Writing and manuscriptsLesson
How to tighten your prose with Reports
In Write, open Review and then Reports to find passive voice, overused words, and other patterns, then jump to each one in the manuscript so you can rewrite it.
In short
In Write, open Review on the right and click the Reports tab. Click Show and its number on a row such as Passive voice or Overused words, then click the line, and the editor selects those words.
A word you lean on, or a sentence that hides who did the thing, is hard to see in a draft you have already read many times. Reports lists those patterns while you are still in the manuscript, with a count beside each check. Click a line and the editor selects the words, so you can rewrite that spot instead of hunting for it. Read the list before a later pass turns a small habit into a rewrite of the whole chapter.
Read the report#
Open Write
Open your book. In the bar under the header, click Write, next to Layout. The manuscript opens as one continuous column, so the sentences you are checking sit in reading order.
Open Reports
On the right edge, click Review. The panel opens on Comments. In the row of tabs under the Review heading, click Reports.
The panel shows Reading the manuscript… while it works. It then prints the word count and Everything below is worth a look, not a mistake. Each check sits under that line with a count. A count of 0 means that check found nothing.
Open a passive sentence
Find Passive voice and click Show and the number on that row. Each line quotes the words and ends with passive. Click the line. The editor selects that phrase in the manuscript so you can rewrite it in place. This row has no Fix. You change the sentence yourself.
Open overused words
Overused words sits above Passive voice. Click Show and the count, then click the line. The line names the word and how often it appears. The editor selects the first place that word shows up. Click Hide on a row you are finished with, so the next list is the one in view.
Turn on spelling checks
Scroll to More checks. Style, Spelling, and Story start off. Turn on Spelling. When Show and a count appear beside Mixed spellings, click them.
The line names the spelling the book uses most. The row then shows Fix for that one place and All in this chapter for every place of that kind in the chapter. Each of those replaces the odd spelling and is one undo.
Reading the Reports panel#
| In the panel | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Reading the manuscript… | The report is still running. Wait for it to finish before you trust a count. |
| Everything below is worth a look, not a mistake. | The line after the word count. The number is the same word count as the rest of the editor. |
| reading ease and grade | One line per chapter, using that chapter's own title. A very short chapter is left off. |
| Echoes | A distinctive word that shows up again close by, inside the same paragraph. |
| Overused words | A word the manuscript leans on. The line names the word and how often it appears, on the first place it shows up. |
| Adverbs | A word ending in -ly where the verb might already be doing the work. The line asks that question. |
| Passive voice | A form of "to be" followed by a past participle. The line quotes those words. |
| Pacing | A run of sentences that are all about the same length. |
| Sticky sentences | A longer sentence made mostly of small words. |
| Clichés | A stock phrase in the narration. The line quotes the phrase. |
| Dialogue tags | A speech verb other than "said", and only where the line is actually dialogue. |
| Readability | The count on this row stays at 0. The scores are the reading ease lines above the list. |
| Consistency | A name spelled two ways, once the Story Bible has the name. With no names entered, the count stays at 0. |
| Show and Hide | Show and the count opens that row's lines. Hide closes them. |
| More checks | Extra packs. They start off, and turning one on runs the report again. |
| Style | Repeated openings, sentences carried by small words, very long sentences. These rows point at the sentence. They do not offer Fix. |
| Spelling | One spelling per word and per name, in the book's own variety of English. Mixed spellings, Names written another way, and Other side of the Atlantic appear under it once it is on. |
| Story | Words, pacing, dialogue and who appears, chapter by chapter. This pack is a set of chapter numbers, not a list of lines to click. |
| Fix | Replaces the odd spelling in that one place. Shown only on a More checks row that offers a replacement. |
| All in this chapter | Applies that same replacement everywhere it appears in the chapter, as one undo. |
| Underline in the text | Draws a dotted line under the words the report found. On by default. Unchecking it leaves the manuscript as it was. |
| Run again | Reads the manuscript once more. The report also runs again on its own after you edit. |
The status line says the list is worth a look, not a mistake. These checks run while you write. They are not a print check, and a finding does not stop an export.
Turn a check off#
⌘Z (Ctrl+Z on Windows) undoes a rewrite, a Fix, or All in this chapter. Each of those is one step. To turn a check back on, click its box again. Underline in the text only draws a line under the words. Uncheck it and the line goes away. The book is unchanged.
Close review, the button beside the Review heading, hides the panel. It does not change the manuscript. Open Review and Reports again when you want the list back.
For what a reading ease score measures, and what it leaves out, read What a Book Readability Score Actually Measures.
Common questions
Does a finding mean the sentence is wrong?
No. The panel says the list is worth a look, not a mistake. A line names a pattern, such as passive voice or a word you use often. You decide whether that sentence should change.
Can Reports change the words for me?
No. Rows in the main list have no Fix button, so you rewrite those words yourself. Turn on Spelling under More checks and a row that offers a replacement shows Fix and All in this chapter. Each is one undo. An editorial pass, when Copilot offers it under Edit, spends AI credits and changes nothing until you accept an edit.
Will turning a check off change the book?
No. The checkboxes and Underline in the text stay in this browser. They do not change the manuscript, and a co-author on another computer does not see them. Click the box again to turn a check back on.
Why don't I see any overused words?
A short manuscript often leaves that count at 0. The check looks across the whole book, so a brief chapter may not repeat a word often enough to list. Passive voice, Adverbs, and the other rows still report what they find.
Does the reading ease number have to hit a target for KDP?
No. The line under the word count is a reading ease score and a grade for each chapter long enough to measure. KDP does not ask for that number, and a finding here does not block an export.
Try it on your own book
Open a book in SmartKDP and follow the steps above. It takes about 6 minutes.