![]() ![]() Okay, so, we’ve talked a lot about active voice. See how without changing the words I used, active voice cleaned it up and made it shine (no pun intended)? What is Passive Voice? Guests sat at opposite ends, their ornate gowns dripping with extravagant lace. The guests were seated at opposite ends, and they were wearing ornate gowns dripping with extravagant lace.ĪCTIVE: Chandeliers shone above the glossy dining room table. PASSIVE: There were chandeliers shining above the dining room table, which was glossy with polish. Working through an exposition-heavy chunk of any book is hard on its own (and you should absolutely avoid it, active voice or no, but sometimes it happens), and it’s made way harder by dull, indirect prose.ĭescription also sparkles when set in active voice. Description… usuallyĪctive voice becomes especially important when it comes to description and exposition. Some situations call for passive voice, and we’ll talk about those later, but it’s safe to say that generally, you need a real good reason to make your sentences weaker. ![]() So it follows that your book’s narrative voice should also be active. NarrationĪs I mentioned earlier, you’ll want to mostly rely on active voice when you write anything, ever. Robin ducked, sticking his leg out to sweep Christopher’s legs. ![]() There was sweat on his forehead from the effort.ĪCTIVE: Christopher hit Robin in the chest. Robin was trying to dodge the hit, so he went to sweep Christopher’s legs out from underneath him. PASSIVE: Christopher was hitting Robin in the chest. Readers might get confused by an excessively wordy or indirect scene. You’ve got no space to waste in a fight sequence, so it’s especially important that your language is clear. Here’s a few specific places where active voice becomes very important: Fight Scenesįight scenes need to be fast, descriptive, and crisp. Again, I wouldn’t say that snake sentence is incredible groundbreaking, but it’s got a little more style than its passive version. Check out that pop quiz I gave you–do you see how ‘liked to nest’ is a little more flavorful than ‘there were snakes living?’ Neither of them is grammatically incorrect, but one of them is a little stronger.Īctive voice makes you clear up the extra words bogging down your sentences, which means you’ll be able to focus on your word choice and really hone your style. When should we use active voice?Īctive voice is stronger, it’s clearer, and it forces you to look for a verb to drive your action. ![]() We’ll talk more about how to make your passive sentences active in a minute. There were snakes living in the riverbank.ĭid you guess the second one? If so, you’re correct! Pop quiz! Which of the below sentences is in active voice? Here’s a little complex sentence for you–here, we have the subject “I” performing the verb “thought.” I thought I could go to the movies, but I didn’t have enough money. Then, notice we have the same setup–Jenny, our subject, performing the verb. Above, we’ve got a dependent clause (nervous about his absence), which sets the scene for our action. We don’t necessarily have to start a sentence with our subject to write in active voice. Nervous about his absence, Jenny called Nick’s cell phone. We also have the object of that action, Anthony, but for active voice, we’re really only worried about our subject performing our verb. Mark, the subject, is performing the verb, which is kick. The above sentence is a straightforward example of active voice. Let me give you a few examples, so you’ve got a clearer idea of what I’m talking about. Learning to write in active voice early on will help you knock your tone and style out of the park, since you won’t be struggling under the weight of extra clauses. Remember when your high school teacher took off five points every time you used a ‘be’ verb? Just me? Well, anyway, there was a pretty good reason for it. When reading active voice, you’re generally avoiding the word ‘be’ (and all its conjugations). It’s generally much clearer, more concise, and direct than passive voice–active voice has direction, drive, and intent. Active voice is when the subject of a sentence does the action described. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |