Would Margaret Atwood Pass the Test of Grammarly?

Why you should never use ‘Tools’ to test creative writing

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood from Pexels

Ernst Hemingway used to be my only favourite author, one of the prominent reasons for it being the simple language he used, simple yet very effective. Another reason being the limited circle of authors whom I was comfortable reading. Over the years, I expanded my circle, now it includes the likes of Margaret Atwood, Leo Tolstoy, Ayn Rand and more.

When I read Atwood, I think I can see around me what she saw when she would have penned it down.

“We slept in what had once been the gymnasium. The floor was of varnished wood, with stripes and circles painted on it, for the games that were formerly played there, the hoops for the basketball nets were still in place, though the nets were gone. A balcony ran around the room, for spectators, and I thought I could smell, faintly like an afterimage, the pungent smell of sweat, shot through with the sweet taint of chewing gum and perfume from the watching girls, felt-skirted as I knew from pictures, later in mini-skirts, then pants, then in one earring, spiky green-streaked hair.”
Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale

This is the starting passage of the novel. This is enough for someone like me to sit through the rest of the novel, while the visuals…