5th
April
2005
Passive Voice
I’m not posting this as an authority, I’m posting it as a fellow traveller on the path to authordom
Lose the passive voice.
What, you may ask, is the “Passive voice?” It’s the voice of “telling not showing.” When Snoopy writes “It was a dark and stormy night,” he’s using the passive voice. It slows down the narration and reduces action. It also uses more words. It’s the use of forms of the verb “to be” — is , was et cetera. Oftentimes, the verb gets hidden in a contraction. So, when someone says “this passage is in the passive voice,” they’re using it too. Look, I did it twice in the same sentence. 
Shake up your sentences by using a stronger, more active role.
posted in Writing tips | 5 Comments
