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Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose

vale.sh

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Re: Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose

#61

Post by alpaca128 »

jasonjmcghee wrote: post #9

As there's a theme in comments here - I'm surprised people are so confused by the landing page. Between "a linter for prose" and the screenshot at the top of the page, I found it quite clear what the use case and point of the tool was. Personally interested where the confusion is- maybe unfamiliarity with "linting" or "prose"?

> Personally interested where the confusion is

There is no clear explanation of what it actually is, just a vague sentence saying "brings your editorial style guide to life" which can mean a lot of things. And the screenshot is a wall of text in the smallest font size across the entire page (even smaller than the labels of the logos that make up 50% of the area), so if it was intended as carrier of important information it wasn't the right choice.

The HN post title says more in four words than the entire landing page.

Re: Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose

#63

Post by Swizec »

ggoo wrote: post #53
bayindirh wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> I would think this would make your writing more "boring“

As a fellow iA Writer enthusiast – it makes your writing less boring because it nudges you to get rid of filler.

for example: “Usually you can just remove some words that iA Writer suggests are filler and your sentence improves so much” —> “You can remove words that iA Writer suggests are filler and your sentence improves”

Re: Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose

#64

Post by armchairhacker »

This seems like a tool I'll be using, and this is an almost meaningless criticism, but why the name?

There's already the Vale programming language (https://vale.dev/), but moreover, I don't get the meaning of "vale". You could call it something like "Englint" which actually hints its purpose.

Re: Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose

#65

Post by bayindirh »

ggoo wrote: post #53
bayindirh wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

First of all, why not give that blog a go, and share your opinions of it here or via e-mail, if you prefer?

Now, on to your question.

I don't believe words have to be strong or provocative or divisive to be true. Life is not black and white, neither my choice of words. Also, I practice zen in my daily life, so my writing is both a reflection of my inner state and the state I aspire to be in, at the same time.

Yes, as a human being, I want my blog to be read, and get some feedback occasionally, but at the end, it's a blog for myself. An instrument for taking note of my life and my journey on this pale blue dot.

Re: Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose

#66

Post by jskherman »

xwowsersx wrote: post #23

This 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 got introduced to https://goblin.tools on the Fediverse and found it handy ever since for some of the usual things I ask ChatGPT. On it, there's the "Formalizer" for this use case, and "Magic To Do" to help break down tasks (and there's the option to generate time estimates too).

Re: Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose

#67

Post by xwowsersx »

jskherman wrote: post #66
xwowsersx wrote: post #23

This 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 got introduced to https://goblin.tools on the Fediverse and found it handy ever since for some of the usual things I ask ChatGPT. On it, there's the "Formalizer" for this use case, and "Magic To Do" to help break down tasks (and there's the option to generate time estimates too).

Oh neat, thanks for sharing!

Re: Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose

#68

Post by starkparker »

jrm4 wrote: post #39

I'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…

If you use it for all general prose, Vale is terrible for those reasons. So is dogmatic adherence to any style guide.

For docs, technical writing, and other formal content where you have multiple authors and consistency matters, Vale can be a fantastic tool to remind users of situations where rules help maintain standards without needing to dedicate time to editing. It can also be terrible, if it's used to force awkwardness to satisfy rules arbitrarily, especially in something like CI (which is where I see Vale abused most often - never block a docs contribution on a prose style rule violation that has no functional effect on the content, just iterate on the language).

Re: Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose

#69

Post by starkparker »

mooreds wrote: post #30

Have tried to use this a few times but it's a big lift. Like adding unit tests to an existing application, it's a good idea to start small. And vale doesn't make this super easy (at least I couldn't figure out an easy way to do this). If I could wave my wand, I'd want a way to: * apply vale to just the doc I was working on * have a minimal set of rules * add to them over time At $curjob, we have a detailed public lis…

Ironically, perhaps, considering its popularity among technical writers, Vale's documentation is ambiguous in places and difficult to navigate.

Re: Vale.sh – A Linter for Prose

#70

Post by cpeterso »

tomjakubowski wrote: post #49
mgaunard wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Acronyms and abbreviations are different things though.

A not-untypical style (as used by the BBC) is to write initialisms like UUID in all caps, and acronyms like Nasa in title case. Initialisms are pronounced by saying each letter in order. Acronyms are pronounced as if they were words. "ID" is a funny case because it's an ordinary abbreviation, and not really an initialism* or acronym, but it's pronounced just like an initialism. I think I'd prefer it "ID". I would def…

“ID” can mean “identity document”, such as a passport.
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