Monday, 1 April 2013

ACTIVE VOICE - I am A to Z Challenged


Each post for the A to Z Challenge is the challenge I set for myself.
A is for
ACTIVE VOICE

The difference between active and passive.







A is for the Active voice. Now I’ve learned how to jettison the passive form, I have to tie my voice back from the hyper-active.

HAL LONGLEAT AND THE TROUBLE WITH TRUTH
Hal hid in the shadows by the stable door when everyone else crowded forward to get a better view. He was quick, and thin as a whippet, and ready to dart back inside if anyone came to find him. 



Could YOU have been gifted with the ability to identify and eliminate weak and brittle phrases from your work? To the uninitiated, these interlopers look like quality imagery.

CLICHÉ RAIDERS: REWRITE!

•         accident waiting to happen
•         actions speak louder than words
•         all in the same boat
•         all things considered
•         almost too good to be true
•         angel of mercy
•         angry silence
•         as luck would have it
•         as sure as eggs is/are eggs
•         at the end of the day


FOR A, I CHOSE THE ACTIVE VOICE. WHAT IS THE SUBJECT OF YOUR A POST?
Posted by Unknown at Monday, April 01, 2013
Labels: , , , , , , ,

35 comments:

  1. Barbara White Daille1 April 2013 at 17:10

    Hi, Elaine! Looks like I'll learn a lot here this month.

    For my "A" word I chose "Anything" - since anything goes on my blog this month. Lame? I hope not. LOL It's my first time doing A to Z.

    Later,
    Barbara

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    Replies
    1. Unknown1 April 2013 at 19:51

      Hi Barbara
      I think Anything is an intriguing title - who knows what I'm going to find over there. ;)

      Delete
    2. Barbara White Daille1 April 2013 at 22:50

      Elaine - I didn't do that intentionally, but I'm glad it worked out that way. LOL

      Delete
  2. Summer Ross1 April 2013 at 17:42

    Good choice!
    ~Summer

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    Replies
    1. Unknown1 April 2013 at 19:52

      Hi Summer
      I think I went with the most writerly choice ;)

      Delete
  3. Unknown1 April 2013 at 18:22

    Great picture. That's exactly how I view active voice.

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    Replies
    1. Unknown1 April 2013 at 19:53

      Isn't it a great picture? It evokes the difference between active and passive in a few neat lines.

      Delete
  4. Sheila Siler1 April 2013 at 19:23

    Good picture of active voice :). Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier.

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    Replies
    1. Unknown1 April 2013 at 19:54

      Hi Sheila
      No problem, I was excited to see what everyone was posting for the A to Z Challenge - I couldn't get around all 1,600 though ;)

      Delete
  5. DL Hammons1 April 2013 at 19:34

    Excellent topic...and a hard one to remember! :)

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    Replies
    1. Unknown1 April 2013 at 19:55

      I know! It is a sneaky little fall back to those take-your-time days ;)

      Delete
  6. Unknown1 April 2013 at 19:38

    hard one to get yer head around, thanks for sharing it with us and I can't wait to see the other posts.

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    Replies
    1. Unknown1 April 2013 at 19:56

      Hi WW
      Positivity! Positivity! It is a much crisper kind of read.

      Delete
  7. Laura Clipson1 April 2013 at 19:48

    An interesting post :)
    Thanks for stopping by my blog!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nancy Thompson1 April 2013 at 19:56

    My theme (mostly) for the A2Z is what I've learned about writing emotion elements. Today, A is for Angry!

    ReplyDelete
  9. John Wiswell1 April 2013 at 19:57

    Cliches certainly can grate on the... no, I won't do that to you.

    My topic is slightly more severe - 'Apocalypses.'

    ReplyDelete
  10. Charity Bradford1 April 2013 at 19:58

    Active voice is so important. I've struggled with the passive but am getting better. Now to start working on the cliches!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Unknown1 April 2013 at 22:02

    I'm not native English so some of those I wasn't familiar with.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Betsy Brock2 April 2013 at 01:00

    Oh, the cliches! So true!

    Looking forward to going along the challenge with you!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Unknown2 April 2013 at 01:04

    Excellent post! I can tell I will learn a lot from you during this challenge!
    Connie
    I'm visiting from the A to Z Blog Challenge
    Peanut Butter and Whine

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  14. Shannon Lawrence2 April 2013 at 01:18

    Active voice is a good one! Something all writers need to be aware of.

    Shannon at The Warrior Muse

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  15. KC Weldon2 April 2013 at 03:47

    Hm. I'll have to watch for active vs. passive voice in my writing. Good post.

    KC @ The Occasional Adventures of a Blog & Oh Frog It

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  16. Kimberly2 April 2013 at 03:54

    I just wrote about this for work for the newbies. :) Active voice makes such a big difference. Great post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown2 April 2013 at 17:18

      Hi Kimberly
      It is such an important skill, one I wish I'd learned earlier.

      Delete
  17. Catch My Words2 April 2013 at 03:55

    The beauty of using active voice is that it gets rid of boring be verbs. My post is about a literary agent: Harold Wolfe. Come check him out.

    http://joycelansky.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  18. Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy2 April 2013 at 07:42

    I'm constantly going through my ms to chop out all those passive mistakes

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    1. Unknown2 April 2013 at 17:11

      Hi Lynda
      I know. Snip! Snip! Snip! However, properly placed, the odd passive sentence can create a great change of tone or pace too.

      Delete
  19. Nick Wilford2 April 2013 at 11:39

    It's something I'm always looking out for. I'm doing a story as I go along based on words people suggest each day.

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    1. Unknown2 April 2013 at 17:10

      Hi Nick
      Thanks for the follow. I loved your story and its arable fields ;) You have set yourself quite the challenge - Good luck.

      Delete
  20. Jamie Dement (LadyJai)2 April 2013 at 17:19

    Awesome! I love active voice, even though I miss a lot in my own writing!
    My A word is Attitude, since I'm doing a Positive Thinking through Post-it Notes on my blog for the A to Z Challenge :)

    Jamie Dement (LadyJai)
    http://writemotivation.we3dements.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown2 April 2013 at 19:44

      Attitude is a great word dense with positivity ;)

      Delete
  21. Anonymous2 April 2013 at 23:09

    Mine's fictional stories.
    A was for About a Girl...
    I'm new to this writing thing... really want to understand the passive/active voice thing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown4 April 2013 at 08:29

      Hi Ficticiousamo
      I hope you have fun on your writing journey. Active construction is good as it's more alive and instant.

      Delete
  22. Betty Alark10 June 2013 at 15:52

    Hi, Elaine

    Sorry I didn't get to your blog during the challenge. Just experiencing your blog today. What an excellent resource. Obviously you are very skilled at what you do,and you are an extremely talented person.

    Great blog!

    ReplyDelete

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