✦ Okay, here's a tip ✦

I swear, if I hear one more person giving writing advice that states , as a writer, you need to avoid passive voice, I...will...SCREAM!

Here's the deal. Passive voice isn't a problem, because other than politicians and CEO's saying, "Mistakes were made," NO ONE uses passive voice!

Passive voice is something akin to "The door was slammed by Joe." Who writes like that???

No, my friends, the issue is PASSIVE WRITING. We're talking writing using weak verbs instead of strong verbs; using too much telling rather than showing; not injecting your writing with sensory images, telling details, or revealing body language; not imbuing every single scene--even the functional ones--with an element of voice. Here's an example, not the best, but it will do:

• WEAK: Joe was upset. He'd messed up with Katie and he knew it.

• STRONGER: Joe grimaced as he kicked himself mentally. Wow! He'd really blown it with Katie, hadn't he?

• EVEN STRONGER: Joe slowly and methodically banged his head against the desk. Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! He'd fcked up with Katie--and he'd fcked up big time!

Now, I'm not saying injecting expletives into your writing is the answer. Here, I'm just attempting to give Joe's character some voice. But in doing that, while I don't know who this Joe character is, I certainly empathize with him the most in that last example, don't you?

Okay, well this was supposed to be a short post, and I seem physically incapable of doing that, so I'll just say, "Thank you for coming to my TED talk and I'll let you get back to your day." :-)

Best, ~ Paula ❤️