typely does not do grammar checking because it's hard and almost impossible to get right. The aim for Typely is to be precise and reliable.

More From Forbes

8 high-paying side hustles that only take a few hours a week.

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Linkedin

Workers want wellbeing more than they desire job satisfaction

Does your job take precedence over your wellbeing? Perhaps a couple of years ago it might have, but that's certainly not the case for the majority of the workforce of 2024.

Personal wellbeing has emerged as a primary concern and priority for professionals this year, according to the 2024 Endpoint Ecosystem study , which noted that 83% of workers are now prioritizing their personal wellbeing, even more than job satisfaction. These findings mark a sharp 10% increase from workers' sentiments in 2022.

With this current state of affairs, it only makes sense that workers are seeking solutions that accommodate their number one priority of enhancing or improving their wellbeing when working.

With the number of hours one works each week being one of the central factors to workplace wellbeing, individuals want side hustles and means for making passive income, without needing to spend too much time working on them (resulting in burnout).

If you are a professional seeking to make more money to boost your salary, without working ridiculously long and unsociable hours, you might be surprised to find that the side hustles below are not only extremely lucrative but have the added benefit of only occupying a fraction of your time. This way, you can spend the greater share of your time doing what matters most...taking care of your wellbeing.

Let's dig in.

1. Freelance Writing

Of course, a list of side hustles would be incomplete without some mention of freelance writing. You can pick up gigs to write copy, be a ghost-writer, or write articles and stories as a freelance journalist or contributor, spending as little or as much time as you'd like each week. This is highly flexible, and what you put in is what you get out.

As Russia’s Armored Vehicles Get Worse, Ukraine’s American-Made M-2s Destroy Them Faster

Google slashes pixel 8 pro price in a major new promotion, apple stock hits 3 trillion valuation as ai iphone hype builds, 2. proofreading and editing.

You can get paid to proofread student work, or proofread and edit documents or communications relating to your specialism (for example to review and edit grant applications, a white paper, or a press release).

3. Selling On eBay

Do you have any pre-loved items taking up space in your loft, storage, or garage that you no longer have need or use for? If they are in a saleable condition—or can be renovated without costing too much money—why not sell them for a profit on online marketplaces such as eBay?

Customers bidding for your goods on eBay can significantly raise the value of your goods, especially if it is highly competitive (however, this is not always a guarantee).

4. Renting Assets

Sometimes you may not want to completely give away your goods, but you may not use them often either. In between uses, you could make money through renting them out on platforms such as Fat Llama. Some ideas of what to rent include tools, cameras, and spare laptops in useable condition.

You don't need to be a slave to time in order to have a lucrative income

5. Public Speaking

Public speaking is an excellent high-paying side hustle that can yield thousands of dollars for only a few hours of work—most of which is spent in the prep for the speaking engagement, which can be delivered on occasions such as a conference or training event.

Some people, especially as newbies or if not so popular in their industry, make around $1,000 at the entry-level, and others who are more seasoned industry experts or speakers can command speaker fees of as much as $10,000 and above.

6. Coaching

Coaching is another side hustle that only takes a few hours of your time each week, depending on how many clients you decide to take on, of course. Coaching actually helps you to improve your own wellbeing, because it empowers you to practice the mindfulness, self-reflection, and goal-setting that you are teaching others.

7. Affiliate Marketing

If you run a blog or vlog as a hobby, you can maximize your earnings by including affiliate links to other products or services from other companies, that complement your topic.

Just remember to include a disclaimer, for the sake of transparency, so that others know that you will receive some compensation if they click and purchase the product. Once set up, this takes hardly any time at all.

8. Notary Public

Notaries are typically used to authenticate documentation, such as an affidavit, which is used in court for legal proceedings, and in other matters where certified genuine legal documentation is necessary.

On Upwork, freelance notaries are listing their notarizing services for as much as $100-$250 per hour. According to the National Notary Association , you'll usually need to meet state requirements, which can include an application, training from a vendor, and passing a state exam.

