Startup Idea: Document Comparison and Revision Tracking Software

Startup idea to develop a tool for creative writing teachers and authors that could easily track and compare revisions across different drafts of the same work. This software would enable the users to see the changes in distinct colors, facilitating a quick understanding of the modifications made. It would reduce the manual effort of closely reading each version and will contribute both in teaching and personal writing contexts.

I am a creative writing teacher, and I write fiction on the side as well.

In teaching writing, I taught 9th through 12th graders. All desired to write for fun, but some of the 9th graders came from underprivileged backgrounds while some of the seniors were both gifted and experienced. Also, I had some talented writers who put almost no effort into their assignments, and vice versa. As you can imagine, this made it difficult to grade fairly. I compensated by grading revision very heavily. This was great for the students, but it was extremely boring to scrutinize their first, second and final drafts for differences.

I would like there to be something I can feed two documents into and see the differences between them--a little like Track Changes in Google Docs, but with two separate files. All differences between the two documents would be flagged, maybe by showing up in a different color. This would probably mean that if you did it with two documents that were totally different, the results would be almost indecipherable, but it would be easy to see small changes--changes that would be hard to detect just by reading. The point being, I could easily see the differences in two drafts, such as in my own writing or in student work. This software would help me both personally and professionally. "Revision software" - it was all grammar checkers, etc. I solve it by reading all drafts very carefully.

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