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?

35 comments:

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

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

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  2. Replies
    1. Hi Summer
      I think I went with the most writerly choice ;)

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

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

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

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    Replies
    1. 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 ;)

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

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

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

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

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

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

    My topic is slightly more severe - 'Apocalypses.'

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

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

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  12. Oh, the cliches! So true!

    Looking forward to going along the challenge with you!

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

    Shannon at The Warrior Muse

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

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

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  17. 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

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

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

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

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  20. 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

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    1. Attitude is a great word dense with positivity ;)

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  21. 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.

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

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  22. 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!

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