Writing style checker

A VSCode extension that provides opinionated style checking for the English language. Heavily inspired by the Hemingway editor.

Use it on markdown files that go with code, for example repository READMEs. It will force you to write short, simple sentences in the active voice. You'll end up with documentation that's easier to understand.

It checks for:

• Sentence complexity
• Passive voice
• Complex words
• Adverbs
• Qualifying words
• Conjunctions at the start of sentences

Installation

Install from the VSCode Marketplace.

Style rules

Sentence complexity

Flags sentences that are hard to read, based on a mix of sentence length and average word length (the same idea behind the Automated Readability Index). Longer sentences with longer words score as harder to read.

• Hard sentence: more than 10 words, above the difficulty threshold. Shorten it or split it into two sentences.
• Very hard sentence: at least 15 words, well above the difficulty threshold. These are the sentences most likely to lose a reader.

Passive voice

Flags passive constructions such as "the file was deleted" instead of "I deleted the file". Passive voice hides who's doing the action and usually reads as vaguer and wordier than active voice.

Complex words

Flags long or formal words and phrases (like "utilize", "in order to" or "at this time") that have a shorter, plainer equivalent. Each one comes with a suggested replacement, like "use" or "to". Use the quick fix (💡) on a complex word to replace it with a suggestion automatically.

Adverbs

Flags adverbs (like "actually", "definitely" or "instinctively"). An adverb is often a sign that the verb it's modifying isn't doing enough work on its own. Replacing "moved quickly" with "hurried" is usually stronger writing.

Qualifying words

Flags hedging words and phrases (like "maybe", "perhaps" or "I think") that weaken a statement. If something is true, say it plainly instead of softening it.

Conjunctions at the start of sentences

Flags sentences that start with a conjunction (like "and", "but" or "because"). Starting a sentence this way is a common sign that it should be joined to the sentence before it, or restructured.

Settings

Every rule can be turned off individually in your VS Code settings, under the writingStyleChecker namespace:

Developing the extension

Pull requests are very welcome. Please include unit tests for any new features.

You can run the test suite at the command line:

npm test

Since this is a VSCode extension you can also run the tests with the built in debugger.

Go to 'Run and Debug' (⇧⌘D), select 'Extension Tests', set a breakpoint and press F5 to start the debugger.