Unfortunately, I use Google Docs every day. As a pretty prolific writer, both for Aftermath and for my upcoming novel Level Up For Romance! from Mira Books coming in 2027, and I have become accustomed to a certain level of jank from this app. But what’s gotten incredibly frustrating as of late is the quality of its grammar corrections.
I don’t really need Google Docs to correct my grammar, because everything I write goes through an editor before it’s published. Riley is the person I rely on to unfuck my use of the possessive, something that I can never get right. [Editor’s note: You’re not wrong with the possessive, Aftermath just doesn’t use double “s.”] I get that the grammar feature is intended perhaps for non-professional writers, but I fear that it would be of little use to them, because it is frequently, blatantly wrong. Check out this example of the grammar suggestion, indicated by the blue squiggle, asking me to replace a very real and normal word with one that is made up.
Not every example is so egregious, but they are distracting and plentiful. Sometimes the grammar suggestion would make the sentence less readable. Sometimes it would change the meaning of the sentence wholesale. Sometimes, more irritatingly, these suggestions would change the tone or tenor of a sentence, which isn’t something I need advice on from a fucking robot.
I’m not the only person who has experienced this problem. YouTuber Sarah Z has also posted a screenshot to BlueSky of the Google Docs grammar suggestion trying to get her to change one completely grammatical and appropriate word to another, less dynamic word.
Sarah Z
I have now, finally, turned this stupid piece of shit off (go to tools, then spelling and grammar, and then uncheck grammar suggestions). I’m going to get my grammar checked the old-fashioned way: making Riley do it.
