Write Good (As Promised)

Naive linter for English prose for developers who can't write good and wanna learn to do other stuff good too. (Now with Promises and ES6 and a few more checks.)

Use

git clone http://github.com/noahlange/write-good-as-promised.git
cd write-good-as-promised
npm install

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

API

writeGood is a function that takes a string and resolves to an array of suggestions.

var writeGood = require('write-good');

writeGood('So the cat was stolen.')
  .then(suggestions => {
    console.log(suggestions);  
  });
  
// [{
//   suggestion: "omit 'So' from the beginning of sentences",
//   index: 0, offset: 2, type: [ 'so' ]
// }, {
//   suggestion: "'was stolen' is passive voice",
//   index: 11, offset: 10, type: [ 'passiveVoice' ]
// }]

writeGood takes an optional second argument that allows you to disable or pass options through to checks.

You can disable checking for passive voice like this:

var writeGood = require('write-good');

writeGood('So the cat was stolen', { passive: false })
  .then(suggestions => {
    console.log(suggestions);
  });
  
// []

Or provide a maximum grade level for the Flesch-Kincaid readibility test:

var writeGood = require('write-good');
var text = 'The Australian platypus is seemingly a hybrid of mammalian and reptilian creatures.';

writeGood(text)
  .then(suggestions => {
    console.log(suggestions);
  });

// []

writeGood(text, { readability: { level: 10 } })
  .then(suggestions => {
    console.log(suggestions);
  });
  
// [{
//    index: 0,
//    offset: 83,
//    reason: ""The Australian platypus is seemingly a hybrid of mammalian and r..." has a Flesch-Kincaid readibility score is 11.265.",
//    type: ['readability']
//  }]

Checks

You can disable any combination of the following by providing a key with value false as the second argument to writeGood.

Check	Description	Package
illusion	Checks for lexical illusions – 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.	-
passive	Checks for passive voice.	passive-voice
weasel	Checks for "weasel words."	weasel-words
adverb	Checks for adverbs that can weaken meaning: really, extremely, etc.	adverb-where
tooWordy	Checks for wordy phrases and unnecessary words	too-wordy
cliches	Checks for common cliches	no-cliches
frankenwords	Checks for 'frankenwords'	frankenword
fleschKincaid	Checks for sentence readability.	wgap-flesch-kincaid
filler	Checks for filler words: like, frankly, just, etc.	fillers
hedge	Checks for hedge words: basically, appears to be, clearly, etc.	hedges
buzzword	Checks for buzzwords: synergy, big data, devops, etc.	buzzwords

See also

The author of the original module came across these resources while doing research to make this module. They might be helpful.

Code

• shell script for avoiding "weasel words" – I based my initial implementation on this
• Academic Writing Check – a perl script similar to above
• writegood mode for emacs
• natural – general purpose NLP toolkit in JavaScript
• WordNet – lexical database of the English language
• LanguageTool – style and grammar checker implemented in Java
• linter-write-good for Atom

Prose

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

Apps

This is not an endorsement. These apps have similar functionality that you may find useful.

• Hemingway App
• Nitpicker

License

MIT