I’m looking at you “have been” and “had”. Passive writing creates a sense of the distant past. The tone of the narration becomes more akin to how we talk.Īctive writing creates a sense of now. Readers want to connect with characters aka the subject. Placing the subject before the action (and the object) puts a spotlight on the subject and allows the reader to feel closer to the subject. In general, the helping verbs “was/were” and “have/had/has” are the prime offenders. Fewer words are used, and the sentence is tighter without the unnecessary helping verbs “had”, “been”, and “by”. Passive: The video game had been played by Jim all day.Īctive: Jim played the video game all day. The sentences are more direct, cutting through the waffle, and therefore easier to understand. The Strengths of Active WritingĪctive writing holds several advantages over passive writing. Writing gurus advise using this type of sentence structure occasionally. Although, transforming action into a descriptive is considered weak. “Running, Amber went through the door” is an active sentence. In these sentences, the first word transforms from being an action (verb) to describing (adjective) the subject. What about sentences starting with action, you ask? Now, because the English language is a little crazy, sentences that start with an action are treated differently. Passive sentences always start with action. Active sentences always start with the subject. Looking at the examples above, “Anne ran down the road” is an active sentence, and “The rain had poured down on Ben” is a passive sentence. Passive writing follows the object-action-subject pattern. Notice the different arrangement of the sentence parts between the above examples? Sentences can be constructed in one of two ways Īctive writing follows the subject-action-object pattern. The subject (usually a person, but can be animals or things), To start, let’s look at basic sentence structure. Understanding the difference between passive and active may not happen overnight - it took me years to grasp and, hell, I learnt a few things by writing this blog post! I digress. The notion of active writing vs passive writing is a challenge when both passive and active writing are technically correct, with no grammar crime committed. Often I read stories written by aspiring writers - the plot is great, characters are relatable, the message is powerful… but the narration is weak. Story Basics 101: Passive Writing vs Active Writing Home › Writers' Tool Box › Story Basics 101: Passive Writing vs Active Writing
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |