I’ve been editing my Markdown files with it and wrote about it here: https://andyatkinson.com/blog/2023/05/26/better-writing-vale
Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose
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Re: Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose
#52This looks great! By the way, I can't be the only one using ChatGPT to rewrite docs and messages, right? I regularly tell ChatGPT: "Rewrite the following, don't make it too formal:.." or "rewrite the following optimizing for brevity:..." and it usually spits something out much clearer than my first revision. Sometimes there's just one sentence I was struggling to write clearly and this helps a ton. Really valuable in…
I tried this with mixed results. I’d spend so much time prompting, rerunning it, proofreading, and making minor changes that I wasn’t really coming up with a more efficient workflow. Rewriting the text myself a couple times produces more concise results after.
Playing with ChatGPT certainly felt like more fun at first. It feels like you’re making more progress until you look at the clock and realize you’ve spent 10 minutes messing around in ChatGPT where another 60 seconds of rewriting would have worked fine.
Re: Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose
#53I'm trying to figure out why I instinctively hate this. I think it's probably because the purpose of computer languages is different from human language. It's certainly valuable to have a linter to make sure the code works, and there's probably value in "style" as well for readability. But when you get to human language, I don't know, feels like you have the potential to suck out soul/creativity etc. As in, I imagine…
I think iA Writer does this well. It has a "mark fillers" setting which crosses out cliches, fillers and other things which dilute the sentences. It's just a finger pointing at "you might want to reconsider this", and if it's indeed something I don't want there, I take it out, otherwise leave it in. I strive to write with a very neutral tone, and without any strong words, so it really helps me. You can see the result…
> I strive to write with a very neutral tone, and without any strong words, so it really helps me.
Curious, why? I would think this would make your writing more "boring", which would make it less likely for people to pay attention to.
Re: Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose
#54I'm trying to figure out why I instinctively hate this. I think it's probably because the purpose of computer languages is different from human language. It's certainly valuable to have a linter to make sure the code works, and there's probably value in "style" as well for readability. But when you get to human language, I don't know, feels like you have the potential to suck out soul/creativity etc. As in, I imagine…
This is for when three different people on your marketing team decide to come up with “opensource”, “open source”, and “open-source” respectively when writing whitepapers.
To "yes, and" this, it gets even worse — employees often mess up their own company, technology, and people names. This seems like a useful tool for helping alert writers to potentially embarrassing and/or brand-damaging gaffes.
Re: Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose
#55I'm trying to figure out why I instinctively hate this. I think it's probably because the purpose of computer languages is different from human language. It's certainly valuable to have a linter to make sure the code works, and there's probably value in "style" as well for readability. But when you get to human language, I don't know, feels like you have the potential to suck out soul/creativity etc. As in, I imagine…
Similar reaction here. That said I'd love the idea of a locally hosted https://hemingwayapp.com/ to help with keeping things short and simple ... this linter sadly isn't it.
Re: Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose
#56I'm trying to figure out why I instinctively hate this. I think it's probably because the purpose of computer languages is different from human language. It's certainly valuable to have a linter to make sure the code works, and there's probably value in "style" as well for readability. But when you get to human language, I don't know, feels like you have the potential to suck out soul/creativity etc. As in, I imagine…
(human) Copy editors have long been part of the professional writing field, though. It's not like applying rules to writing is something new. Yes, "genius" writers can and do break the rules, but 99% of writers aren't them.
One thing is a human editor with taste and understanding of the text. Another very different is a dumb LLM.
Re: Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose
#57But what is it? Is this like Grammarly? Maybe LanguageTool? I paged through most of the docs and I’m still not entirely sure what this does or why I might want to use it.
It needs a better landing page
Definitely. Though they apparently weren't very happy with someone bringing it up: https://github.com/errata-ai/vale.sh/issues/46
Re: Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose
#58Related. Others?
Vale.sh: open-source linter for prose - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31782688 - June 2022 (3 comments)
Vale: A syntax-aware linter for prose - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30479010 - Feb 2022 (1 comment)
Re: Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
It needs a better landing page
Definitely. Though they apparently weren't very happy with someone bringing it up: https://github.com/errata-ai/vale.sh/issues/46
The wording of that issue could come across as overly aggressive. The submitter should test it with a linter.
Re: Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose
#60I'm trying to figure out why I instinctively hate this. I think it's probably because the purpose of computer languages is different from human language. It's certainly valuable to have a linter to make sure the code works, and there's probably value in "style" as well for readability. But when you get to human language, I don't know, feels like you have the potential to suck out soul/creativity etc. As in, I imagine…
Having used it myself, though maybe not the usual way, I have a feeling you might like it more with a bit of context. If you take a huge rule set, like Microsoft’s style for example, it can definitely have the effect you’re talking about. That’s what I love about vale though. It makes it very easy to build up rules for my own projects, import ones we care about, and not run anything else. I work on a number of API and programming language standards where specific “words of power” are used, and must be used, to have specific effects. Being able to write rules for common mistakes with these has helped me many times. Having one for weasel words I can run on my papers, or those of my graduate students, can save a good deal of time. It’s the flexibility to make it fit my needs/wants on each thing that make it so useful. To the point about poetry, I haven’t tried it, but it wouldn’t shock me if you could make some rules useful to certain styles of rhyming or verse to help catch technical mistakes.