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How To Use the Free Hemingway Editor for Better Writing

The Free Hemingway App and Editor

The Hemingway Editor is a free productivity tool that checks writing for readability and gives you a grade-level score. It simplifies your writing similar to how Ernest Hemingway used to edit his writing.

For example, it highlights confusing components, overly complex and long sentences, empty words, and passive voice. They may be grammatically and technically perfect, but to the reader, a perfect sentence can be dull and even confusing.

Readability score

Despite his adult audience, Ernest Hemingway writes at about a Grade 5 level for his audience. Similarly, the goal of your writing should be to remove the jargon and make it easier to read. This is because writing at a Grade 12 level is not better than writing at a Grade 6 level.

The Hemingway App analyzes text complexity with a score using the Automated Readability Index . Like the Flesch-Kincaid grade level, it incorporates the number of characters, words, and sentences to score your writing with a suitable reading grade level.

If your content is more readable, then more people are likely to read it, just like Ernest Hemingway, himself. But if it’s filled with unnecessary wording, then it can be confusing and tedious for any reader. Overall, readability statistics are a good indicator of how easy it is to read your content and if they will continue reading it.

Word Counter

Not only does the Hemingway App count the number of words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs in your writing, but it also estimates reading time . It’s these simple metrics that the Hemingway App uses to incorporate into the readability score of your text.

Not to mention it does this all in real-time with suggested corrections throughout editing. If you’re writing a blog or any type of essay with a word-density target, this is an ideal tool for that user as well.

Use of Adverbs

Adverbs are words that can elevate a simple verb into a more expressive state by adding more details. But at the same time, you shouldn’t overuse adverbs in writing and sprinkle them, which can add a significant impact on your writing.

The Hemingway App highlights adverbs in your text and provides suggestions. For example, using words like “perhaps” encourages you to incorporate stronger words. If you use weak adverbs like “helpfully”, it suggests that you use stronger words.

Passive Voice Checker

Passive voice is a type of sentence that includes the object of the action as its subject. For example, in the sentence “the dog was fed by the girl”, “the dog” is the subject, and “was fed” is the verb. Instead, you should use the active voice which is “the girl fed the dog”.

The Hemingway App has a simple tool that allows you to check whether a sentence is a passive voice or not . Although passive voice is not grammatically incorrect, active voice engages your readers and makes your meaning clear.

Simpler Alternatives

The Hemingway App highlights difficult words and suggests potentially simpler alternatives . For example, when using words like “utilize”, it suggests using simpler alternatives like “use”.

By highlighting confusing components and overly complex sentences, you can improve your readability score using simpler alternatives in your text.

Long Sentence Checker

The Hemingway App aids writers and bloggers by identifying long and complex sentences . Then, it suggests how you can divide them into separate sentences for easier readability.

By using algorithms based on Automated Readability Index, the app points out your writing’s clarity to help you improve your work. And the more people who read your content, the more likely it is that they’ll find it useful, important, or interesting.

The Free Ernest Hemingway Editor and App

Ernest Hemingway was an American author who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954 . He is one of the most influential writers of the 20th century and is known for his unique writing style.

In his honor, the Hemingway App aims toward writing like Ernest Hemingway. Because Even Ernest Hemingway, himself, writes at about a Grade 5 level . But it also reports the number of characters, words, sentences, and paragraphs in your writing. Also, it checks writing for simple mistakes, like grammatical errors, as well as more complex issues of complexity and clarity.

Overall, the app provides details and an explanation of the issues found in your text as well as a range of suggestions for improvement. For anyone who is serious about writing in a clear and concise way, the free Hemingway App should be one of your go-to tools in your tool belt along with Grammarly .

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Timothy Shim

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Home » Blog » Content Creation » Hemingway Editor: How to Quickly Increase Content Readability

Hemingway Editor: How to Quickly Increase Content Readability

*This article was last updated on 20/10/2023

Content readability has become more critical than ever. With so much information available, readers often skim through content. One tool that has gained traction among writers is the Hemingway Editor. 

This digital tool analyzes your content’s readability and offers actionable suggestions to make it more reader-friendly. It helps writers craft easily digestible pieces.

Hemingway Editor Features and User Interface

The Hemingway Editor offers a user-friendly, uncluttered interface that’s even for less tech-savvy people. 

Some of its standout features include:

Color-Coding System: As you input text, the editor highlights sentences and phrases in different colors based on potential issues, such as length, complexity, and passive voice.

Readability Grade Level: It provides an estimated U.S. school grade level required to understand the text, allowing writers to target their content to a specific audience.

Word Count and Reading Time: Writers can see at a glance how long their content is and estimate how long it might take a reader to go through it.

Formatting Tools: Basic formatting options like headers, bold, and italics are available to structure the content.

Direct Feedback: Beyond highlighting potential issues, Hemingway offers suggestions for improvement, such as simpler word alternatives or sentence restructuring.

The Color-coding System Explained

The Hemingway Editor’s most striking feature is its vivid color-coding system, which instantly communicates areas of concern in your text. Here’s what each color signifies:

• Yellow : Sentences that are highlighted in yellow are complex to read. They may be too long or structurally complex. Consider breaking them down or simplifying them.
• Red : If a sentence is marked in red, it’s tough to read. It’s advisable to rephrase or split these sentences for better clarity.
• Purple : Words that appear in purple have simpler alternatives. Hovering over them will often provide a suggestion for a more common word.
• Blue : Indicates the use of adverbs or weakening phrases. While not always bad, whether they can be omitted or replaced for more robust, direct language is worth considering.
• Green : Sentences in green use passive voice. Though passive voice has its place, active voice often makes your writing more precise and direct.

Understanding The Grade Level Ratings

The Hemingway Editor provides a grade level for the readability of your text, calculated based on sentence length and word complexity. This grade refers to the U.S. school grade a person would typically be in to understand the text comfortably. For instance:

• If your content gets a grade of 8, an eighth-grader (or anyone above that educational level) can comprehend it.
• A lower grade doesn’t mean the content is “dumbed down”; instead, it indicates wider accessibility.

Understanding this grade helps writers tailor their content to their target audience, ensuring messages are effectively received.

How Word Count, Reading Time, and Letter Count Help

These metrics give writers an immediate overview of the length and depth of their content:

• Word Count: Displays the total number of words in the text.
• Reading Time: It estimates the average reader’s time to review the content. This is particularly useful for online content with short reader attention spans.
• Letter Count: Offers a count of the total characters used. This can be handy for platforms with character limits or for SEO considerations.

How to Use The Hemingway Editor

Now that you know what Hemingway offers let’s break down its use into a simplified process structure. (i.e., This is how to use Hemingway).

1. Copy and Paste Your Content in Hemingway

Copy your content from your primary writing platform (e.g., Microsoft Word, Google Docs) and paste it into the Hemingway Editor. This will provide an immediate overview of potential areas for improvement.

2. Address Red and Yellow Highlights First

These colors typically indicate hard-to-read sentences. Consider the following:

• Break up long sentences: Often, dividing a lengthy sentence into two or more shorter sentences can enhance clarity.
• Rephrase: Sometimes, rewording a complex sentence structure can make the content more digestible.

3. Tackle Adverbs and Weakening Phrases

Blue highlights suggest that you might be using too many adverbs or weakening phrases. To address these:

• Replace adverbs: Try using stronger verbs instead. For instance, instead of “ran quickly,” you might use “sprinted.”
• Remove unnecessary qualifiers: Phrases like “probably,” “somewhat,” or “just” can often be removed without changing the message.

4. Shift from Passive to Active Voice

Green highlights denote the use of passive voice. While not always inappropriate, an active voice is typically more unmistakable. For example:

Change “The ball was thrown by him” to “He threw the ball.”

5. Simplify Language with Hemingway’s Suggestions

Purple highlights offer simpler alternatives to complex or less-common words. Hover over these highlights to see Hemingway’s suggestions:

• Replace “utilize” with “use.”
• Swap “commence” for “start.”

6. Aim for Your Target Readability Grade

Hemingway provides a grade level based on the readability of your content. If your audience is general, aim for a lower grade to ensure wider accessibility. Adjust sentence length and word choice until you hit your target grade.

7. Use Formatting Tools

Your content structure can significantly influence readability:

• Break up text: Segment information using headers, bullet points, and paragraphs.
• Emphasize key points: Utilize bold or italics to draw attention to essential information.

8. Double-Check After Editing

Once you’ve made changes in Hemingway, copy the revised content into your primary writing platform. Then, reread it to ensure the flow and coherence remain intact.

The more you use Hemingway, the more you’ll begin to internalize its guidance. Over time, strive to naturally adopt clearer writing habits, reducing your dependency on post-writing edits.

Tips for Using Hemingway Editor Effectively

Before diving into Hemingway, starting with a rough draft of your content is beneficial. This lets you get your thoughts down without being immediately influenced or potentially discouraged by the editor’s feedback. 

Once your ideas are in place, Hemingway can help refine and polish them.

Pay Attention to Recommendations, Not Rules

While Hemingway’s feedback is invaluable, it’s essential to remember that its suggestions are just that—suggestions. Every piece of writing has its unique voice and tone, and sometimes, it’s okay to have a complex sentence or an adverb if it fits your narrative’s intent.

Use Hemingway in Tandem with Other Tools

Hemingway Editor enhances readability but is not the only tool in a writer’s arsenal. Pairing it with other grammar and style checkers, like Grammarly or ProWritingAid , can ensure your content is grammatically sound.

Find a Balance Between Readability and Style

While clear and concise writing is crucial, maintaining your unique voice and style is equally vital. Use Hemingway as a guide, not a strict teacher. 

If a sentence is highlighted as “hard to read,” but you feel it’s crucial for your piece’s tone or style, it’s okay to keep it. Aim for a balance between Hemingway’s recommendations and your stylistic choices.

Revisit Your Work After Initial Edits

After making changes based on Hemingway’s feedback, take a break, then revisit your content. Reading it with fresh eyes will help you see if the edits maintain the flow and coherence of your message.

Why Content Readability is Important

Readability refers to the ease with which a reader can understand written text. It’s not merely about using simple words; it encompasses sentence structure, complexity, length, and flow. 

High readability ensures the intended audience can quickly grasp the information or message, leading to better comprehension and engagement.

Factors that Influence Content Readability

Several factors play into how readable a piece of content is:

• Sentence Length: Shorter sentences are typically easier to understand than longer ones.
• Complexity: Using straightforward vocabulary and avoiding jargon can make a text more accessible.
• Word Choice: Opting for simple, familiar words can enhance clarity.
• Paragraph Structure: Breaking up large chunks of text can make it more digestible for readers.
• Subheadings: These guide readers through the text and highlight key points.

Final Thoughts

Inspired by one of literature’s most influential figures, the Hemingway Editor emerges as a beacon for those seeking clarity and precision in their writing. It’s an indispensable asset for writers of all calibers. 

From bloggers and novelists to technical writers and marketers, embracing Hemingway’s principles can transform content from merely readable to genuinely impactful. As with any tool, its power lies in how it’s used. 

By integrating Hemingway’s insights thoughtfully and recognizing its role as a guide—not an absolute authority—you can ensure your unique voice shines through, resonating deeply with readers.

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Hemingway Editor/App Review

Hannah Yang

Hemingway is an online editing tool named after famed author Ernest Hemingway. In the spirit of its namesake, Hemingway helps you make your writing tighter and more concise.

There’s a free version of Hemingway you can use in your web browser, as well as a paid version you can use as a desktop app.

So, is Hemingway the right editing assistant for you?

This article will give you our evaluation of Hemingway’s strengths and weaknesses to help you decide if this tool is right for you.

What Is Hemingway Editor?

What is the hemingway app, hemingway writing tool features, hemingway editor: free vs paid, hemingway vs prowritingaid, conclusion on the hemingway editor/app.

The Hemingway Editor is designed to “make your writing bold and clear.”

It looks for issues like complex sentences, unnecessary adverbs, and passive voice to help you improve your writing style.

You can access the Hemingway Editor for free through any standard web browser, such as Chrome, Safari, and Firefox.

