You write it.
The way you always have.
THE GOOD WRITING APP
You already know when a sentence isn't working.
This shows you why — using the principles from Good Writing by Neal Allen and Anne Lamott.
The app marks what's not landing.
Sentence by sentence, with the principle behind each one.
You revise it.
Your words. Your choices. Nothing gets rewritten.
Click a highlight to see what the app noticed.
She wandered to the end of the pier and out at the water for a long time.
The app highlights and explains. You decide what to change.
It never touches your sentences.
For Every Draft
The Good Writing app will teach you how to be more persuasive and clear. It reads your draft — a Substack post, a memoir chapter, an essay you've been sitting with, a letter that needs to land — using the principles from the book, and marks what's worth another look. Every note explains the craft principle behind it. Nothing gets rewritten. Every choice is yours.
What it notices.
Where the verbs go limp
Your verbs do the heavy lifting in every sentence. The app finds the ones that have gone limp — and points you to the principle in the book that explains why.
The words that sneak in
The filler words and borrowed phrases that sneak in when you're not looking. The kind of thing your ear catches when you read a piece aloud — but can't always put a finger on.
Where the reader drifts
Small-word pileups, vague pronouns, the places where a reader's attention wanders off. The app names what's happening, so you'll catch it yourself next time.
Where the rhythm flattens
Rhythm and length. Openings that stall, middles that bury the point, sentences that wander off and forget where they were going. The same ear you're already training — with a nudge when you need one.
Five principles, free. I have the book — unlock all nineteen.
Prefer to try it on a larger screen later? Send yourself a reminder.
About the book
If Bird by Bird helps you get the first draft down, Good Writing: 36 Ways to Improve Your Sentences helps with the second and third. Picking up where The Elements of Style leaves off, Neal Allen and Anne Lamott offer 36 rules for turning a working sentence into one a reader actually remembers. Some are basic: use strong verbs, cut the boring stuff, twist a cliché. Others take more work, like drawing on all five senses or giving a sentence a real finale. Each rule comes with examples and two essays. Neal writes from his years in journalism and corporate work. Anne writes from the career that produced Bird by Bird and nineteen books since. They don't always agree. Both think any writer can write better sentences by learning a few rules, then learning when to break them.
