Pet Peeve #48 - The Passive Writer
Ah, pet peeve #48. This is probably one of the most prominent things that are drilled into writer’s minds the most.
Don’t write in the passive voice!
This is also the pet peeve I am most guilty of indulging in myself. I think it’s my writing brain’s default button. Anyway, that’s not any excuse for me or for you as a writer.
While passive voice isn’t always the ultimate evil it is often made out to be, it’s a good idea to get yourself out of the habit. It doesn’t have anything to do with grammar; it has to do with style.
What is the passive voice?
The passive voice is when you use the object of an action as the subject of the sentence.
Passive: Why was the fire hydrant peed on by the dog?
Active: Why did the dog pee on the fire hydrant?
It’s not always that easy (or funny) to fix up your passive sentences (and remember – sometimes the passive is better). One thing you can do, though, is to run a find all and replace all the instances of ‘was’ with ‘X’. (Pressing Ctrl and ‘f’ will open the find window.) It will not only find and replace them all, but it will tell you how many replacements it made.
Go through and see how many easy switches you can make first off. Things like “the baby was carried up the stairs” turning into “Jenny carried the baby up the stairs”.
Taking the active voice gives you more authority in your writing. The active voice versus the passive voice is akin to letting your story be told versus telling your story. Stand up and take control of your story. You are the author, right?
Leave a Reply