Once you’re on the website, you can either type directly into the online editor or paste your text from a different writing software. Then, the Hemingway Editor will scan your work and look for ways to make it more readable.

The editor highlights instances of weak writing in five different colors. These five colors correspond to five different categories of potential improvements:

• Yellow highlights show you sentences that are longer or more convoluted than they need to be. Hemingway suggests either condensing these sentences or breaking them up into multiple sentences.
• Red highlights show you sentences that are structured in a way that might confuse readers. Hemingway suggests restructuring these sentences to make them clearer.
• Purple highlights show you overly complex words that could be rephrased in simpler ways. Hemingway suggests a simpler alternative.
• Blue highlights show you adverbs that weaken your overall prose. Hemingway suggests omitting them.
• Green highlights show you phrases that use the passive voice. Hemingway suggests switching to active voice.

Once you see all of Hemingway’s highlighted suggestions, you can decide which ones to implement and which ones to ignore.

On the right side of the screen, Hemingway will also provide a summary of your text, including a readability score, word count, and more.

The readability score tells you how readable your work is, as well as an estimated reading level (such as Grade 6 or Grade 7). According to the founders of Hemingway, the average American reads at a 10th-grade level, so you should aim to keep your writing below this readability level when you’re writing for a general audience.

Hemingway also tells you the word count of your text. When you click the “Show More” button underneath the word count, Hemingway will tell you the estimated reading time of your work and the number of letters, characters, sentences, and paragraphs you’ve used.

Finally, the summary also tells you how many highlights the editor made in each color. That way, you can see how many times you’ve used passive voice, unnecessary adverbs, and all the other weaknesses that Hemingway looks for.

The phrase Hemingway App refers to the paid desktop version of Hemingway, as opposed to the phrase Hemingway Editor , which refers to the free online editing tool.

The Hemingway App is available for both Windows and Mac. Unlike the free editor, it requires a one-time payment of $19.99.

This editing app gives you the same level of analysis as the free version. Like the online editor, the Hemingway App highlights your writing in five different colors and provides a readability score and a reading level assessment.

The upside of paying for the app is that it comes with a variety of usability options that the online version doesn’t offer, such as:

• Use the app offline
• Save your work in the app
• Export your work in various formats, such as PDF, HTML, Word, and Markdown
• Publish your work directly to blogging sites like Medium or WordPress

When you’re choosing a writing tool that works well for you, you should identify your specific needs and look for features that meet them.

Here’s our assessment of Hemingway’s features.

Style Improvement

Style improvement is where Hemingway excels.

The five highlighting colors point out weaknesses in your writing and give you useful, actionable suggestions. Running your work through Hemingway can definitely help you make it clearer and more concise.

Of course, there are many aspects of writing style that aren’t included within Hemingway’s five categories. For example, Hemingway won’t look for repetition, such as echoed words or multiple sentences that start the same way.

If you’re looking for a robust editor to help you improve your writing style, Hemingway is a good starting point, but it’s not the best one on the market.

Summary of Analysis

The summary on the right side of the Hemingway Editor includes many useful numbers.

Many writers find it useful to see the number of times Hemingway has highlighted their text in each color. That way, you can see if you have a tendency to write in a specific way—for example, if you use a lot of passive voice—and you can be mindful about that going forward.

Many freelance writers and bloggers also appreciate the estimated reading time in the summary panel, which tells you how many minutes it will take the average reader to read your work. Some blogs and magazines offer that information to readers, so it’s useful to see if you’re hitting your target reading time.

Multiple Modes

You can use the online Hemingway Editor in two different modes: Write and Edit.

The Write mode simplifies the environment, removing the sidebar and all highlighting, to let you focus on the words you’re typing. The app’s distraction-free interface makes it easier to finish your draft without worrying about future edits.

The Edit mode shows you the five colors of highlights, so you can see potential improvements. It also shows you your readability score, reading grade level, word count, and more.

Toggling between the two modes gives you more flexibility while using the Hemingway Editor.

Grammar Checker

Unlike ProWritingAid and Grammarly, Hemingway isn’t primarily designed to be a grammar checker.

It will catch some grammatical errors with its yellow and red highlights, but many grammar issues will slip through the cracks.

If you want to catch all your grammar errors, you should invest in a software designed for that purpose. Hemingway isn’t necessarily the right tool for that.

Price Point

Many writers choose Hemingway because it’s an affordable editing option. It may not offer an in-depth grammar checker or robust style analysis, but it still provides many useful suggestions for free.

Even the desktop app is more affordable than the premium versions of most other writing tools. A single upfront payment of $19.99 gives you access to the Hemingway App for life.

Still, don’t forget that many writing assistants, such as ProWritingAid and Grammarly, also offer free versions in addition to their Premium versions. If you’re looking for a good free editor, you may benefit more from the free versions of a more robust writing assistant than from the free Hemingway website.

Many users who love the free version of Hemingway wonder if the paid version of Hemingway is worth the investment.

You might expect the Hemingway App to provide extra analysis in addition to what you’d get with the Hemingway Editor, since it costs $19.99, but it actually analyzes your text in the same way the free version does.

The main perks of paying for the app revolve around ease of use.

For example, the app doesn’t require an internet connection, so you can use it no matter where you are.

The app also lets you save your work, instead of doing all your editing in one go. That’s important because if your browser crashes while you’re using the free editor, you’ll lose any work you’ve written so far.

You can also export your writing in various formats, such as PDF, Word, HTML, and Markdown.

Finally, it lets you publish directly to Medium or WordPress. If you’re writing an article or post for either of those two platforms, you can publish directly through the Hemingway app, instead of exporting your work first.

If you use sites like Medium or WordPress, or if you lke easy save and export options, it might be worth investing in the paid Hemingway App. Otherwise, you can get the same quality of analysis by sticking with the free online editor.

Hemingway is an efficient and affordable tool. However, it only looks for five different categories of improvements.

ProWritingAid is an AI-powered writing assistant that offers over 20 different reports to help you improve your writing.

In addition to spelling and grammar, some more advanced ProWritingAid reports include:

• Contextual Thesaurus Report : enables you to explore a wide selection of synonyms for any particular word, so you can use the most effective word choices possible
• Sentence Length Report : makes sure you’re using varying sentence lengths to keep the reader interested, instead of too many short and choppy sentences
• Overused Words Report : points out words that detract from your writing, such as “very” and “maybe”
• Consistency Check : makes sure you’re using consistent hyphenation, capitalization, punctuation, and other formatting conventions
• Author Comparison : lets you compare your own writing to that of famous authors
• Plagiarism Check : compares your work against over a billion web-pages and articles to make sure you’ve cited any content you’re using

Unlike Hemingway, ProWritingAid also lets you customize the types of suggestions you see. You can use ProWritingAid for academic writing, short stories, screenplays, and more.

All you have to do is tell ProWritingAid what type of document you’re writing, and it will give you specific suggestions. Some options include:

• Academic (sub-options: Academic Essay, Abstract, Admissions Letter, and more)
• Business (sub-options: Cover Letter, Email, Case Study, and more)
• Creative (sub-options: Nonfiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, and more)
• Casual (sub-options: General, Casual, and Dating Profile)
• Web (sub-options: General Web Copy, Short Web Article, and more)

ProWritingAid also integrates seamlessly with different browsers and other writing apps, so you don’t need to open a new website or app every time you want to check your writing.

You can use ProWritingAid on Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Chrome, Firefox, and even popular writing apps like Scrivener and Final Draft. There’s no need to import or export your work, like you do on Hemingway—you can see ProWritingAid’s suggestions as you type into your favorite website or word processing software.

And if that’s not enough, ProWritingAid also comes with a wealth of educational materials.

Every time ProWritingAid highlights a weakness in your writing, you can click the “i” icon to learn more about that issue. You can also watch videos, read articles, and even take quizzes related to various grammar rules and mistakes.

With ProWritingAid, you can edit your writing seamlessly and also improve your writing skills over time. It’s a win-win.

If you’re looking for an affordable writing software that can help you improve your writing style, Hemingway is a great option to consider.

Hemingway points out clear weaknesses and gives you suggestions that will make your writing more powerful. You can get these suggestions with the free online editor, or you can invest in the desktop app for more ease of use.

However, Hemingway also has many limitations. For example, it focuses on making your writing simpler and more concise, which might sometimes work against you if you prefer to write with more lyrical or flowery prose than Ernest Hemingway.

If you’re looking for a software with more sophisticated suggestions, which you can customize to meet your specific writing goals, you’ll need a tool like ProWritingAid.

ProWritingAid provides an in-depth analysis of your writing that covers all your bases. If you’re ready to take your writing to the next level, try the free version of ProWritingAid to see how it works.

Good luck, and happy writing!

Be confident about grammar

Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send.

Hannah Yang is a speculative fiction writer who writes about all things strange and surreal. Her work has appeared in Analog Science Fiction, Apex Magazine, The Dark, and elsewhere, and two of her stories have been finalists for the Locus Award. Her favorite hobbies include watercolor painting, playing guitar, and rock climbing. You can follow her work on hannahyang.com, or subscribe to her newsletter for publication updates.

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Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899, in suburban Oak Park, IL, to Dr. Clarence and Grace Hemingway. Ernest was the second of six children to be raised in the quiet suburban town. His father was a physician, and both parents were devout Christians. Hemingway's childhood pursuits fostered the interests that would blossom into literary achievements.

Although Grace hoped her musical interests would influence her son, young Hemingway preferred to accompany his father on hunting and...

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Hemingway Editor: The Secret Online Editing Tool for Powerful Writing

by Suzanne Davis | Feb 26, 2018 | Writing Process | 2 comments

It won’t make you write like Ernest Hemingway.

But, Hemingway Editor will make your writing stronger and more effective.  Hemingway Editor helps you edit your writing so that your words are clear and powerful.  It examines your words and sentences pointing out areas you can change to make your writing better.

Hemingway Editor is great for anyone writing blog posts, business communication, fiction, essays or academic papers.

In whatever you write, even if it’s an academic essay or paper, clarity is important.  Clarity sharpens your writing and shows the power and purpose of your words. Hemingway Editor helps you refine your writing, so it’s not wordy and vague.  Your writing becomes clear.

What is Hemingway Editor?

Hemingway Editor https://hemingwayapp.com  is a free online editing tool.  It analyzes text for readability.  Readability is how easy or difficult to it is to understand a piece of writing. An essential part of good writing is readability.  Hemingway Editor pinpoints things that affect the readability of your work.

Hemingway Editor’s readability score shows the level of education a person needs to have to understand the text. On Hemingway Editor this shows up as grade levels (Grade 1, Grade 2 etc.).  Any grade level below Grade 9 is considered good.   Grade 10 is considered okay.

A lower grade level is better.  Ernest Hemingway’s work is estimated to be between a 4 th and 6 th grade level of readability.   I try to make my writing between Grades 5–8 (this blog post is Grade 5).

What Does Hemingway Editor Analyze?

Five elements affect the readability of your writing.  Hemingway Editor highlights each of these things in a different color.  So, you can change words and sentences until the color disappears. Hemingway Editor analyzes:

• The number of adverbs— Adverbs qualify a verb. But qualifiers can weaken a verb. Here’s an example sentence: The blog posts simply show different aspects of academic writing. The adverb is meant to strengthen the verb.   But what if I write the sentence without the adverb?  The sentence reads: The blog posts show different aspects of academic writing.  In the second sentence, the verb “show” has more power without the word, “simply.”  I don’t need the adverb here.
• Instances of passive voice –Passive voice isn’t as strong as active voice. Most of the time in writing you use active voice because it is sharper and more effective.  Here’s an example of passive voice: The muffins were baked.  An example of active voice is: The pastry chef baked the muffins . The second sentence shows you that the subject, the pastry chef, performed the action. He baked the muffins.  This shows you who completed the action.  It’s direct and stronger than the passive voice sentence.  Limit the use of passive voice in your writing. You might use a little passive in academic writing but keep your focus on active voice.
• Words or phrases with simpler alternatives— Hemingway Editor shows you where you can simplify language and vocabulary. Should you always use a simpler word or phrase? Academic writing has a lot of phrases that are part of the academic language people use in writing. Some academic vocabulary is specific to your field.  Most of these words you won’t want to change.  But, think about simplifying other words in your writing.  It’s hard to read an entire text with academic language.  So, when you write, find the words that best describe what you mean.
• Sentences that are hard to read— Hemingway Editor points out sentences that are long and complex. Try to break some of these up.  You want clear sentences with some variety in your writing.  Some sentences are long, but make sure those long sentences aren’t hard to understand.  So, when you see a sentence that’s hard to read edit it, so it’s clear
• Sentences that are very hard to read— These are confusing and wordy sentences. If you see sentences highlighted as very hard to read, edit them.

