A new computer tool for writers and readers

Today's writing takes place on word processors, or, more precisely, on personal computers using word processing software. This environment offers opportunities to think anew about the way in which writing is done and the ways in which it can be enhanced. One recently discovered data structure for representing text is the PAT array. The paper describes a tool based on the structure and how the it might evolve into a standard feature of word processing packages, taking its place with the spelling checker and thesaurus as a tool for writers and readers. We show how writers might index, summarise and analyse their texts for evidence of cliches, repetition, and over-used phrases; or evaluate the proportion of content language to the issues of the message.<
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