I write in the passive voice way too much, how can I stop? for Questionland Seattle

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I write in the passive voice way too much, how can I stop?

So I have a fundamental block on writing in passive voice. I don't recognize it (for all I know this is all passive). I am a fairly good technical writer, but this area has always just stumped me.

What resources can I use to understand the passive voice and how to stop using it? Are there any books or guides? Any tricks that you all use?

I am open to grade-school level books or anything like that, if you guys know of any that deal with this issue. If you know any tricks, I am fine with fixing the problem at the editing level (if I can't fix my fundamental block).

Basil asked in Writers & Publishing 7 months ago | Report

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BlueSax

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Active voice: "The dog chased the cat."
Passive voice: "The cat was chased by the dog."

Notice that in active voice, the subject (one doing the action) is first, and the object (one that the action is done to) is second. In passive voice, the subject is 2nd, or sometimes completely missing, e.g. "The cat was chased."

The examples that Diomira and Mahtli69 gave are actually examples of tense: compare these--
I am waiting.
I will be waiting.
I will have been waiting.
I was waiting.
I had been waiting.

None of these are in passive voice. The subject "I" comes before the verb (or verb phrase/cluster). "Have", "had", and "has" are helping verbs or 'modals' that give tense information.

To look for passive voice, you want to look for a sentence construction that includes a form of "be" (is, are, am, be, been, being, was, were) that is then followed by a past tense verb, and maybe a noun (subject). If there's no noun after the verb, then you are left wondering "who/what did that?" "The cat was chased? By who?" Passive voice MIGHT also have a modal, but that's not necessary. It the presence of the past tense verb that makes it passive.

If you pay attention to politics or your boss, you'll probably start to notice this more. When people want to deflect blame, they will use passive voice. Compare "It has been decided that we will let go of 50 employees" to "I have decided to let go of 50 employees".

Passive voice can be a great tool if the subject is not known, but it is often used to be intentionally vague, or misused and causes the reader/listener to spend a lot more time processing the information. Your brain will understand "A beaver ate the log" MUCH faster than "The log was eaten by the beaver".

Good luck checking for passive voice! There's no 'easy' check, but remember to check all the 8 forms of "be" for a part tense verb (usually will end in -ed) and also ask yourself "Who did this?". If the subject IS listed, you should always see the word "by", but that doesn't help if the sentence doesn't include the subject (e.g. The log was eaten."

BlueSax answered in Writers & Publishing 7 months ago | Report

2 comments by ozchick and sublevelthree…

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Awesome answer!

ozchick commented 7 months ago | Report

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Give this one the shroom!

sublevelthree commented 7 months ago | Report

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Passive voice involves the past tense of have and the past tense of "to be" and the past or current tense of the verb: I have been waiting. It has been received. The best way to avoid it, is to look for the "have" "to be" combination.

Diomira Birch answered in Writers & Publishing 7 months ago | Report

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Keep in mind that use of the pasive voice makes one into a victim, instead of an active, agressive do-er. Use that mindset and see if it helps.

O my captain answered in Writers & Publishing 7 months ago | Report

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"I am a fairly good technical writer, but this area has always just stumped me"

"I am a fairly good technical writer, but this area always just stumps me."

The trick is to always write in the present tense, and avoid the perfect forms.

Mahtli69 answered in Writers & Publishing 7 months ago | Report

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I've had that habit too. I still do it and basically just have to keep watch for it in the first writing stage, and then be careful in editing to pick it up. No cure to offer, just practice. Keep an eye out for and remind yourself to use either names or pronouns.

ozchick answered in Writers & Publishing 7 months ago | Report

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Please know that it's also okay to accept that this is your style. George Orwell wasn't necessarily right that we need less "passive voice". Unless you're only interested in writing for a Technical Writer type of employment where active is required by the job, you should own this trait and use it for what it does well: (wiki) "There is general agreement that the passive voice is useful for emphasis, or when the receiver of the action is more important than the actor"

Something you can embrace is writing that way.

FormerRebelTurnedParentalUnit answered in Writers & Publishing 7 months ago | Report

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