How Do Use Hemingway Editor?

Hemingway Editor is simple to use.  First, copy your text.  Then go to https://www.hemingwayapp.com and delete the example text.  Paste your text into to it and edit the highlighted things in your writing.  Everything is color-coded.

• Adverbs are blue.
• Passive voice is green.
• Phrases with simpler alternatives are purple.
• Sentences that are hard to read are yellow.
• Sentences that are very hard to read are red.

When you finish editing, copy the text and paste it back into your document.

You can also write your text in Hemingway Editor, edit and then copy and paste into a document.  The disadvantage of writing there is that you cannot save your work.

Watch the video, Hemingway Editor: A Great Free Online Editing Tool for Writers and see how to use Hemingway Editor!

I use Hemingway Editor after I revise my writing and make significant changes to my draft.  You can see how I revise writing in the post, “Academic Revising 101: The Essential Essay Revision Checklist” https://www.academicwritingsuccess.com/academic-revising-101-the-essential-essay-revision-checklist/.  Then I edit my document, paste it into Hemingway Editor, and make more changes.  My final step is editing my writing again.

Is Hemingway Editor a perfect online editing tool?  No.  There isn’t a perfect editor of any kind.  You always need to see what an editor suggests and make your own decisions on what to change.

But it’s my favorite online editor because it improves the work I edit, and also makes me better at spotting issues in my writing. Try it and see how it makes your writing clearer, stronger and more powerful.

And if this blog post helped you please share it with someone else you think could benefit from it.

Photo by  Daria Nepriakhina  on  Unsplash

I’m having so much fun with this editor. Thank you for sharing such an awesome tool!

I’m glad you like it! It is a great free editing tool.

[…] All writing (even academic writing) should be clear and easy to understand. Just because you’re writing a college paper it doesn’t mean only professors, teachers and scholars should be able to read it.  See how Hemingway Editor works in my post:  Hemingway Editor: The Secret Online Editing Tool for Powerful Writing  https://www.academicwritingsuccess.com/hemingway-editor-secret-online-editing-tool-powerful-writing/ […]

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Home / Book Editing / Hemingway Editor Review [2024]: Read This Before Using

Hemingway Editor Review [2024]: Read This Before Using

• Hemingway can be a powerful writing tool for streamlining your writing style
• The free online platform is excellent for editing shorter pieces
• If you tend to write in longer, more complex sentences, Hemingway will push you to be clear and punchy in your writing
• Great for assessing the readability and complexity of your work
• Not great for manuscript writing or longer pieces
• Grammar capabilities don’t measure up to Grammarly Premium or ProWritingAid
• Doesn’t offer the plotting, formatting, or organizational tools of software like Scrivener

Bottom Line: If you’re looking for a free way to hone your style without much grammatical help, Hemingway could work for you. However, I still think there are better overall tools on the market.

I rank Hemingway as #4 on my list of best proofreading software , but it might be the best for you, depending on your situation, so read on to learn more about what makes Hemingway so great.

Table of contents

• What is the Hemingway editor?
• System Requirements for Hemingway Editor
• How Much Does Hemingway Editor Cost? Free vs. Paid
• Hemingway vs. Grammarly vs. ProWritingAid
• 1. Formatting Options
• Yellow Highlights
• Red Highlights
• Purple Highlights
• Blue Highlights
• Green Highlights
• Readability
• Number Of Adverbs
• Use Of Passive Voice
• Complex Language
• Hard To Read Sentences
• Very Hard To Read Sentences
• Why I Still Choose ProWritingAid Over Hemingway

To stay on top of the latest in book marketing and writing, I love to check out the latest tools claiming to help authors. You may have seen my ProWritingAid review and Grammarly review . 

This Hemingway app review is the best way to discover what the word processor can do without learning it the hard way.

I’ve often heard about my fellow authors using Hemingway to finetune their writing.

Unlike ProWritingAid, Hemingway isn’t an in-depth virtual writing tutor. 

What does the Hemingway app do? The Hemingway app aims to tighten up your words, making them more concise and impactful.

How does it stack up against other writing tools ? After using it for myself, I put together this full Hemingway editor review so you can make an informed decision.

• How to understand the suggestions Hemingway makes
• What grade level to write at, and why it matters
• How Hemingway stacks up against other big names like Grammarly and ProWritingAid
• What I suggest as the best editing tool for your manuscript

Links in this article may earn me a small commission if you use them to purchase a product. This is at no cost to you. It helps me continue writing these handy articles that anyone can read for free!

What Qualifies Me to Talk About the Hemingway Editor?

So I've been writing for many years, and writing professionally through both my books and Kindlepreneur articles for over 10 years.

I've been using a spellchecker for all of that time.

Additionally, for this review, I tested the Hemingway app editor and a ton of other tools to really understand which was the best for complex sentences, creative writing, and even academic writing, and to understand the intricacies that make make a program like Hemingway more appropriate for some, while Hemingway Editor alternatives like ProWritingAid, Microsoft Word, or Grammarly might be better for others.

Plus, before I put together this review, I reached out to Kindlepreneur's audience to get a general overview of what they thought was the best proofreading software

So with that in mind, let's dive in to the meat of the review.

Hemingway, named after the master of literary brevity himself, aims to “make your writing bold and clear.” It isn’t an in-depth grammar checker or writing coach, like Grammarly or ProWritingAid.

Instead, Hemingway is a minimalist but powerful writing software tool to improve style and substance.

When you either paste your writing into the Hemingway editor environment or write directly within, it highlights your work using different colors. Each color corresponds to a different type of improvement Hemingway suggests to be a better writer.

Hemingway editor has an algorithm that makes color-coded suggestions.

• Yellow Sentences: These sentences Hemingway identifies as lengthy or structurally complex. Hemingway suggests splitting or simplifying yellow highlighted sentences.
• Red Sentences: Hemingway feels this sentence structure may confuse readers due to length or complex phrasing. Rework these sentences until the red highlight vanishes.
• Purple Words: The chosen color here is an in-joke for writers. Purple words have a more suitable, simpler alternative. Hover over them to see Hemingway's suggestion.
• Blue Words: Blue words are adverbs that may signal weak or hesitant language. Hemingway feels these should be omitted.
• Green Phrases: Green indicates passive voice. While this may be appropriate in some contexts, active voice usually makes a more powerful statement.

Free Version: Hemingway’s free version works on virtually all standard web browsers like Chrome, Safari, and Firefox. There are virtually no requirements for using the free version of Hemingway. 

Speaking of web browsers, If you want to learn how to use Chrome well, check out my video on Incognito mode:

Paid Version: Hemingway’s paid desktop app is compatible with Mac and Windows on their current operating systems. It’s also available offline.

Browser Extensions/Plugins: Hemingway doesn’t offer plugins or extensions on any browser at this time. Hemingway also doesn't offer any mobile apps or keyboards for phones.

Is Hemingway editor free? The online version of Hemingway Editor is completely free. The creators have indicated they intend to keep it this way.

The desktop version, Hemingway App , is available for a one-time payment of $19.99. The price is the same for both Windows and Mac. Purchasing Hemingway software also entitles you to free upgrades whenever they are available.

Here's how the free online Hemingway editor compares to the paid downloadable writing app :

Hemingway Editor vs Hemingway App

For my next test, let's see how Hemingway compares to similar writing solutions, like Grammarly and ProWritingAid.

Hemingway is a less robust software than either Grammarly or ProWritingAid. However, it’s also available at a much lower price and is good at the limited scope of what it aims to do.

Comparing these 3 services, there is no clear winner. Each has its own strengths, price point, and editorial capabilities.

Is Hemingway’s editor good? Hemingway’s editor is good for getting style and writing analysis on a budget.

If you’re looking for an affordable editing option, Hemingway will tighten up the style of almost any writer. The free version is a risk-free way to see if Hemingway is right for you, and the full version is excellent value at only $19.99 for lifetime access.

The grammar suggestions are usually better on ProWritingAid; however, I think Grammarly has a better handle on comma use and placement.

Is Hemingway better than Grammarly? I find Hemingway is better than Grammarly for writing analysis and style improvement. However, Grammarly does live up to its name with better grammatical suggestions.

As you can see, ProWritingAid is more fully-featured than either of the other two options. However, if you’re on a budget or don’t require the full functionality of ProWritingAid, Hemingway editor is a good starting point.

*Remember that if you do get ProWritingAid, be sure you add the 20% off coupon code below:

How to Use Hemingway Editor Online

How does the Hemingway editor work? The Hemingway editor works by highlighting words, phrases, and formatting that could be improved. Hemingway editor, like its namesake, opts for short, descriptive, and clear writing suggestions.

Hemingway editor can be used in 2 ways:

• Free: Use the online Hemingway editor.
• Paid: Use the downloadable Hemingway desktop app.

For this post, I’ll be talking about the free online editor.

When you go to the Hemingway online environment, you see the following screen:

The online Hemingway editor offers 2 modes:

• Write . ‘Write‘ is used for distraction-free composition in a minimalist writing environment. 
• Edit . This is where Hemingway highlights potential improvements and assesses the readability and clarity of your work.

When composing in Hemingway’s ‘write' mode, the screen looks like this:

While you may choose to compose short pieces in the Hemingway writing environment, I wouldn’t recommend it.

There is no login or cloud backup for your work. If your browser crashes or something else goes wrong, you lose anything you’ve composed.

By clicking on the Edit option, you access the full range of Hemingway’s analysis capabilities for your piece of writing.

The edit option consists of 3 sections:

• Formatting options at the top of the screen.
• Colored highlights of your text in the center of the screen, indicating the type of improvements Hemingway thinks you should make. This can help everything from correcting weak verbs to splitting up run-on sentences.
• Summary of Hemingway’s findings on the right hand of the screen.

Let’s take a closer look at each of the 3 sections.

Hemingway offers the formatting options like various headings, bold and italic text, and attention-catchers like bullets, quotes, and numbered lists.

This is useful for bloggers. You can tidy up your writing style in Hemingway and then use the above formatting options to get your text totally ready for publication.

2. Colored Highlights

The website or app highlights sentences that may contain common errors . 

Yellow highlights indicate long sentences that are hard to read. Hemingway suggests shortening or splitting them.

A sentence highlighted in red indicates it is tough to read. These are very complex sentences, similar to yellow but more confusing or unclear.

Words highlighted in purple indicate an unnecessarily complex word. When you hover your mouse over a purple word, Hemingway suggests simpler alternatives, as seen below.

When a word is highlighted in blue, Hemingway feels it is weak or generic.

By hovering over a blue word with your mouse, you see Hemingway’s suggestion to improve it.

Above, Hemingway suggests an improvement for an adverb.

Above, Hemingway suggests a way to strengthen the use of a qualifier.

Green highlights indicate the use of the passive voice. While this is a good option for some sentences, overusing the passive voice can make your writing seem timid.

3. Summary Of Findings

Hemingway editing tool provides a summary of your data on the right of the screen. This offers the following information.

Hemingway analyzes your text to assess its grade level and readability score.

According to Hemingway’s creators, the average American has a 10th-grade reading level. Ensuring your writing is at or below this readability grade level will make it accessible to the average American. You may also use this grading to write appropriately for higher- or lower-reading-level audiences.

While this may feel limiting, remember that Ernest Hemingway’s words are assessed as being the 5th-grade level. Clear language does not diminish the power or quality of your writing.

Hemingway displays a word count for your text.

By clicking on ‘Show More,’ the following information is displayed.

I particularly like the reading time feature here. Many popular blogs and print magazines offer this information, so having Hemingway calculate it for you is beneficial.

