Chapter 14: Use the active voice.

 

Two things can be achieved by replacing the passive voice with the active voice, and that is brevity and vigor.

 

 

 

Vigor:

 

Having a vigorous, active feel to your writing can go a long way in effectively engaging your readers.

Take a look at this example:

 

 

My first visit to Boston will always be remembered by me. (passive voice)

 

 

I shall always remember my visit to Boston. (active voice)

 

 

The second sentence, with its use of the active voice, has a livlier feel to it. This makes for forcible

writing, useful not only for writing conscerned principally with action, but for academic writing, such as

persuasive writing.

 

Often the use of the passive voice will result in the use of overused, redundant phrases such as there is, could be heard, by me, and so on. To avoid the excessive use of these words, replace them with active verbs. This adds more liveliness and emphathy to your writing.

 

Some examples:

 

It is believed by the candidate that a ceiling must be placed on the budget by Congress. (passive voice)

 

The candidate believes that Congress must place a ceiling on the budget. (active voice)

 

 

 

It was earlier demonstrated that heart attacks can be caused by high stress. (passive voice)

 

Researchers earlier showed that high stress can cause heart attacks. (active voice)

 

 

 

 

brevity:

 

Making your writing, clear, concise, and not too wordy can be achieved by the use of the active voice. Brevity is important in writing because there is simply no point in dedicating a whole paragraph to an idea that can be expressed equally as well in a single sentence.

 

Let's take a look at this rather wordy sentence. How can it be rewritten so the same idea can be expressed with less number of words?

 

There is a common misconception when it comes to writing that is professional in nature that a person must write in a verbose manner to come across as intelligent.

 

 

 

 

People often make a mistake in thinking that writing long-winded sentences with big words makes them appear smart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You don't need to write a lot or use big words to sound smart.

 

 

Now, that's better. The third sentence is much nicer to read, as the point it makes is much easier to comprehend than from the first sentence.

 

 

 

The use of the active voice is a shortcut to making your writing more concise. Let's end this section by taking a look at these examples:

 

 

There were a great number of dead leaves lying on the ground. (12 words)

Dead leaves covered the ground. (5 words)

 

 

The reason he left college was that his health became impaired. (11 words)

Failing health compelled him to leave college. (7 words)

 

 

It was not long before she was very sorry that she had said what she had. (16 words)

She soon repented her words. (5 words)