Public speaking can see you raking in six figures fairly easily

As you can see, there are plenty of options to choose from if you're looking to make money while cutting down on working endless hours. With these eight side hustles, you can ensure you are not becoming a slave to time, trading your time for money, but instead, will be more in control of your work schedule, being flexible on your own terms.

• Editorial Standards
• Reprints & Permissions

Join The Conversation

One Community. Many Voices. Create a free account to share your thoughts. 

Forbes Community Guidelines

Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas and facts in a safe space.

In order to do so, please follow the posting rules in our site's  Terms of Service.   We've summarized some of those key rules below. Simply put, keep it civil.

Your post will be rejected if we notice that it seems to contain:

• False or intentionally out-of-context or misleading information
• Insults, profanity, incoherent, obscene or inflammatory language or threats of any kind
• Attacks on the identity of other commenters or the article's author
• Content that otherwise violates our site's  terms.

User accounts will be blocked if we notice or believe that users are engaged in:

• Continuous attempts to re-post comments that have been previously moderated/rejected
• Racist, sexist, homophobic or other discriminatory comments
• Attempts or tactics that put the site security at risk
• Actions that otherwise violate our site's  terms.

So, how can you be a power user?

• Stay on topic and share your insights
• Feel free to be clear and thoughtful to get your point across
• ‘Like’ or ‘Dislike’ to show your point of view.
• Protect your community.
• Use the report tool to alert us when someone breaks the rules.

Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Please read the full list of posting rules found in our site's  Terms of Service.

Get notified in your email when a new post is published to this blog

Visual Studio Blog

The official source of product insight from the Visual Studio Engineering Team

Giving our Azure marketplace images a makeover

Get Hands-On with Visual Studio and Azure: Live at Microsoft HQ this August!

Introducing the Revamped Visual Studio Resource Explorer

A modern Extension Manager has arrived with Visual Studio 17.10

VisualStudio.Extensibility 17.10: Debug your extensions with the Diagnostics Explorer

Developing cloud-native apps with .NET Aspire and Visual Studio

First preview of Visual Studio 2022 v17.11

Maximizing joy and minimizing toil with great developer experiences

Visual Studio 2022 17.10 and GitHub Copilot: Your Coding Partner for Faster and Smarter Development

Improve your code quality with GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio

ChatGPT Plus vs Copilot Pro: Which AI is better?

• ChatGPT Plus and Copilot Pro use GPT-4 but have noticeable differences due to integrated tools and user interfaces.
• Copilot is faster, offers more integrated image editing tools, and is integrated with Microsoft 365.
• ChatGPT excels in writing eloquent content, has fewer ads, and restricts content imitation more than Copilot.

OpenAI's ChatGPT Plus and Microsoft's Copilot Pro are among the biggest names in artificial intelligence. Yet, these chatbots arguably have more in common than any other subscription-based AI software. That's because both platforms are built with versions of GPT-4 . In theory, this means one shouldn't be any smarter than the other. However, while the underlying training data is similar, the two AI platforms have a few noticeable disparities that could make all the difference in choosing where to spend that $20-a-month subscription.

I created a ChatGPT Plus vs. Copilot Pro battle by feeding both programs the same prompts. Both use GPT-4 and DALL-E, yet Copilot just made GPT-4 Turbo available even to non-paying customers. That move gives Microsoft's offering a bit more speed. Yet, that's not the only distinction. The wildly different user interfaces, integrations, and policies create noticeable gaps between the two AI chatbots. ChatGPT tended to be a bit more long-winded yet offered more descriptive language and varied sentence structures. On the other hand, Copilot offered more tools inside the AI app while simultaneously being integrated into more places, like Word and Outlook.

With both subscriptions costing $20 a month and utilizing GPT-4 and DALL-E, the differences between ChatGPT Plus and Copilot Pro make one a better fit. Here's how the two programs differ.

