WriteSharp

Naive linter for English prose and a spell checker for developers who can't write good and wanna learn to do other stuff good too.

Important: Do not use this tool to be a jerk to other people about their writing.

API

using WriteSharp;

var writeSharp = new WriteSharp();

var suggestion = writeSharp.Check("Remarkably few developers write well.");

// suggestions:
//
// [{
//   Reason = "Remarkably" can weaken meaning and is a weasel word,
//   Index = 0,
//   Offset = 10
//
// },{
//   Reason = "few" is a weasel word,
//   Index = 11,
//   Offset = 3
// }]

WriteSharp.Checks takes an optional second argument that allows you to disable certain checks.

You can disable checking for passive voice like this:

using WriteSharp;

var writeSharp = new WriteSharp();

var suggestion = writeSharp.Check("So the cat was stolen.", new WriteSharpOptions() { PassiveVoice = false });
// suggestions: []

You can also pass WriteSharpOption in WriteSharp constructor, this will overwrite the default options.

using WriteSharp;

var writeSharpOptions = new WriteSharpOptions()
        {
            WeaselWords = false,
            AdverbWhere = false
        };

var writeSharp = new WriteSharp(writeSharpOptions);

var suggestion = writeSharp.Check("Remarkably few developers write well.");

// suggestions: []

You can use the WriteSharpOptions WhiteList property to pass in a list of strings to whitelist from suggestions. For example, normally only would be picked up as a bad word to use, but you might want to exempt read-only from that:

using WriteSharp;

var writeSharp = new WriteSharp();

var suggestion = writeSharp.Check("Never write read-only sentences.");
// suggestions:
//
// [{
//   Reason = ""only" can weaken meaning",
//   Index = 16,
//   Offset = 4
//
// }]

var filtered = writeSharp.Check("Never write read-only sentences.",
            new WriteSharpOptions() { WhiteList = { "read-only" } });
// filtered: []

CLI

You can use WriteSharp as a command-line tool

ws "Remarkably few developers write well."
Reason = "Remarkably" can weaken meaning and is a weasel word, Index = 0, Offset = 10
Reason = "few" is a weasel word, Index = 11, Offset = 3

You can run just specific checks like this:

ws "Remarkably few developers write well." --checks=weasel,so

Or exclude checks like this:

ws "Remarkably few developers write well." --no-checks=weasel,so

Checks

You can disable or enable any combination of the following checks

passive

Checks for passive voice.

duplicates

Checks for duplicates – cases where a word is repeated.

so

Checks for so at the beginning of the sentence.

thereIs

Checks for there is or there are at the beginning of the sentence.

weasel

Checks for "weasel words."

adverb

Checks for adverbs that can weaken meaning: really, very, extremely, etc.

tooWordy

Checks for wordy phrases and unnecessary words.

cliches

Checks for common cliches.

eprime

Checks for "to-be" verbs. Disabled by default

Prose

• Elements of Style
• Flesch–Kincaid readability
• Fear and Loathing of the English passive
• Words to Avoid in Educational Writing

License

MIT