The tale still rises from the depths…

A liturgy for which no one needs to be initiated to the meaning of words and sentences.

Wings of Desire. Wim Wenders

When you’re writing your story, you focus on getting the story down. You may not be thinking about words or syntax, you’re just writing.

But if you’re like me, there’s a placeholder sentence that bugs you. I wake up in the middle of the night, reconstructing the sentence. I won’t go back to sleep until I get up, go to my computer, and fix the sentence. I may do the same with placeholder words. Although I may not be as precise as Marcel Proust and his search for le mot juste—just the right word—I do have words that hold a place while I’m in writing mode.

While grammar checkers like ProWritingAid or AutoCrit may suggest sentence rewrites or word replacements, it’s always up to you, the writer, to ensure those suggestions match what you want to say.

We all have our own levels of editing focus.