Hemingway displays the number of adverbs featured in your text. It uses this number to calculate whether it is an acceptable number based on the length of your writing.

Hemingway shows how often you use the passive voice and calculates how often it should be used, based on the length of your writing. For more information on using passive voice, click here .

Shows the number of simpler alternatives Hemingway suggests for the text you have written.

The number of yellow sentences identified by Hemingway.

The number of red sentences identified by Hemingway.

The above data combine to offer a lean and helpful summary of your text. You can see how to improve your piece of writing and where you tend to go astray. Perhaps you’re a passive voice fan or choose too many adverbs instead of riveting verbs.

This analysis of your tendencies can be one of the most helpful parts of Hemingway’s feedback.

Hemingway is simple and easy to use. However, for the best overall tool, I’d choose ProWritingAid. The perks outweigh any other software for me because:

• It’s like having a writing tutor. It offers in-depth insight into your strengths and weaknesses that no other software does.
• ProWritingAid can be tailored to your particular style of writing.
• It is a superb value for lifetime access when using the exclusive Kindlepreneur coupon (code KINDLEPRENEUR20 ).

If you’re a casual writer who can handle a limited level of functionality, or you’re writing on a budget, then Hemingway may be worth your time.

However, if you want the best of the bunch for authors and other long-form writers, ProWritingAid reigns supreme.

Formatting Has Never Been Easier

Write and format professional books with ease.  Never before has creating formatted books been easier.

Will you use Hemingway editor?

You now understand what the Hemingway editor app is, how it can help you, and how it stacks up to rival products on the market. 

Is the Hemingway app worth it? The Hemingway app can be worth it if your main expectations are writing and style analysis, not grammatical perfection.

Just to remind you:

• Hemingway aims to tighten and improve your writing style.
• It has a free version and a paid downloadable version.
• I still suggest ProWritingAid as the best overall solution. ( Use my link for 20% off .)

Have you used Hemingway? Do you prefer it to the other options out there? Hit me up in the comments and let me know your thoughts! I keep up with your thoughts and feedback long after these posts are published.

Be sure to check out my full comparison with the other best proofreading tools out there, along with individual reviews of the following:

• ProWritingAid (my top recommendation, check this link for 20% off with code KINDLEPRENEUR20 )
• LanguageTool
• Slick Write

Dave Chesson

When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.

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Atticus vs vellum: a side-by-side comparison [2024], scrivener review: is it worth it [+20% discount], atticus review [2024]: is it worth it pros, cons, and features, sell more books on amazon, standardized editorial test.

Picking the right editor for your book can be hard. We authors don’t really know how to compare two editors and see which one is better…until now. When you go to hire an editor, have them take this test sample article. Then look at our answer key and see which editor scored the best. That way you know their level of quality.

58 thoughts on “ Hemingway Editor Review [2024]: Read This Before Using ”

Thanks for making this valuable recommendation & saving me money. I bought ProWritingAid with your coupon.

I purchased the Hemingway Editor for $20, and I am totally underwhelmed. I thought the program would have more options (suggestions) for correcting or improving sentence structure.

I write narratives specifically for financial institutions which requires a specific style of writing, as well as a certain amount of industry jargon. This could be misinterpreted by Hemingway Editor.

I will continue to use the program, however, I probably could have gotten by with the free edition.

Does your code have an expiration date? I tried it and it wouldn’t work for me.

It worked for just now. But if not, then click here: https://kindlepreneur.com/pwaspecial

I bought Hemingway Editor and found it interesting. I “corrected” my own writing which, in the end, I was pleased with, but decided to Hemingway Edit Hemingway. An interesting journey. Granted, I am not about to edit his entire novel, but I chose the first 500 of The Sun Also Rises; about 5 paragraphs. It was puzzling. This editor claims to be “Hemingway..ish” but I found, not so much. Hemingway’s novel, in this short example, revealed 12 adverbs, 4 uses of passive voice, 4 out of 25 sentences that were hard to read, and 6 out of 25 sentences that were very hard to read. One would think it would have been perfect. Oddly, my original writing, before editing with this product reflected a better reading. Overall, for 20 bucks it’s okay and a good deal for a beginner needing to understand how to tighten prose and identify adverbs easily.

I purchased this product and really regret the decision. It is nothing, it is just going to tell you if you’re using a wrong adverb, long sentence, and the readability grade – Nothing else.

Yeah, that’s why I prefer ProWritingAid. Grammarly is great, but costly. PWA does the trick. But that’s only for those looking for something like that. One thing I do like about Hemingway (which you get with the free version) is a readability score. But I mainly use that for my blog writing. I’ve found that it’s pretty locked on there and does a great job of helping to improve the readability of my articles.

What else would you need to know?

Isn’t that the point?

Comments are closed.

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Hemingway Editor Review: Simplicity for Free

Have you ever crafted a long sentence that looked amazing to you, but confused your readers? We all have, I’m sure. And if those kinds of flowery lines of prose are gumming up your writing, the Hemingway Editor may be the tool you need.

The Hemingway Editor applies Ernest Hemingway’s style to improve your writing.

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” Ernest Hemingway

What Is Hemingway Editor?

The Hemingway Editor is a writing analyzer app for writing and revising your work . The app gives notes and warnings that help you write more like Ernest Hemingway (minus the bleeding; I hope). What sets the Hemingway editor apart is the focus on improving style.

Let’s have a look at the editor using the web version (we’ll compare the browser app and desktop app a little later).

I’ve used my favorite guinea pig story, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

To get started, I pasted in the text. And as you can see, Hemingway Editor immediately noted a variety of potential edits. 

Before we dive into examining how the editor works, let’s look at Hemingway Editor as a writing tool. Because it is, in fact, a decent online writing app. 

When you click the ‘Write’ button on the upper right side, it hides all the highlights. You’re left with a clean, distraction-free writing screen. 

A couple of things to note about the writer; you’ll see the red underlines. Yup, Grammarly’s Chrome plugin works with Hemingway Editor, meaning you can check spelling right inside the app. The one major downside I found with using the app to write is that it slows down as your document gets longer. My biggest complaint; there is no dark mode.

Otherwise, it’s a good writing tool with standard formatting options.

Style Editor and Suggested Edits

Once you’re done writing, the Edit mode gives guidance to improve your work. The Hemingway Editor targets 5 aspects of your writing to offer advice:

• Passive Voice
• Adverbs/Weak Words
• Simple Words/Phrasing
• Difficult Sentences
• Very Difficult Sentences

The Editor uses color-coded highlighting to show you where you can improve. The total number of suggested improvements appears in the sidebar:

Words or phrases highlighted in blue show weak words, generally adverbs. Most writing doesn’t need any words to modify verbs. Removing or improving your weak words will make the writing that much stronger.

Hemingway Editor has exceptional inline suggestions for adverbs too. I particularly love that the suggestion most often seen for adverbs is ‘omit.’ As we all know, adverbs are a mistake 99 times out of 100. 

Green Edits

The green edits show passive-voice sentences. Passive writing tends to be longer and less impactful. For example, consider this sentence from Alice:

• She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed; it was labeled ‘ORANGE MARMALADE’, but to her great disappointment, it was empty.

Now let’s rewrite it with an active voice:

• She took down a jar labeled ‘ORANGE MARMALADE.’ Empty, to her great disappointment.

My edit isn’t the best revision either. But it shows how much tighter the simple sentence can be.

Purple Edits

Suggestions in purple show a complex word with a simpler alternative. The purple edits are the most Hemingway-esque of all the suggestions you’ll see. The goal is to make your writing simple and understandable.

Purple edits suggest edits inline, just like blue edits. You’ll have to scrutinize these ones. In the example above, replacing ‘shall’ with ‘must’ or ‘will’ simplifies the sentence. But the line is dialog, so we need to tread carefully. Using ‘shall’ here might be a choice to illuminate the character.

Yellow Edits

Yellow highlights will pick out entire sentences the Hemingway app finds hard to read. These suggestions are helpful in finding long or arduous sentences. You’ll often see some purple highlights in difficult sentences too; suggesting that part of the problem may be the complexity of the sentence and not just the length.

I think yellow edits are the ones most easily ignored. A difficult sentence isn’t always a problem. It’s still helpful to be aware of any sentence that might be hard for readers to understand.

Finally, Hemingway Editor shows you very difficult-to-read sentences. From my testing, these sentences are almost always long, run-on monstrosities that should be at least two or more individual sentences.

You should look to finish your Hemingway App edits with ZERO red marks. These are the most complex and problematic sentences. Even if you don’t ascribe to Hemingway’s ‘simple’ style, lines marked in red are probably going to confuse at least some readers.

Readability Score

Aside from the five highlighted suggestions, Hemingway Editor gives a readability score. The score is based on the Flesch–Kincaid readability formula . The formula uses grade levels based on US school system grading to tell you how ‘readable’ your writing is. 

You’ll find this score in the sidebar, above the summary of highlighted sections.

The app aims for a Grade 5 or 6 level – the reading level most readers prefer. The rest of the information is basic data almost all word processors can offer. But the readability grade is a nice, quick way to see how your writing stacks up to the reader’s expectations. 

Defining Hemingway’s Style

You can find lots (and lots) of articles and books about how Hemingway wrote. One blogger wrote a great piece about Hemingway’s style and how/when to use it. I think you can break down the style into three focal points:

• Simplicity – Simplicity means never using a complex word when a simple one will do. Simplicity is aiming to use shorter words. Single-syllable words create a cadence or rhythm for the reader that can be very hard to break away from. 
• Positivity – Hemingway avoids telling you what isn’t happening and instead focuses on what is. The unspoken negatives create mystery, but they also make the reading experience less boring and easier to read. 
• Concision – A brief sentence always beats a long one. Say what you mean, say it precisely, and say it quickly. 

Hemingway’s style lends itself well to blogs and journalism. For authors, that might mean the Hemingway Editor is best as a passive voice checker or to search for adverbs—but not ideal as the sole editing tool for your manuscript. 

Hemingway App: Paid Versus Free

The web-based editor is 100% free to use. The only real downside of the free version is that you’ll need to copy/paste your writing to get it out of the app. The free Hemingway app isn’t a true word processor, so you won’t be able to import or export.

If you’re writing blogs or other short content, that probably isn’t a big deal. 

Now the paid version (at a one-time cost of $19.99 for Mac and PC options) includes import/export and saving your work locally. So if you’re an author and you want to use Hemingway Editor for a book, it’s worth considering a purchase.

Hemingway App Versus Grammarly

I can’t talk about AI-based editing without mentioning Grammarly and ProWritingAid. 

For the most part, I like Grammarly for spelling and usage ; two things Hemingway Editor doesn’t help with. The two apps don’t even really bear comparing, as they actually work great together.

Grammarly’s paid version offers similar suggestions to Hemingway, but the Grammarly tool gives broad editing advice. Hemingway Editor very much wants to help you write like Hemingway.

Hemingway App Versus ProWritingAid

Like Grammarly, ProWritingAid works in the Hemingway App’s web editor. The comparison here is a little closer though, as ProWritingAid helps with many of the edits Hemingway will call out. 

And like Grammarly, I enjoy using the two in tandem. ProWritingAid is great at sentence structure, helping break up those difficult-to-read sentences Hemingway Editor will call out.

Is Hemingway Editor Worth Using?

Many of the edits Hemingway Editor calls out appear when using either Grammarly or ProWritingAid (though you’d need the paid version of both to get the depth Hemingway offers). Since the editor is available for free (and reasonably priced for the desktop app), there’s no reason not to use Hemingway Editor.

Here comes the except…

Except not all writers want to write like Hemingway. While the man was an important literary figure, his style is rigid and not right for everyone. Consider my example of Alice in Wonderland. It’s only 27,000 words (most novels are 70,000+ words) and Hemingway Editor found 432 adverbs. That’s a lot.

And there were plenty of difficult sentences too, 343 out of 1767, or about 20% of the total. 

Because Lewis Carroll writes differently. His sentences are longer and more challenging. More flowery, if you will. Carroll doesn’t want to write like Hemingway. You might not either. And that’s fine.