I tested Gemini Advanced against ChatGPT Plus to see which AI is better

Image test: copilot has more built-in image editing tools, yet chatgpt delivers the requested style a bit better.

Both chatbots had the same struggles that feel fairly universal across generative AI -- neither could properly spell "happy birthday" within the graphic itself when I asked it to create a birthday card. Similarly, both struggled with human hands and portraying people in a way that didn't feel artificial.

While the platforms share similar struggles, looking at the integrated tools, Copilot pulls ahead. Microsoft's AI created four image options, whereas ChatGPT created one. But Copilot's real benefits come from the integrated tools. Designer, the GPT made for creating images, has a few integrated tools where you can edit the resulting graphic. Integrated styles allowed me to convert to a different genre like watercolor or pixel art. I could even click on part of the image to create a background blur or a color pop effect or switch to a square aspect ratio, all without leaving Copilot.

The one thing I felt ChatGPT excelled at was getting the style right on the first attempt. When I asked for a watercolor image, ChatGPT produced a watercolor image. With Copilot, it produced a render that wasn't at all like a watercolor. With Copilot, I could then use the built-in tools to select a style, and then the result was closer to what I was looking for. Still, Copilot's watercolor featured black outlines more consistent with comic book art than with a painting.

Copilot: Everything you need to know about Microsoft's AI

Writing test: chatgpt is long-winded, but more eloquent, copilot was able to add in more recent facts.

ChatGPT tends to get wordy if you don't request a specific length. However, the program from OpenAI also produced more polished content. ChatGPT's writing, for both business and creative tasks, contained more varied sentence structures, less passive voice, and more descriptive language.

In contrast, when tasked with writing a short story about a haunted house, Copilot started with "once upon a time" and ended with "happily ever after" in an odd mashup of horror tropes and fairy tale storytelling. Copilot did a bit better when I switched from the fast conversation style to creative, though I still enjoyed ChatGPT's story more. Copilot also misunderstood instructions when I asked it to write up a letter of recommendation for a former coworker, writing a letter to me rather than from me.

The one area where Copilot performed a little better was pulling recent information. ChatGPT integrated more specifics in an email about the iPhone 15 Pro when requested, but acted as if the phone hadn't been announced yet and reminded me to check the specifications. Copilot seemed to do better at incorporating recent information, adding specifications about the smartphone on the first attempt. Both programs incorrectly stated that the Pro version had the A16 chipset, serving as a reminder to always check factual data when using AI.

I tried ChatGPT Plus. Here's everything it can do

Advice test: chatgpt often suggests more options, but co-pilot still had some sound advice.

What felt long-winded when tasked with writing a professional email turned into more ideas when I asked ChatGPT for advice. When I asked for gift ideas, the chatbot churned out more ideas in general than Copilot.

However, the two programs felt most similar here in chatting and asking for advice. I could have asked for a specific number of ideas and received very similar results. ChatGPT listed more options, but both churned out fairly standard advice when I asked for gift ideas and job interview tips.

How to master GPT-4 in ChatGPT: Prompts, tips, and tricks

Speed test: copilot tends to finish faster, copilot has three modes for choosing when speed is most important.

With ChatGPT coming from OpenAI, the company behind GPT-4, it's a bit surprising that Copilot is actually the first to utilize GPT-4 Turbo. While the upgraded GPT is available for beta users of ChatGPT Pro, Copilot began integrating the Turbo version for consumers first, resulting in a tendency to answer questions faster.

When I asked for a poem, Copilot finished plus added four images (that I didn't request) before ChatGPT could even finish just the text. In general, Copilot seemed to finish faster nearly every time.

Copilot also has three conversation styles to choose from, so you can prioritize speed, creativity, or precision. Switching to creative mode occasionally allowed ChatGPT to finish first. But, in general, Copilot completed more tasks first.

