Edit: Proof and Polish
Edit is where proofing lives. It is a dedicated pass over finished prose, separate from drafting in Write. Select an active book, then open Edit on the book path.
Use Edit when the writing is done and you want it checked. The editor itself does not run proofreads. While you draft it gives you live spell check instead, which is described at the end of this page.
Run a proof from Edit
The Proof run card is the top of the page.
- Tick the chapters you want checked. Select all takes the book; Clear starts the selection over.
- Optional: open Proofing settings to choose which kinds of suggestions you want (the Proofreading Categories and Editing Categories tabs). For more detailed suggestions, turn on Picky Mode under Advanced.
- Click Run proof on n chapters for your selection, or Proof whole book to check the whole manuscript.
The run happens on our servers, not in your browser. Progress appears inline, and you can leave the page or close the tab. We notify you when it finishes, and the results are waiting when you come back.
Why the count can be lower than your selection
A run skips chapters it has already checked whose text has not changed since, so nothing is proofed twice for nothing. That is why the button may read Run proof on 3 chapters when you have ticked eighteen: the other fifteen are already done and unedited.
For the same reason, running Proof whole book twice over untouched text shows Results up to date, with a Retry button if you want a genuinely fresh pass. To proof one finished chapter again, use Re-run on its row. Edit a chapter and it becomes eligible again on its own.
Work through the results
Suggestions appear as a list, each one tagged with how serious it is and which chapter it came from. Apply puts the fix into your chapter; Dismiss keeps your original and moves the suggestion to Ignored suggestions in Proofing settings, where you can restore it. Where a suggestion flags something without offering a specific replacement, Apply is unavailable and the fix is yours to make.
A few fixes need the live editor to apply. When that happens you are told so directly and offered Open in editor, which takes you to that chapter at that spot.
The page also links out to Reader Pulse for chapter-by-chapter engagement, and to Version History if you want to see what changed.
Spell check while you write
The editor does not run proofreads. Edit is the only place a proofread happens. What the editor gives you while you draft is Spell check, a toggle in the toolbar that underlines misspelled words as you type, the way your browser does everywhere else. It is on by default and remembered per book.
The difference is worth knowing before you go looking for one in the other:
- Spell check, in the editor: spelling only, live as you type, nothing to start or wait for.
- Proofread, from Edit: grammar, spelling and style, on the chapters you choose up to the whole book, run on our servers so it keeps going after you navigate away.
So: fix a typo where you see it, and run a proofread from Edit when a passage is finished.
Edit vs Write
| Edit | Write |
|---|---|
| Proofing and polish passes | Drafting new prose |
| Chapter selection, up to the whole book | The chapter you have open |
| Runs on our servers, survives leaving the page | Runs while you wait |
New sentences still belong in Write. Come to Edit when you want a structured check.
See also: Proofreading | Version history | Chapter analytics