Final Thoughts

The Hemingway app is free, so there’s no reason not to use it. But like all AI-powered editors, it’s no replacement for an actual person proofing your work. Most writing benefits from simplicity, positivity, and concision. So I recommend the Hemingway app for all writers. 

And yes, that includes this article. Here’s my score from the first draft versus the published version:

For a blog post, I improved the content. The five areas all are within acceptable limits, the readability score came down a grade, and I shaved a little off the total reading time.

Overall, Hemingway Editor is useful but with limitations. It’s an excellent tool for finessing your sentences. But for a piece of fiction, it may do more harm than help. So use it with an eye toward your goals and an understanding that Hemingway, while a skilled writer, wasn’t perfect.

Paul is the Senior Content Manager at Lulu.com . When he’s not entrenched in the publishing and print-on-demand world, he likes to hike the scenic North Carolina landscape, read, sample the fanciest micro-brewed beer, and collect fountain pens. Paul is a dog person but considers himself cat-tolerant.

When writing for an international readership which spelling should be used, American or British English?

Hi Alexander,

That’s an interesting question that I don’t have an exact answer for. I spent some time poking around on the web and it seems opinions vary. The most common response I see (and one I firmly agree with) is to write in your voice. If you’re American, write in American English. If you’re British, write in British English. The important thing is to be understood and genuine.

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Essays on Ernest Hemingway

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Now I Lay Me Analysis

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The Problem of Abortion in Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway

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Depiction of The Lives of Lost Generation in The Sun Also Rises

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July 21, 1899

July 2, 1961

Novelist, short-story writer, journalist

• The Sun Also Rises
• A Farewell to Arms
• The Old Man and the Sea
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1953)
• Nobel Prize in Literature (1954)

July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961

Ernest Hemingway was an American novelist and short-story writer, awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.

Ernest Hemingway wrote The Sun Also Rises (1926) and A Farewell to Arms (1929), which were full of the existential disillusionment of the Lost Generation expatriates; For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940), about the Spanish Civil War; and the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Old Man and the Sea (1952).

Hemingway's writing includes themes of love, war, travel, wilderness, and loss. Hemingway often wrote about Americans abroad. The theme of women and death is evident in stories as early as "Indian Camp". Additionally, the theme of emasculation is prevalent in Hemingway's work, notably in God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen and The Sun Also Rises.

Hemingway's legacy to American literature is his style: writers who came after him either emulated or avoided it. His succinct and lucid prose style exerted a powerful influence on American and British fiction in the 20th century.

“There is no friend as loyal as a book.” “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” “Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.”

Relevant topics

• William Shakespeare
• Langston Hughes
• The Tempest
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Hemingway Editor vs. Human Editor – A Comparison

• 9-minute read
• 19th May 2023

For this article, we investigate how Hemingway Editor, an editing app, compares with a human editor in improving the overall quality of a writing sample and removing any mistakes. Keep reading to see how well each performed and where they fell short.

Side-by-Side Comparison

While Hemingway Editor had several positive features, it failed to accomplish the goal: to improve the writing sample and remove mistakes in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. 

The human editor outperformed Hemingway Editor because they actually made changes to the writing sample, removed all writing mistakes, and greatly improved its overall quality and readability.

How the Hemingway Editor Works

Hemingway Editor is an AI writing assistant that highlights words, phrases, and sentences in a text, showing you what areas need improvement. It looks at five common writing errors:

• Adverbs (highlighted in blue)
• Passive voice (highlighted in green)
• Complex words with simpler alternatives (highlighted in purple)
• Sentences that are hard to read (highlighted in yellow)
• Sentences that are very hard to read (highlighted in red)

Each passage is given a “readability grade,” which ranges from 5 to 15. The readability grade indicates the reading level required to fully understand the given text. The Hemingway Editor suggests that users aim to achieve a readability level of 9 for most texts.

The point of the readability grades is to point out words, sentences, or paragraphs that may be too lengthy or filled with jargon or that may be confusing or tedious for your readers – all of which are undesirable qualities for any text.

Writing Sample and Methodology

The writing sample used for this experiment was a passage from a post-doctorate student’s thesis (used with permission). The author’s first language is not English, but they have studied English at a high level throughout their higher education. The writing sample was 605 words in length.

We submitted the sample to an experienced editor at Proofed to be proofread and edited with the aim to remove any language mistakes and improve its clarity, concision, and coherence.

The same sample was put through Hemingway Editor to highlight words, sentences, and paragraphs that needed attention.

The results were assessed based on whether the writing quality was improved and writing mistakes were corrected.

Hemingway Editor Results

After copying and pasting the writing sample into the Hemingway Editor, it immediately received a readability grade of 13, which is 4 grades above the recommended grade of 9.

As shown in the image, here’s the readability grade breakdown:

• 9 adverbs. Aim for 5 or fewer.
• 9 uses of passive voice. Cut to 7 or fewer.
• 5 phrases have simpler alternatives.
• 5 of 33 sentences are hard to read.
• 14 of 33 sentences are very hard to read.

Incorrect Suggestions and Other Mistakes

The first mistake Hemingway Editor made is an incorrect suggestion for a “phrase with a simpler alternative,” (highlighted in purple). In this case, the highlighted word is part of a title being cited in the text, which Hemingway Editor was unable to discern. 

Although Hemingway Editor did provide suggestions for alternative words, which you can see in the image below, it was not appropriate for the context.

Other mistakes and errors it didn’t highlight include:

• Missing articles
• Missing or incorrect punctuation
• No suggestion for the definition of an abbreviation
• Abbreviations introduced incorrectly
• Incorrect verb tense
• Incorrect word order
• Incorrect word usage

Score After Human Intervention Based on Highlights

After making changes based on Hemingway Editor’s suggested number of adverbs and use of the passive voice (with no changes made to complex words or phrases because two of the highlights were incorrect suggestions) the grade remained the same: 13.

After making further changes, focusing on sentences that were identified as hard or very hard to read, Hemingway Editor still gave the writing sample a readability grade of 13. And this time, the individual targets changed.

After the first revision, Hemingway Editor indicated that a total of five adverbs was okay but that changed to four or fewer, and the target of seven uses of passive voice was changed to six or fewer. 

Although one sentence previously highlighted as “very hard to read” was changed to “hard to read,” another previously unhighlighted sentence was highlighted as “hard to read.” 

There was no explanation on the site for these changes.

Hemingway Editor Pros and Cons

Overall, Hemingway Editor did a good job of highlighting problem sentences that some readers might have difficulty following. However, it didn’t highlight many grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes in the text that are typical of someone who speaks English as an additional language. Furthermore, it didn’t provide any suggestions for changes to the problem sentences. 

Essentially, Hemingway Editor didn’t improve the writing sample in any way but merely highlighted sentences and areas that could be difficult to read for some people.

Human Editor Results

The same writing sample was submitted to an editor at Proofed for editing and proofreading services. After about a day, the writing sample was returned with a Clean copy and a Track Changes copy, showing what changes were made along with comments on areas that were unclear and needed further attention, or explaining why an edit was made.

The editor at Proofed not only eliminated the mistakes that Hemingway Editor missed, but they also improved the overall quality and readability of the text by fixing long, complex sentences and reorganizing and breaking up long paragraphs. 

They also left comments on areas that needed further attention from the writer, such as word choice ambiguity, and reduced the writing sample word count from 602 to 536.

Let’s take a closer look:

In this section, the editor at Proofed was able to edit and rewrite sentences as needed to improve the clarity and flow of the paragraph. While Hemingway Editor highlighted the same sentences in this section as “hard to read” or “very hard to read,” the editor at Proofed actually made the necessary changes.

Human Editor Pros and Cons

The editor at Proofed corrected all mistakes in the writing sample. They focused on clarity, cohesion, and concision in the text to make sure the main ideas and points were clear and easy to understand. Additionally, the editor ensured that each paragraph flowed in a smooth manner and made changes to accomplish that goal.

Conclusions

Based upon this test, AI writing assistants such as Hemingway Editor, which promise to help you proofread and edit your writing at home, fail to follow through on quality and accuracy in their edits. 

The biggest issue we found with Hemingway Editor is that it did not provide suggestions for all the problem areas it highlighted. Additionally, the readability grade lacked consistency, changing grades and requirements without providing any reasons.

The editor at Proofed was able to make edits to the writing sample accurately and consistently, leaving comments with feedback or suggestions for further action from the writer. The editor not only removed writing mistakes, such as grammar, punctuation, and spelling issues, but improved the flow, coherence, and clarity of the writing sample by adding a bulleted list, rewriting problem sentences, and reorganizing paragraphs.

Tired of AI writing assistants failing to provide consistent and reliable editing and proofreading for your business? Schedule a call with us today to learn more about how our experienced, qualified editors can help.

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College Minor: Everything You Need to Know

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Ernest Hemingway Essay Titles

• Language and Imagery in Ernest Hemingway’s a Clean, Well-Lit Place
• Ernest Hemingway’s Works That Reflect Aspects of His Own Life and the Twentieth Century
• The Lack of Communication in Ernest Hemingway’s Short Story “Cat in the Rain.”
• The Struggle of Gender Communication Differences in Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants
• The Influence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder on Ernest Hemingway’s the Sun Also Rises
• The Variations of Masculinity in Ernest Hemingway’s the Sun Also Rises
• The Lives of the Lost Generation in Ernest Hemingway’s the Sun Also Rises
• The Use of Characterization, Setting, and Symbolism to Develop Krebs’ Struggles in Ernest Hemingway’s Soldier’s Home
• The Utilization of Phallic Symbolism in the Works of Herman Melville and Ernest Hemingway
• The Use of Dialogues in Ernest Hemingway’s Short Story “Hills Like White Elephants.”
• The Life-Changing Decisions in Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants
• Ernest Hemingway’s the Similarities in Another Country, the Big Two-Hearted River, and Indian Camp
• Attempting to Find Meaning in Ernest Hemingway’s “A Clean, Well-Lit Place.”
• The Relationship between Brett and Robert in Ernest Hemingway’s the Sun Also Rises
• The Religious Influence and Symbolism in Ernest Hemingway’s the Old Man and the Sea
• Why Santiago Failed to Obtain the Reward He Desired in Ernest Hemingway’s the Old Man and the Sea
• Disparate Treatment of Women and Men in the Stories of Ernest Hemingway
• The Legacy of Santiago in Ernest Hemingway’s the Old Man and the Sea
• Ernest Hemingway’s Use of Narration and Dialogue in a Clean, Well-Lit Place
• The Examination of Dominance and Conflict in the Narrative Hemingway’s Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber
• The Struggles of the Italian Army in Ernest Hemingway’s a Farewell to Arms

Essay Topics on Ernest Hemingway

• The Symbolism of Darkness and Light in a Well-Lit Area by Ernest Hemingway
• The Important Locations in Ernest Hemingway’s the Sun Also Rises
• The ‘Failed Artist’ Theme of Ernest Hemingway’s Short Story “The Snows of Kilimanjaro.”
• Weaknesses That Wealth Produces According to Ernest Hemingway’s Stories
• The Writing Style of American Novelist and Short-Story Writer Ernest Hemingway
• The Issue of Abortion in Ernest Hemingway’s Short Story “Hills Like White Elephants.”
• The War Bird’s Role in Ernest Hemingway is the Old Man and the Sea
• The Understanding of Humanity in Ernest Hemingway’s Short Story a Clean Well-Lit Place
• Ernest Hemingway is the Old Man and the Sea Is an Example of the Iceberg Principle in Action
• The Title, Importance of Time, and Cyclical Theme of Ernest Hemingway’s the Sun Also Rises
• The Themes of Racism and Jealousy in Ernest Hemingway’s the Sun Also Rises
• The Difficulties of Returning from War as Depicted in Soldiers Home and Speaking of Courage by Ernest Hemingway and Tim O’Brien, Respectively
• The Theme of Despair and Insomnia in Ernest Hemingway’s Short Story “A Clean, Well-Lit Place.”
• Human and Natural Conflicts in Ernest Hemingway’s the Old Man and the Sea
• The Time of the American Expats and the ‘Lost Generation’ in Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises”
• The Hidden Meanings in Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”
• Conflicts both Inside and Outside of Santiago Hemingway’s the Old Man and the Sea, the Protagonist Is a Fisherman.
• In “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “A Farewell to Arms,” Ernest Hemingway Wrote About Strong Women.
• The Murder of Francis Macomber in Ernest Hemingway’s the Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber
• The Perspective of Existential Despair in Ernest Hemingway’s Short Story a Clean, Well-Lit Place
• The Application of Male Perspective to Illustrate Ernest Hemingway’s Narrative Thought
• The Similarities and Dissimilarities between the Lost Generation Authors Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner
• The Short Story the Story of Old Age and Loneliness in a Clean, Well-Lit Place by Ernest Hemingway
• The Significant Role of the Character George Hemingway’s “Cat in the Rain.”

