- I had not learned about active and passive voice until I attended a military prep school in my early 20’s. However, it was not until my editor worked with me on my book that I fully grasped the idea.
- Learning about active and passive voice came later for me while attending a military prep school in my early 20’s. However, working with my editor on my book is what finally made me grasp the idea.
The first paragraph is passive voice, while the second is active. Active engages the reader and pulls them into the action. It’s a lot like the picture at the top of the post. Now look at this picture…
It makes you feel ignored right? That what passive voice is. It leaves the reader in the past. Active voice takes a bit more brain power to create, but it will make your readers a part of your story.
I’m far from being an expert at the English language, so I’m going to make this real easy for you.
All you need to do is replace past tense words – “had,” “been,” “was,” “were,” and words that end in “ed” with present tense words – “came,” “is,” and words that end in “ing.” It’s really that simple.
It is OK to put things in the present although they occurred in the past. For instance, when quoting an author, even though he wrote the book in the past, bring it to the here and now –
Wagner stated, “It is an …..”
Wagner states, “it is an ….”
You will not be able to create active voice 100% of the time, but make an effort to do it whenever possible.