I’m tired of people mucking up passive voice, so here it is, once and for all:
A passive sentence is one in which the subject receives the action instead of doing it.
Example: The boy was bitten by the dog.
Snooze fest, right? And easy to correct:
The dog bit the boy.
If you are writing a slightly different kind of story: The boy bit the dog.
Easy, right? Passive voice adds extraneous words and weakens a narrative. Do a quick search of your manuscript for the use of “by” (for PCs: CTRL+F to open the search dialogue box and then search for by with one space before it). Try to change your passive sentences to the active voice.
Passive voice makes sense in limited situations. Writing a mystery?
The man was murdered. -- technically a passive sentence, but notice the lack of "by". In a mystery, we wouldn't know who murdered the man.
Some folks tend to say any sentence with a linking verb (forms of be: is, was, were, etc.) is a passive sentence. Not so. I'll address the weakness of linking verbs in the future.
So, just for the record, I'm closing the rant before it gets started.
In html, it would look like this:
rant /rant
In real life it looks like this:
Hey, writer! Yeah, you. You are not your stories. Yes, you've spent time crafting them, cuddling with them, brushing their hair, feeding them, and sending them into the world. But they are not you. They aren't even, really, a part of you, no more than the the u-bend of my toilet is part of my plumber.
I know it's a popular thing to say: each story I write is part of me.
But this is why authors tend to take too much personally. A rejection is not about you. A bad review is not a reflection on you as a person. How you respond (or don't respond) might be, but the review itself isn't.
I've written scores of stories and several short novels. This is the 728th post to my blog. I've even composed some poetry. If every word I wrote was a piece of me, I'd have gone Lord Voldemort years ago and littered the digital landscape with tiny fragments of my soul. Now that would be scary.
Yes, I care about my art--but experience has taught me this: me ≠ my writing. Thank Zeus.
If I was to rant, it might look something like this:
rant Stop pissing on other writers, reviewers, editors, and write. /rant
Have a great day, people.
.jpeg?picon=3626)
I read this with a bit of a red face. This is one of my really big downfalls. My first drafts tend to be LOADED with passive voice. Something I continue to struggle with and work on. No idea why.
No red face needed, Barry. I'm hypersensitive because I've been teaching for twelve years.
Love it! This is why it's ideal to have a teacher beta read your book. Just saying...(Hugs)Indigo
*giggle*
Cant say I see this problem often ... what on earth are you reading?
Indigo - Ha! I'm not much of a line editor, but certain things jump out.
Miss Fletcher - Student papers. Oh man...
You're going to make up for the years of grammar I missed in school, when they put me in advanced classes. We were supposed to learn grammar later, but then the program was cancelled : P
I heart this post so much. Keep them coming.
Hey Aaron,
I just posted a short review on Bottom Feeders. Once again, I enjoyed the book. While my "reviews" are only that of a common reader, I hope that they provide you with encouragement!
Natalie - Advanced is an excuse for me to take a nap around here.
Cate - I will. I will.
Thanks, Keith. I'm glad you enjoyed the read. ;)
I shall print that off for future reference...and where were you 33 years ago when I was taking Jr. High english class!