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Hemingway App Honest Review | The Online Editor That Checks Your Style

Santiago mallea.

• Best Apps And Tools , Reviews , Writing Tips

Chief of Content At Gradehacker

You can see our Hemingway App review in our YouTube video!

As a college student, relying on a writing app is one of the best ways to avoid easy-to-miss mistakes and see which styling improvements you can make. Because sometimes, your text may be flawless in grammar, but it may also be full of lengthy sentences and other common errors . You are looking for an app that focuses on your message, and here is where Hemingway App comes in.

Currently, there are many writing editing tools you can use. We have already reviewed some of them, like Grammarly and ProWritingAid , two solid yet different options. But if styling is what you are mainly looking for, maybe they are not the best alternatives.

So, you want to learn everything you can about Hemingway.

What does the app revise? How trustworthy are their suggestions? How much does it cost? 

You need answers to these questions, and you have found them.

Here at Gradehacker, we are the non-traditional student’s most trusted resource. We know that having a reliable editing tool can significantly improve how you write.

That’s why today we are taking an extra step and giving you an in-depth Hemingway App honest review.

Now, in case you are not certain what a writing app is, here are the basics:

What is the Hemingway App?

The Hemingway Editor is a writing tool that aims to improve your writing skills by making your texts bolder and more precise . Besides checking grammatical errors, the app reviews your writing style and gives you simpler alternatives to improve all your complex sentences.

In other words, it’s a style editor that, instead of focusing on your prose, focuses on your message.

There are two ways you can use Hemingway App:

• With their Desktop Version
• With their Online Version

Both versions have the same editing features and tools, and thanks to all of its features, the Hemingway App can be a powerful tool for students who want to have smooth writing without any grammar errors.

So how does it work? Well, let’s start with our review.

Interface and User Experience

The Hemingway Editor is as simple and direct as it can be.

It has two modes : Writing and Editing.

By default, you’ll be in the Edit Mode when you first access their site . You are welcomed by a short text, which is the perfect example of how the app works. With its blue, purple, green, and yellow highlights, you’ll find the different styles and grammar suggestions you get.

On your right, you’ll find a concise dashboard with the main statistics of your text. It gives a score to your writing piece and summarizes the key elements and suggestions you see in your text’s body.

But if you want to focus only on your writing first, you can use the Write Mode . This way, all the editing tools will fade out, turning the app design into a distraction-free space. Once you think you are ready to start editing, just click on the Edit button, and you’ll go back to the app editor.

Editing Tools

So, Hemingway is easy to use, but what does it do? What elements of your text will be revised and reviewed?

Readability Grade Levels

The first factor Hemingway defines is the readability grade . This stat proves how understandable your writing is , and which grade level is required to understand it. In other words, the app judges the “grade level” of your content.

Far from determining your audience, it’s a great way to show you how hard or easy it is to understand what you are writing.

Now, if you run your text and see that your readability says it is for 6th-grade level students, does that mean it’s bad?

Well, no! The lower your readability score is, the easier it is to understand it. 

Actually, they assure that the reading level from Ernest Hemingway’s works is for 5th-grade level students. And he didn’t write for children.

So, if you get a 15th-grade level score, you should consider your text as confusing and hard to follow and may need a few changes here and there if you want to improve it. To lower it, you can follow Hemingway’s highlights: a yellow sentence means it is hard to read, and you might have to change it, but if you see a red highlight , then you should definitely modify it.

Unfortunately, Hemingway only highlights long sentences and doesn’t give you any suggestions on how you can improve them . Generally, splitting one sentence into two works, but you can also try adding connectors or directly removing words.

If you ask yourself which score you should aim for, keep in mind that the average American adult has a 10th-grade reading level , so you can aim for that readability stat as a solid target.

Another element that this app identifies is adverbs. 

Using these modified verbs (like “slowly, quickly, efficiently”) is one of the most unrecommended writing tips. Instead, teachers and experts suggest that you should use other verbs that carry the same meaning without recurring to adverbs.

And Hemingway agrees. That’s why every time you see blue highlights , it is the app identifying an adverb that you should remove. But again, there is no editing tip on how to replace it.

Words That Can Be Simpler

One of the most common mistakes when writing is using fancy or complicated words that sound more educated. This is the case for words like “utilizing” or “objective.” Avoid them, and go for a more straightforward choice, like “use” and “goal.”

While you may feel that these educated words add a sense of formality to your text, the truth is that by the end of the day, you should always prioritize that your message is easy to understand . That’s why Hemingway’s writing software shows a purple highlight every time they recognize an alternative for a complicated word with a more common synonym.

The good news is that they suggest which word you should replace it with in this case.

Passive Voice

Another common recommendation from writing experts is to avoid passive voice and always use active voice instead. A passive voice can deflate your writing and add unnecessary complexity to your sentence structure.

We know that sometimes using passive voice is too tempting, as it can be easy to use at first. But implementing an active voice makes your sentence clearer and makes it sound more stylish and straightforward.

As Hemingway aims to improve your writing skills, it will show you green highlights every time you use passive voice.

Even though they don’t directly suggest how you can replace it , at least they recognize that sometimes it is not wrong to use passive voice. According to the length of your paper, they give you a limit of passive voices you can write, so you don’t overuse them.

The Problem With Hemingway's Editing Tools

We must say there is one shared common problem in all of these editing tools. We found that the biggest issue with the Hemingway Editor is that they strictly follow a specific set of writing rules.

By following these parameters, they want to establish what is “good and concise” writing , but this is subjective. If it’s well applied, there is no problem with having a writing style that fails to meet these rules.

Of course, we are not saying that grammar mistakes or complex sentences are acceptable. Still, as long as your sentence is clear and your message is understood, you can use adverbs, long sentences, or passive voice . While you shouldn’t overuse them, sometimes these writing elements can be better than their “correct” alternatives.

And as Hemingway defines its score based on the following of these rules, relying 100% on every correction and suggestion they make might worsen the style of your writing .

Before we jump into our final thoughts, we still haven’t talked about Hemingway’s cost.

As we already mentioned, they have two versions: their online site and their desktop app.

Their online version is 100% free.

You have access to every editing tool, and it’s not even necessary to create an account. Just enter the main site , and you can start writing in the Editor Mode, with all of their editing features available.

But if you want to download their desktop version , you’ll have to pay a one-time fee of $19.99 . If they later add an update, you’ll have it for free.

If you choose to purchase it, besides all of their editing tools, you’ll get to :

• Access without an Internet connection
• Publish directly to WordPress & Medium
• Export directly as HTML
• Markdown for your CMS
• Send the app highlights feedback to colleagues as a PDF

Our Verdict

So, what do we think about Hemingway?

In our opinion, Hemingway is a useful online editor that you should definitely consider using . It flags all your spelling and grammar mistakes and highlights which fragments of your sentences are hard to understand.

They have a wide range of editing tools and identify key writing elements that are common among writers.

Plus, we believe it’s really incredible that all of their features are available for free on their website version. Their $19.99 cost isn’t that expensive either, making it a worthwhile one-time investment if you want to retribute them for their service.

However, as it strictly follows their writing rules, their editing style can be too square, limiting the possibilities of correctly using these “common writing mistakes” like adverbs and passive voice.

We recommend Hemingway as a second or third advisor that gives you a more stylish review of your text but keep in mind that your own point of view and interpretation counts. Follow the suggestions you see to improve your text’s understanding and leave behind the corrections that don’t add that much.

Is the Hemingway App For You?

Now, you may be wondering, is the Hemingway the app for me?

Well, we think it is if you:

• Miss out all your grammar and spelling mistakes and would like to correct them
• Want a free online editor
• Need a more stylish review of your text

If you are a college student who constantly has to write all types of assignments, we think Hemingway is worth the shot.

But remember to always follow your instinct when looking at their corrections. Don’t let the rules of the app limit your own style, but also be open to taking those corrections if you see they truly improve the clarity of your text.

We hope you found this review helpful. If writing is not your strength, you can always count on Gradehacker to help you with your assignments. We help students like you with their essays , classes , and even their entire degrees , so don’t be afraid to ask for help.

And if you are looking for more tips on the best apps and websites for students , check out our related articles:

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Papers of Ernest Hemingway

The  Ernest Hemingway Collection  is the most comprehensive Hemingway archives in the world and essential to anyone pursuing a definitive or in-depth study of Hemingway and his writing. In addition to the author’s  personal papers , the collection includes approximately  11,000 photographs . The Library also houses the personal papers of Hemingway family members, friends, and scholars.

For more information please contact  [email protected] . For more information about Hemingway-related audiovisual materials, please contact  [email protected] .

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Learn more about the  Hemingway collection development policy .

Digitized Materials

A growing number of Hemingway photographs has been digitized and many are available here:  Hemingway media galleries . Learn more about the  Ernest Hemingway audiovisual materials .

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Our digitized collections and finding aids (collection guides) contain some content and descriptions that may be harmful or difficult to view. Learn more.

Score Your GRE Essay

The content in this post applies in 2024 to the new, shorter GRE!

How do I score my GRE essay?

Plenty of students want to improve their GRE analytical writing skills, and the only real way to do so is writing, and writing a lot.

But there is a catch-22 here: how do you improve your writing if you aren’t a good writer? How can you identify places to improve if you don’t know what needs improvement? How can you identify an error if you commit the error? These are all valid concerns, but trust me, you just need to start writing.

But we won’t send you out to sea without a life vest. We now have an essay rubric that breaks down the four aspects of writing that count towards your score—Quality of Ideas, Organization, Writing Style, and Grammar & Usage.

If you don’t know what those are now, you will soon. Each column represents one aspect of writing and each row represents a level from 0 to 6. Each cell of the rubric describes a specific aspect of writing at a specific level.

How to Use the GRE Essay Grading Rubric

After completing the essay, you’ll need to check the four aspects of your writing. Even better, ask a friend to look over the essay and provide you a score. Give each aspect of your essay a score ranging from zero to six.

Total all four scores and find the average. Now you have a sense of your writing score. Round scores up as follows: Round a score of 4.25 to 4.5 and a score of 3.75 to 4.

Of course evaluating your own writing will be hard if you don’t know what to look for, but this is a perfect time to improve and practice. Taking a break between writing your essay and evaluating it will help to give you a more objective eye. Also, reading the essay aloud will help you to hear errors.

If you are unsure about your style, grammar, and usage, plug your essay into the Hemingway App . This is not a perfect piece of software, but it’s better than nothing and will catch a lot of grammar and usage errors.

Quality of Ideas:

• Are the ideas creative, compelling, and relevant?
• Did you use an expected, typical example?
• Did you talk about two sides of the issue or just one?
• Were you attacking the major components of the argument or just the minor ones?
• Were the reasons feasible, believable, and relevant to the topic?

Organization:

• Is there an introduction and conclusion?
• Does the response flow from paragraph to paragraph?
• Are there a lot of structure words to guide the reader, such as “for example,” “first,” or “further”?
• Is it easy to find the main idea of a paragraph and determine what the specific details supporting that idea are?
• Is it easy to understand the development of an idea and how it relates to the passage as a whole?

Writing Style:

• Are there a mix of short sentences and long sentences?
• Are there a variety of sentence structures—simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex?
• Are the same words often repeated or are there a lot of synonyms and rephrasing?
• Are the sentences easy to read?
• Can the reader understand the ideas in a sentence?
• Do readers have to re-read a sentence multiple times to understand it?

