Ernest Hemingway was known as a writer who didn’t mince words. The new Hemingway (web and desktop) app was designed to help you find your inner Ernest. So, it’s something of a cross between a spelling and grammar check app and a style guide, if Hemingway wrote it. That, at least, is the idea.
According to the app, writing that scores “Grade 10 or below is bold and clear.” However, Ian Crouch at the New Yorker tried running a few well known Hemingway passages through it. He found that Ernest Hemingway fell short of being “bold and clear”. What they have, apparently, ended up with is an app that will make your writing more Hemingway than Hemingway.
Regardless of the intent, it is a fun little app that also provides a word count, hilights common errors and can make some suggestions on simplifying your writing. The web app is free and if you want a fully functional desktop version, it’ll cost $5. Play with it at hemingwayapp.com.
Via Open Culture