So when is it OK to use passive voice? Passive voice is useful and necessary when you don’t know who is acting, when what was done is more important than who did it, and when you want to speed up the narrative. When you don’t know who is acting: A fern was crushed. The tracker [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Grammar'
When to Use Passive Voice in Fiction
October 31st, 2008 · No Comments
Passive Voice Defined
October 31st, 2008 · No Comments
Passive voice is to be avoided in writing. Why? Because it’s boring. Hmmm. So maybe I should have said, “Writers should avoid using the passive voice.” Is that more interesting than the first line I went with? There are “passive voice” cops who will complain about every instance of passive voice in a manuscript. And [...]
Tense Issues
October 31st, 2008 · No Comments
It didn’t use to be much of a problem for novelists. Everyone wrote in past tense. First person past tense, or third person past tense. Past Tense—First Person: Yesterday I hit the ball, kicked the cat, and ate the pancakes. Past Tense—Third Person: Yesterday Timmy hit the ball, kicked the cat, and ate the pancakes. [...]