Has Editing Software Made Modern Writing Too Robotic?

 With apps like Grammarly and ProWritingAid, has "perfect" editing worsened our overall writing quality?

Is Editing Software Good or Bad?

    Editing software has its place in the world. It allows for faster editing for writers and a way for non-writers to edit when they aren't experienced with editing. In essence, it's useful. 

    There are times, however, when using editing software eliminates the human sound of the writer's voice. The writing is too perfect, causing it to sound almost like Artificial Intelligence wrote it. 

    Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't use editing software if you're a blogger, copywriter, or even a fiction writer. But there has to come a time where you consider if you're relying on the software too much and if you're sacrificing your human voice to perfect your posts.

    In the past, I had a horrible habit of always trying to reach a 100% score in ProWritingAid. Sometimes it returns when I'm writing blog posts. (I don't use the software when editing fiction.) Occasionally, I'll reach a very high score while retaining my writing voice, but that's not always the case. In fact, it's usually the opposite. 

Is Formulaic Writing a Good Thing?

    In addition to the editing software, I've also noticed quite a few blog posts that are written with some generic formula in mind. Some of this is SEO-related, so I can't blame the bloggers for writing that way, but other times it seems like writers are attempting to directly copy the style of more successful articles/blogs. 

    Writing in a way that's unnatural to you can actually replace your voice with a distorted version of someone else's. And if you suddenly switch over to a different post or writer for inspiration, your own writing will be all over the place. Worst of all, you might even forget how to write as yourself. Who wants that?

    So how do you retain your voice while using other writers' posts to learn to blog? By learning how they structure their posts, how their sentence length benefits writing flow and tension, and how they start and end sentences/paragraphs. 

    Then, instead of copying the exact words, they're using, choose words that you like. We all have our own preferences, so use yours. Or grab a dictionary and find some fun, unique words that you don't use too often. (Just make sure people will understand them.)

Closing Thoughts,

    Your writing should sound human if you want others to read it. Most people don't like reading something that looks/sounds robotic. 

    Using editing software is a good thing, but make sure it's not draining the human aspects of your writing. 

    Write in your own voice. Yes, some writers are more successful than others. This doesn't mean you should simply copy them since their writing is working and yours isn't. Instead, learn how they build out their posts and fill in the words with your own word choices. After all, people want to hear your voice, not someone else's.

    Lastly, I'm not trash-talking editing software. Those apps are great. Just make sure it's not killing your creativity or dulling your personal writing voice. Again, people want to hear you.