Grammar and Usage:

• Are there misspelled words?
• Are the lists and comparisons parallel in structure?
• Are there any subject-verb agreement errors or pronoun-antecedent errors?
• Are there any run-on sentences or sentence fragments?
• Are commas, dashes, and semi-colons used correctly?
• Are there any modification problems—dangling modifiers or ambiguous ones?

Go to the Source

All the information that you see in our rubric is based on information published by ETS. If you need sample essays at different score levels or want to read more about the AWA and how it is graded, I highly recommend reading through An Introduction to the Analytical Writing Section of the GRE .

This is a long document and contains a lot of detail. If you want to see the different scoring level descriptions used to create our rubric, here they are:

• Score Level Descriptions
• GRE Scoring Guide – Analyze an Issue
• GRE Scoring Guide – Analyze an Argument

I recommend taking the time to become familiar with the difference between a “3” essay and a “4” essay. To truly become a better self-grader, or to even become a better grader for someone else, you need to become more familiar with the particular grading requirements of ETS.

If you don’t know a lot of the phrases and questions above, you’ll have a lot of practice and learning to do. But better to do it now, then wait until you have to write a paper in your grad school class.

Most people fired from a job aren’t surprised. They know where they have slacked and why they lost their job. I am sure that you can read your writing and know that there are problems (or that everything is great). I hope the rubric gives you a little more traction for evaluating your writing so that you know what you need to work on to improve.

Note: Some students might wonder why the rubric is for the GRE and GMAT. Both test evaluate essays in the same way, so the rubric will work for either test. 🙂

At UC Santa Cruz, Kevin Rocci began a decade of teaching and tutoring with the Stevenson College Junior Fellow and Writing Assistance programs . He has worked with adults and kids, tutoring the GRE, GMAT, and SAT at Kaplan and teaching English as a Second Language in the JET Programme and at the Intercultural Institute of California . At Magoosh, he expanded beyond teaching, building and managing teams, like Student Help and Content. When he’s not Magooshing, you can find him spinning his toddler in circles. Connect with him on LinkedIn or Twitter .

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More from Magoosh

27 responses to “Score Your GRE Essay”

Thanks for the rubric, Kevin! I think at my current level, I can manage a 5 on the GRE. Trying to push it further to maybe hit that 5.5 (hopefully 6) mark!

Good luck, and keep up the hard work!

Tiny typo, where “their” should be “there:”

“Writing Style:

Are there a mix of short sentences and long sentences? Are their a variety of sentence structures—simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex?”

AHHH! Thanks for letting me know. I’ve fixed it. 🙂

Can you please share a website or link where I could find a pool of AWA topics to practice?

Thanks, Ishani

You don’t need to look anywhere except at the official website! 🙂 https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/argument/pool and https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/issue/pool are your resources.

I need to know Is there any website where it can evaluate my essays on issue and argument tasks?

Hi Praveen,

Yes, I would check out this blog post that will help you with this!

i want to know that from where i can get lots of samples of Issue and Argument essay. And another thing that i’d like to ask that after finishing Magoosh GRE vocabulary flashcards apps from where i should continue to learn words. However, is reading Manhattan GRE books good for both verbal and quantitative section?

Hello! Thank you for a very thorough explanation on GRE AWA scoring and tips!

Just wanted to point out that the link to “An Introduction to the Analytical Writing Section of the GRE” doesn’t work properly; although can be found easily on ETS website 🙂

Glad to hear that the post helps! 😀

And thank you for letting us know about that link not working. I changed the URL, so it should work now! 😀

Dear Chris, Please could you tell me as to how can we get our essays graded.

Hi Shashi! 😀

If you’d like to get your essays graded (but not by us), this post will help with that:

How to Get Your AWA Practice Essays Graded

Hope that helps! 😀

I’d love to download the pdf, but the links don’t seem to be working…?

Hi Cornelia, Can you give it a try again? I just tried it and it worked for me. I am using a Chrome browser on a Mac. Let me know if you are still having trouble. 😀

I have consistently scored 4.0 in the AW section in the past three tests. I want to improve my score and would like to score between 4.5 to 5.0. To let you know haven’t got help from anyone beside Princeton’s GRE practice material or/and GRE AW instructions.

Do you have any special program to assist me?

Congrats on your score of 4.0! That’s admirable and something to be proud of! 😀

If you are looking to push your score to the 5.0 level, you’ll most likely need to work on creating more sophisticated responses and eliminating errors from your writing. You’ll need to do this with lots and lots of practice! 😀 I recommend that you work through the AWA prompts listed on the ETS website. Here are the links:

https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/issue/pool https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/argument/pool

You should spend time learning these prompts and writing essays for these prompts since they might appear on the test. Outline your ideas, work on examples, and practice writing balanced responses to each prompt. From there, you can use this post to evaluate your writing and look for ways to improve. 😀

I hope this helps!

Happy Studying!

Hi Kevin! Thanks for the great tips. Above, you mentioned the Hemmingway App. Do you recommend purchasing this product to help improve my writing for the AWA? The product is $6.99.

I am glad you liked the post! 😀 You probably don’t need to purchase the app. You can use the web version to help you evaluate the writing. But if you think it is a great app and you really like it, you could purchase the desktop version to support the people who built it. 😀

Thanks in advance for your help.

Question: do we have to worry about the difference between the Issue Task questions that ask about “field of inquiry” vs “field of endeavor”? I’m unclear as to what the difference between these are, but I’m wondering whether I should even worry about what the differences are. I appreciate your input.

Hi Clare! Happy to help! 🙂 The difference between those terms are very small. I would not worry too much about the language. Both refer to similar activities—either asking questions or trying to reach a goal. Usually, though, asking the questions, inquiring, is meant to reach some goal. So the difference is slight, and ultimately, won’t affect the essay you write. 😀 I hope that helps.

I took the GRE and met the requirements for the program at my school for verbal and quantitative, but I needed 4 on the writing and I only got a 3.5. I figured the writing part would be the easiest, so I barely prepared for it! The second time I took it I just focused on studying for the writing part. I went through and read the entire pool of questions on the ETS website and timed myself and practiced writing different essays. I was so upset when I got my score back and it was even worse than the first time, I got a 3! Now I’m freaking out. Any advice?

Hi Jane! Thanks for reading! 😀

I am sorry to hear that you are still struggling with the writing section. That’s frustrating, especially if you went through the whole pool of essays! That’s a lot of work you put in. Without seeing your essay, I have to make some assumptions about why you are falling in the 3 range. Either you are not writing enough and not coming up with enough detail, or you are committing a lot stylistic and grammatical errors, or you are not organizing and completing your essay. Does any of this sound like your essays that you wrote on the test?

I think the best thing to do would be to look at the sample essays that ETS provides and study the difference between a 3 essay and a 4, 5, and 6, essay. This will give you a sense of what you need to do in your own writing to boost your scores. Here are links to the sample essays from ETS:

List of AWA Issue Sample Responses LIst of AWA Argument Sample Responses

I hope that this helps! 😀 Happy studying!

Thank you for this wonderful post. I have a question: Does a major difference in the Issue grading and the Argument grading affect the overall score in any way? I find the Argument essay easier and easy to score a 4/5, the issue is not always easy and expecting a 2/3 on average. Is the overall score always the average of the two, irrespective of the score difference?

Happy to help! I am glad to hear that you enjoyed this post. 🙂

According to ETS, your writing score is the average of the scores for your two essays. This is what they say: “The scores given for the two tasks are then averaged for a final reported score.” So two readers graders will read and grade each essay, and then the scores are averaged to give you a Writing Score. 🙂

Does that make sense? Let me know if I can be more clear. 🙂

Thank you. I’d like to incorporate more writing into my daily GRE schedule. Any thoughts on how to do that constructively?

Hi Dan, happy to help! 🙂

First, I definitely recommend working through the Issue and Argument Essay prompts on the ETS website. These are all the possible prompts that you will see on the test, so the more familiar you are with them, the more prepared you will be for the essay part of the test.

–https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/issue/pool –https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/argument/pool

With those in hand, the best way to practice is just start writing. The more timed writing you do, the better your essay will be and the more that you’ll be able to write on test day.

I know that writing an entire essay everyday might be too much to take on, so I recommend simplifying it. I would suggest two times a week writing a complete argument and issue essay, but the rest of the time, shorten your time limit and only write part of the essay. For example, set a timer for 10 minutes and try to brainstorm and then write 2 strong body paragraphs of an issue essay. Or set a timer for 5 minutes and try to outline an essay and write the introduction. In this way, you become familiar with the different prompts and practice timed writing without committing to a full essay.

Lastly, I recommend looking at some of our other articles on the AWA section. There are sample essays and other great tips and strategies that I am sure you will find useful. 🙂

–https://magoosh.com/gre/category/writing/

I hope that his helps! Let me know how it goes. 🙂

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Hemingway Editor

A writing app that brings order to the chaos of your thoughts.

Bottom Line

• Easy to access via browser or desktop app
• Color-coded sentence highlights for text improvements
• Premium AI-generative editing is available
• Good free version
• Browser version doesn't save documents
• Saving files requires paying for desktop apps
• AI rewrites have limited usefulness
• No browser extensions

Ernest Hemingway is known for his simple, direct, and pointed writing style. He was the master of short sentences. Hemingway Editor is a web and desktop app that helps writers focus on what matters and cut the rest. It detangles long sentences and makes the passive voice active. While Hemingway is a writing app , it doesn't compare with the likes of Final Draft or Scrivener , which are apps for storing and organizing your writing, not improving it. Hemingway is more like the writing-improvement app Grammarly . As with Grammarly, you need to be adept at choosing which of Hemingway's suggestions to take and which to ignore. It's a helpful tool if you need specific suggestions for how to improve your writing, and we like that there's a free version, though the paid option gives you a lot more.

How Much Does Hemingway Editor Cost?

Hemingway Editor is free to use, but only in the browser, where it highlights dense sentences and other issues. The Plus plan, which is also a browser-only service, uses AI to suggest rewrites for the kinds of sentences the free version only points out, for $10 per month or $100 per year. This subscription includes 5,000 credits per month. Each credit accounts for one suggested sentence rewrite. Longer content uses more credits, so watch out for that. There's a two-week free trial with up to 200 sentence corrections, which I appreciate.

The desktop app for Mac or Windows costs $19.99. One benefit of the desktop app is that it can publish directly to WordPress or Medium. You also need the app to export the files to HTML or Markdown language or even to a PDF or Microsoft Word file. The desktop app can also save your writing, which the browser versions cannot (more on this in a bit). If you don't need these features, forgo the desktop app. Just paste your writing into a different editor when you finish working in the Hemingway browser app.

Unlike Grammarly, Hemingway does not have browser extensions or a mobile app. The Hemingway web app works on mobile browsers, but it's not optimized for smaller devices. Grammarly charges a lot more for its paid plans, however, starting at $30 per month or $144 per year.

Getting Started With Hemingway Editor

Using Hemingway is straightforward. When you open the editor, you begin with sample text that Hemingway uses to show the app's features. When you're ready to use the app, you overwrite this sample text with your own. 

Hemingway highlights your words and sentences in different colors depending on what it thinks of them. In the desktop app, blue signifies adverbs, and Hemingway advises that fewer is better. Green marks the use of passive voice, while pink marks phrases that could be edited to be simpler. Yellow marks sentences that are hard to read, and brown marks those that are very hard to read. Whether you choose to edit them is up to you.

Hemingway's Readability Score

Your decision affects the readability grade. Hemingway prides itself on its readability level because no other app highlights it quite the same way. Basically, it analyzes the text and decides which US grade level is required to understand it, using a standard called the automated readability index . The idea is to use this information to better tailor your text to your audience. To be clear, if your text has a grade 7 readability level, for example, it doesn't mean you're targeting teens—just that someone needs at least a 7th-grade education to understand your writing.

Readability levels are quite common on WordPress and other similar platforms. Grammarly, for example, also has one. Grammarly's is a more complex score that takes into account the word count and vocabulary used, which the automated readability index does not. Grammarly's scores are more detailed, helping you better adjust your text by shortening sentences or introducing more unique words. 

