I am always searching for new things to shock me out of slumping into a writing rut.

For three years, I’ve been decrying long sentences, impenetrable paragraphs and bitch-ass mitigating adverbs. This is because I’m primarily a digital copywriter – and the internet lingers for no man.

Last week I stumbled upon Hemingway, an app that allows you to edit out all the crap that gets in the way of a strong message. It tests sentence length, reading difficulty and things like passive voice. It’s not going to turn shit copy into awesome copy, but it’s a great way to look at your writing in a different way.

Changing one word can take writing from meh to MAMA! so I love tricks like this. Running yesterday’s work through Hemingway helps me come at it (bro) from another perspective. It’s total geek love.

I did test this of course: Grade 7 (reading age 12-13) which is spot-on according to WC3 standards.

Go check it.