ChatGPT seemed to experience more freezes. It's limited to 40 messages every three hours. Microsoft doesn't list a specific number for Copilot, but the company recently removed the former 300-message daily limit for the free tier.

How to use ChatGPT to make AI-generated art and images

Ethics test: both chatbots use the similar training data, but chatgpt has more content restrictions in place.

With both chatbots using GPT-4, the difference in ethics between the two platforms lies in each company's content policy guidelines. Neither chatbot refused to generate an image in the style of Van Gogh. However, when I asked for an image inspired by more recent living artists, ChatGPT refused, as imitating a specific artist's style is against the content guidelines.

Neither platform refused when asked to imitate a writer's style, past or present.

10 ChatGPT extensions to try and what exactly they can do

Privacy test: copilot doesn't use data for training, but both platforms have some data controls.

Both ChatGPT and Copilot allow users to delete their previous chats. ChatGPT will delete your data automatically every 30 days if you turn off chat history. Copilot has a privacy center where users can visit and manually delete their data, though this also deletes Bing search history.

Microsoft says it doesn't use data typed into Copilot for training -- which makes sense as the system is based on training data from OpenAI. ChatGPT will use your data for training, but users can turn this off in the settings.

OpenAI launches GPT Store for custom chatbots in ChatGPT

Extra features test: copilot has more integrations, but chatgpt has more custom gpts and fewer ads.

Naturally, as a Microsoft product, Copilot is integrated into more apps. You can use Copilot in Word and PowerPoint if you also have a Microsoft 365 subscription. Microsoft also incorporates the AI into Outlook email. That means there's less copy-paste action to get the AI-written content into your email, word processor, or presentation. You don't have to go back and forth between the Copilot app or web version and the program you are using.

Copilot also has more integrated tools. You can edit your images right from the image generator. Copilot Notebook will also generate content for you without the chat-like experience, allowing longer descriptions of what you would like the AI to write for you.

While ChatGPT doesn't have those same integrations, it does have a longer list of custom GPTs. The Explore GPT section has plenty of different options in a number of different categories, while Copilot is limited to Copilot, Designer, Vacation Planner, Cooking Assistant, and Fitness Trainer.

ChatGPT also doesn't have ads within the paid mobile app or web platform. Copilot annoyingly sneaks in some links and even some photo ads after nearly each generation.

How to use Google's Gemini AI from the web or your phone

Verdict: which ai chatbot subscription is the best, copilot has a free trial and is faster, and the free version uses gpt-4.

Despite sharing similar training data, ChatGPT Plus and Copilot Pro both have unique quirks that make the decision on which chatbot to use a more clear-cut choice. Both have the same $20 a month cost, though Microsoft is the only one with a one-month free trial accessible by downloading the mobile app.

With integration into Microsoft 365, Copilot is the better choice for users who already have a subscription to the brand's suite of tools like Word and PowerPoint. While the AI is in addition to the subscription costs for Microsoft 365, the integration means less back-and-forth between separate apps.

Copilot is also the faster of the two AI systems, with fewer message limits. Microsoft's chatbot also has more integrated image editing tools for use with DALL-E graphics. The user interface also has a separate Copilot Notebook, allowing for generating text without the chat-like experience.

While Copilot is the better choice for those who already use Word and Outlook, ChatGPT Pro consistently produces more eloquent written content. Where Copilot's felt more like a first draft, OpenAI delivered more varied sentence structure and vocabulary for a smoother read. ChatGPT also has content restrictions that prevent imitating another modern artist. The OpenAI program was also free of the ads that dotted Copilot.

Looking outside the subscriptions to the free tiers, the decision is more clear-cut. The free version of Copilot uses GPT-4, while ChatGPT uses the older GPT-3.5 for non-paying users. That allows Copilot to deliver better results in less time for those who cannot swing the cost. The free access to GPT-4 and GPT-4 Turbo is limited to non-peak times, however, and the free option also excludes the Microsoft 365 integrations.