Microsoft has a similar feature built into some Microsoft 365 apps. By using the Flesch-Kincaid grade level test, Microsoft Word assigns a score to each document after analyzing the sentence length and the average number of syllables per word. The lower the score, the easier it is to read.

Formatting Tools

Hemingway Editor is equipped with various formatting elements. You can bold or italicize text, introduce H1, H2, or H3 headers, add quotes and bullet points, and insert links. If you use the desktop app, you can download the text with all the HTML headings. 

The formatting options are nothing extraordinary, as every text editor outside of Notepad has them. Still, they can be helpful. In fact, the ribbon format from the free Hemingway is more easily accessible than the drop-down menu offered with the Plus version of the service.

Writing and Editing in Hemingway

One of the things I like about Hemingway is that it lets you write your text without interference. The only thing you have to do to push away distractions is choose the Write tab instead of the Edit tab. In the Write tab, you have only your centered text and a floating ribbon at the top with formatting options like bold, H2s, or bullet points. You don't see any highlights in your text while you're writing. 

You can write in the Edit tab, but you see highlighting added to your text as you go, which can be distracting. That said, each writer has their own requirements when it comes to text editors. While some need as little distraction as possible, others prefer to edit as they go. Whatever your writing process, Hemingway Editor can meet your needs.

When it's time to edit, you go to the Edit tab, which introduces the highlights of your text to point out places where you might improve it. To the right are the Readability level, word count, and a tally of all issues Hemingway Editor found with your text. You can hover your mouse over the blue, green, and purple phrases to see what suggestions Hemingway has. If you want, you can even click on the Omit button that pops up to delete the word. You have to deal with the yellow and brown highlights on your own since those involve paring down sentences. The fact that you can instantly get a sense of which areas of your writing you can improve can be helpful.

If you use WordPress or Google Docs a lot, you may find it annoying how the word editor behaves when you apply a header format. After adding an H2, the following line doesn't return to paragraph style automatically. You need to switch back manually.

The platform doesn't support Markdown language, so you can't quickly type in any codes, like double asterisks around a word to make it bold. If you prefer to write in Markdown, it can be a bit annoying to have to use your mouse or keyboard shortcuts to apply basic formatting.

The Hemingway desktop app looks and acts exactly the same as the free browser-based version. You get the same options to switch back and forth between the Writing and Editing modes, get the same formatting ribbon, and so on. The only difference is the desktop app lets you import and export files and save your documents.

Hemingway AI Edits: Hit or Miss?

Hemingway Editor crosses over into the world of artificial intelligence (AI) with the online Plus version. When you pay for the Plus version, Hemingway Editor can suggest corrections to 5,000 sentences per month. 

Hemingway Editor Plus tells you what the problem is when you click on a highlighted sentence. In my case, the following sentence was flagged for being too long and complex: 

While Hemingway is a writing app, it doesn't compare with the likes of Final Draft or Scrivener, which are apps for storing and organizing your writing, not improving it.

The AI editor offered to “fix” the sentence for me. A window shows you the original phrase and the AI suggestion, complete with the readability grade. Hemingway Plus offered this alternative: 

Hemingway is a writing app, but it's not as good as Final Draft or Scrivener. Those apps store and organize your writing, but they don't improve it.

While the rewritten paragraph is perhaps easier to read, it's incorrect. In my original paragraph, I do not say, in any way, that Hemingway is “not as good” as Final Draft or Scrivener. 

Hemingway Plus also uses AI to give you recommendations designed to improve your text’s readability to a target level you choose. Hemingway advises that each highlight be treated as a suggestion rather than a hard and fast rule, and I couldn't agree more.

One thing you have to keep in mind when using Hemingway Plus is that every time you click on a highlighted phrase and select Fix it for me , you use up one of the credits on your account. It doesn't matter whether you accept the change or not. Asking for another suggestion uses another credit.

While some suggestions streamline your ideas, others are subpar and a waste of your time and your credits, as you can see above.

As with any other AI, it comes down to personal preference whether you accept any changes or suggestions. When the issue is some typo or a grammar error, the decision to say "yes" is clear as day. Other times, however, it's more of an issue of flavor. How do you want your text to sound? AI can frequently strip away your personality, style, and voice.

As someone who's been writing for a living for nearly half my life, I've developed a style—every writer does. Seeing the text become completely flat from AI suggestions leaves me conflicted. When asked to improve the paragraph above this one, Hemingway stripped most of my voice from the text. Instead of “As with any other AI, it comes down to personal preference whether you accept any changes or suggestions,” Hemingway suggested I go with, ”When it comes to AI, it's up to you if you want to accept changes or suggestions.” It’s subtle, yet obvious.

Can the text be more readable? Perhaps. Can it be more search-engine friendly? Certainly. Do we really need to bring down the readability level that much? I believe readers are smarter than some software thinks. I believe that the reader's ability to comprehend is greater than some algorithms think it is.

No Save Function in the Web App

One major thing missing from the free and paid versions of the web-based Hemingway Editor is the ability to save documents. Your text is not saved in the cloud or on your device. In the free version, if your browser crashes, you lose all your writing. Refreshing the page also makes your text disappear forever. The Plus version at least remembers what you've written in case of a refresh or browser crash, but you still can't save texts to access them later.

The only way to save a document is to have the $19.99 desktop app installed. This isn't ideal if you choose to subscribe to the service, though, because the desktop app doesn't use AI to help you fix your text.

With Grammarly, all files are saved to your profile so you can easily access them at any time. The fact that you can't organize the files in any way is a different matter altogether and one of my gripes with Grammarly. 

If You Like It, Get the Paid Version

The subscription-based AI-led Plus version of Hemingway Editor is far better than the free version, thanks to its comprehensive suggestions. The free version is still useful because it points out areas of text you can fix on your own, but having extra help from AI can teach you a trick or two and save you some time. Hemingway Plus can be extremely useful to certain types of writers, from students who are still refining their style, to writers who tend to overcomplicate their paragraphs, to non-native speakers. While the desktop app adds the ability to save files, it misses out on AI suggestions, which are Hemingway Editor's biggest attraction. As long as you can exercise some judgment over which suggestions to accept and which ones to reject, Hemingway Editor is helpful tool.

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About Gabriela Vatu

I have been a writer since 2006 when I covered various domains for local publications. In 2012, I started covering technology broadly and I've written thousands of articles since then. I've written social media and cybersecurity news, software and hardware reviews, streaming guides, how-tos, tech deals, and more. I have bylines in numerous publications, including MakeUseOf, Pocket-Lint, Android Police, How to Geek, XDA, Softpedia, as well as here at PCMag. When I'm not working, I like to spend time with my family, read, game, paint, listen to music, and run around after our many pets asking what it is they're chewing on this time.

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Teachers are using AI to grade essays. But some experts are raising ethical concerns

W hen Diane Gayeski, a professor of strategic communications at Ithaca College, receives an essay from one of her students, she runs part of it through ChatGPT, asking the AI tool to critique and suggest how to improve the work.

“The best way to look at AI for grading is as a teaching assistant or research assistant who might do a first pass … and it does a pretty good job at that,” she told CNN.

She shows her students the feedback from ChatGPT and how the tool rewrote their essay. “I’ll share what I think about their intro, too, and we’ll talk about it,” she said.

Gayeski requires her class of 15 students to do the same: run their draft through ChatGPT to see where they can make improvements.

The emergence of AI is reshaping education, presenting real benefits, such as automating some tasks to free up time for more personalized instruction, but also some big hazards, from issues around accuracy and plagiarism to maintaining integrity.

Both teachers and students are using the new technology. A report by strategy consultant firm Tyton Partners, sponsored by plagiarism detection platform Turnitin, found half of college students used AI tools in Fall 2023. Meanwhile, while fewer faculty members used AI, the percentage grew to 22% of faculty members in the fall of 2023, up from 9% in spring 2023.

Teachers are turning to AI tools and platforms — such as ChatGPT, Writable, Grammarly and EssayGrader — to assist with grading papers, writing feedback, developing lesson plans and creating assignments. They’re also using the burgeoning tools to create quizzes, polls, videos and interactives to up the ante” for what’s expected in the classroom.

Students, on the other hand, are leaning on tools such as ChatGPT and Microsoft CoPilot — which is built into Word, PowerPoint and other products.

But while some schools have formed policies on how students can or can’t use AI for schoolwork, many do not have guidelines for teachers. The practice of using AI for writing feedback or grading assignments also raises ethical considerations. And parents and students who are already spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on tuition may wonder if an endless feedback loop of AI-generated and AI-graded content in college is worth the time and money.

“If teachers use it solely to grade, and the students are using it solely to produce a final product, it’s not going to work,” said Gayeski.

The time and place for AI

How teachers use AI depends on many factors, particularly when it comes to grading, according to Dorothy Leidner, a professor of business ethics at the University of Virginia. If the material being tested in a large class is largely declarative knowledge — so there is a clear right and wrong — then a teacher grading using the AI “might be even superior to human grading,” she told CNN.

AI would allow teachers to grade papers faster and more consistently and avoid fatigue or boredoms, she said.

But Leidner noted when it comes to smaller classes or assignments with less definitive answers, grading should remain personalized so teachers can provide more specific feedback and get to know a student’s work, and, therefore, progress over time.

“A teacher should be responsible for grading but can give some responsibility to the AI,” she said.

She suggested teachers use AI to look at certain metrics — such as structure, language use and grammar — and give a numerical score on those figures. But teachers should then grade students’ work themselves when looking for novelty, creativity and depth of insight.

Leslie Layne, who has been teaching ChatGPT best practices in her writing workshop at the University of Lynchburg in Virginia, said she sees the advantages for teachers but also sees drawbacks.

“Using feedback that is not truly from me seems like it is shortchanging that relationship a little,” she said.

She also sees uploading a student’s work to ChatGPT as a “huge ethical consideration” and potentially a breach of their intellectual property. AI tools like ChatGPT use such entries to train their algorithms on everything from patterns of speech to how to make sentences to facts and figures.

Ethics professor Leidner agreed, saying this should particularly be avoided for doctoral dissertations and master’s theses because the student might hope to publish the work.

“It would not be right to upload the material into the AI without making the students aware of this in advance,” she said. “And maybe students should need to provide consent.”

Some teachers are leaning on software called Writable that uses ChatGPT to help grade papers but is “tokenized,” so essays do not include any personal information, and it’s not shared directly with the system.

Teachers upload essays to the platform, which was recently acquired by education company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which then provides suggested feedback for students.

Other educators are using platforms such as  Turnitin  that boast plagiarism detection tools to help teachers identify when assignments are written by ChatGPT and other AI. But these types of detection tools are far from foolproof; OpenAI shut down its own AI-detection tool last year due to what the company called a “low rate of accuracy.”

Setting standards

Some schools are actively working on policies for both teachers and students. Alan Reid, a research associate in the Center for Research and Reform in Education (CRRE) at Johns Hopkins University, said he recently spent time working with K-12 educators who use GPT tools to create end-of-quarter personalized comments on report cards.

But like Layne, he acknowledged the technology’s ability to write insightful feedback remains “limited.”

He currently sits on a committee at his college that’s authoring an AI policy for faculty and staff; discussions are ongoing, not just for how teachers use AI in the classroom but how it’s used by educators in general.

He acknowledges schools are having conversations about using generative AI tools to create things like promotion and tenure files, performance reviews, and job postings.”

Nicolas Frank, an associate professor of philosophy at University of Lynchburg, said universities and professors need to be on the same page when it comes to policies but need to stay cautious .

“There is a lot of danger in making policies about AI at this stage,” he said.

He worries it’s still too early to understand how AI will be integrated into everyday life. He is also concerned that some administrators who don’t teach in classrooms may craft policy that misses nuances of instruction.

“That may create a danger of oversimplifying the problems with AI use in grading and instruction,” he said. “Oversimplification is how bad policy is made.”

To start, he said educators can identify clear abuses of AI and begin policy-making around those.

Leidner, meanwhile, said universities can be very high level with their guidance, such as making transparency a priority — so students have a right to know when AI is being used to grade their work — and identifying what types of information should never be uploaded into an AI or asked of an AI.

But she said universities must also be open to “regularly reevaluating as the technology and uses evolve.”

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