Picture this, we were all huddled around our usual table gathered for writing group. Some days we actually write, some days we just catch up on the latest round of fuckery. Both are fine with me, but one of the ladies suggested we check out a new software called Ellipsus.
I internally sighed because I didn’t need to check out another writing software, but my curiosity always wins. Either way, I did a bit of a deep dive and then I tabled it because I was on a break.
Then a few days later, I said, actually, let me try it out.
Initially, the vibes were fine. I love being able to select different colors so I’m already impressed when pink is an option. It is supposed to replace my use of Google Docs because I’m just so tired of Google and their constant nonsense—seriously, I delete things and then its like they find something else to take up my storage. Don’t even get me started with the AI stuff, but Ellipsus is supposed to be my replacement and so far, I love it because its doing exactly what I need it do: Replace Google Docs.
That all changed when they released their Premium features. Yes, I know, boo paying more for features they could’ve included for free, but that’s what happens. A company needs their money from somewhere.
I signed up for the free trial with zero intention to get the premium yet because I just wasn’t in that stage of my process for May is Due South (MEET MY WIPS POST LINK). If you want to learn more about my process, do that here (PROCESS POST HERE). But I plugged my entire manuscript in and thought—okay yeah, these insights are great for the price ($99 all in pricing-lifetime use and updates) AND THEY DON’T USE A.I. They also let you customize your theme, similar to Scrivener, and save them. But my favorite feature was their insights—I am editing this from the future, where I have let my trial expire, but I WILL be paying for premium soon.
Here are the insights I believe will be most helpful for me, but you’re gonna have to get Ellipsus premium to figure out, what other ones they have and which would be better for you:
Sentence opener: It shows what parts of speech each sentence starts with… I could’ve guess pronoun was my top one, but I’m glad ‘Other’ is higher up. At some point, I forgot that I was starting every sentence with a pronoun in a certain draft of Churchbred. My beta readers knew and definitely told me.
Passive voice: I struggled with passive voice when I wrote my first few books, including Churchbred, so this number is actually not that bad. Id consider it a win if i made it less than five percent. I’d aim for zero, but I’m not that optimistic.
Adverbs screenshot—605 really ain’t that bad. I didn’t expect a lot more because I tend to despise adverbs so I will be hunting most of these words down.
My favorite one—WORD ECHOES: This is something I search for on my own if I remember, but I love that this is an option.
There are more insights like text complexity, vocabulary density, dialogue balance, and punctuation habits to name a few, but these were my major offenses that I’ve come to hunt in my own writing.
I even think there are even additional features that you should check out. Give Ellipsus a try, report back and let me know if you get the premium. It feels like one of those things that will go up in price. I will obviously be reporting back when I get premium (again) and will update with my favorite features, if applicable.
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