Writers--Dump Those Passive Verbs

 

Our poster for today is one you might find in a primary grade class. Verb Flash Cards. Still pertinent for writers today. What is the common denominator in run, walk, smile? Action. 

Every writing reference book will have a section on active vs passive verbs. The passive verbs are forms of the verb 'to be.' Words like was, is, are, were, am, been, being, and will be are links to the object in the sentence, but they are weak and kind of blah. They land with a dull thud.

Action verbs bring the sentence to life. They give the reader a clear picture of what is occurring. Even the three simple action verbs in our poster let us see what is going on. They show us while the passive verbs are all about telling. 

When you are editing your drafts, do a word check on those passive verbs. When you look for the word 'was' and click on the Find button in Word or whatever program you use, you might be shocked at how many times it pops up in your entire story or essay. Do another check for the word 'is' and one for 'are' and others. One of the women in my online writing group often includes this kind of check in her critique. I have a feeling the person who subbed the piece gets a bit of a shock when she sees all those passive verbs.

So, why do we use them? They're easy! To find an active verb takes a little more thought, maybe even a glance at a thesaurus on occasion. We use a lot of the passive verbs in our everyday conversation. When we see the great many passive verbs, we need to change as many as possible. You'll still use some of the passives now and then. Your aim is to change those you can. In the end, you're going to have a much more interesting story or essay. 

You might need to change the order of your sentence when correcting a passive verb and making it active. It's fine to do that. The original meaning will stay the same. 

For an exercise, look at these sentences which all have passive verbs. Rewrite the sentence using an action verb.:

A.  Johnny was on his way to the park.

B.  She was at the circus tent. 

C.  He was going to be in the school play. 

D.  The flat tire was changed by Pete.

E.  The song was written by Sam in one day.

F.  That song is enjoyed by the high school chorus.

When you edit your work, make looking for passive verbs high on your checklist.

Use Active Verbs When You Write

The photo has nothing to do with today's topic. It's Tuesday and the flowers made me smile, so enjoy this Happy Tuesday offering above.

I critiqued the first chapter of a book for another writer today. Her book is historical fiction for 11-15 year old readers. Overall, she offered a good opening chapter--hooked me and left me wanting to read more. I noticed her choice of verbs. She does not have the problem that so many writers do--using an overabundance of passive verbs.

Instead, she chose active verbs and ones that showed something about the subject, whether a person or place or whatever. I suspect that she has trained herself to do write with these more interesting verbs. It's far easier to use those passive ones like is, was, are. We sometimes get lazy when we write, especially in first drafts as we are intent on getting the story down, not worrying about the kind of verbs we use.

But, if we work at it, we can search for the active verb first. Then, even our first drafts will look better. If we make a real effort to use active verbs in abundance, it becomes a habit. A very good habit, I might add. It's still worthwhile to pay close attention to the types of verbs you use when you are doing an edit. Replace as many passive ones as you can.

Try this exercise with some of your own writing. Pull up something you've written and highlight every passive verb in it. Are you a bit overwhelmed when you see the slashes of yellow throughout? Now, go through the piece and substitute active verbs in as many places as possible. Note that you can't always insert that one word in place of the passive verb. You might have to rearrange your sentence order to make it work.

Are you ever going to have a whole story or article without a passive verb? No. But you can cut down the number considerably. If you do, you will probably have a more interesting piece of writing. Your piece will have more showing than telling because active verbs show us something. Your story will also become more interesting to your readers.

Need help finding the right verb? Turn to that trusty Thesaurus gathering dust on your bookshelf--or one that is online. Or put your imagination to work to come up with better verbs. The more often you do this, the easier it will become.