Comments about passive voice

I JUST WENT BACK to check on a blog entry, and I found four comments on the post about passive voice. I rarely get four comments on a post, so this was noteworthy.

And their responses were pretty good. Thank you all.

4 comments:

Kimberly Michalski said...

Good advice, Tom. I think Hope posted comments in your group about pet peeve words. After I read the post, I went through my stuff and found gobs of "was['s]"! I learned more about writing than I have in a long time. Every day, I write better. How did I miss such a big thing??

April 8, 2009 12:34 PM

Janie Pendleton's Novels said...

This covers my bad habit. I do use my computer settings for word more appropriately now, and find words and sentence structures that better fit my story-line. I love the 'active voice' thought. It will really help my sentence structure as well.OOPS! Did I use 'sentence structure three times here? I know how Tom hates repetitiveness!! *laughing*

April 10, 2009 4:40 PM

realfoodlover said...

Active is the one for me too. And Word and Google Docs realise this too - there are tools to assess your use of active/passive... 1. Click Preferences then click Spelling and Grammar. 2. Select the Check grammar and spelling check box. 3. Select the Show readability statistics check box, and then click OK. 4. On the Tools menu, click Spelling and Grammar. Hope that works. I also love that quote posted on the Freelance Writers and Editors yahoo group: "We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we move from the passive voice to the active voice - that is, until we have stopped saying 'It got lost,' and say, 'I lost it.'" - Sydney J. Harris, journalist (1917-1986) I am linking from Winkler's Writing Rules from my food blog to here! Thanks Elisabeth

April 11, 2009 7:59 AM

Linda J. Hutchinson said...

Linda hands a "You Rule" sign to Tom for this insightful and beneficial post.  AP style helps support my family, but I know to switch gears when writing fiction. Thanks Tom! Linda www.lindajhutchinson.com

April 14, 2009 11:48 AM

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