I LOVE that you let us be the home for laying out your case, Kathleen. This was one of my fave posts in 2021!

Hi Lisa!
Thank you for your comment.
I'm happy it alleviated some of your frustration. I understand.This issue has plagued myself and other writers for far too long and I needed a forum to make my case. Fortunately, Writers in the Storm allowed me to lay it out.
Go forth and use was as needed. LOL!

Awwwh, Thank you. Now, if I could only get that darn puppy to stop chewing up my papers. LOL
I loved your post on the perils of AI grammar checkers.

Kathleen, I'm not any kind of professional editor, just a fellow writer who has a certain degree of craft and grammar skill. My large group shares their work for feedback on a regular basis. As for my aversion to first person present tense, I find it exhausting in longer pieces--maybe it's the immediacy of the present tense, because I do read a lot of first person. The combination sets up some kind of constant tension in me. Perhaps younger readers LOVE that aspect of it. They can put themselves right in the character's shoes. For some reason, my humorous flash fiction piece about a speed dater called out for first/present, and my crit group loved it. I guess I pulled it off.

Beautiful examples, Virginia! Thank you.

Perhaps we will be fortunate and the programmers of the AI online grammar tools will read your comments and the post. Wouldn't that be lovely?

We were taught that "passive voice" is when the subject of the sentence was the recipient of the action. "The ball was hit by John" instead of "John hit the ball". Passive voice often makes for awkward sentences, but sometimes the reverse is true.

"Be" is not passive. (If you doubt that, consider how many actions are going on in your body while you are simply being.)

Yes, you could write "Her beauty took my breath away", which is stronger than "she was beautiful", but the latter is not passive and no amount of insistence by an AI can make it passive.

Perhaps those who designed the AIs either didn't understand the subtleties of language or used the wrong definitions of "active" and "passive". Verbs are neither athletes nor couch potatoes.

Good Morning C.K.!
I'm glad the post resonated with you. Very sorry to hear you have been the victim of a mindless AI WAS-wipe. My condolences. Your example is perfectly fine. There is no other way to say your example sentence sensibly.

You are the very reason I wrote this post. It is so frustrating that AI and many editors and writers mix up PAST tense with PASSIVE voice. Be of good cheer. You are now armed with the know-how to say no thank you to AI grammar checker's incorrect suggestions and move forward in confidence. I have to do it all the time.

And as for unnecessary words, AI will often flag me for the same thing on passages that end up being the lines my readers quote as favorites or highlight as keepers.

Confidence, C.K.! When you know it's right and the way you want it--have confidence!

Arguing with AI grammar checkers is futile. My friend Lisa Norman wrote a brilliant article here at WITS on why AI grammar checkers cannot replace living breathing thinking editors. I think you will like it. https://writersinthestormblog.com/2021/09/5-reasons-tech-cant-replace-editors/