If passive voice were a crime punishable by death, I’d be long gone of this world.
As I embarked upon my first novel, I hit upon the terms: active and passive voice. After abundant research, I thought I had it all figured out. Boy, was I wrong.
I didn’t comprehend the severity of my crime until my editor and her red pen joined the mix. An extremely knowledgeable and supportive collaborator, my editor fixed and/or flagged every insidious episode of PVL (Passive Voice Love).
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I see this all the time. After going through this process, you’ll stop the passive before it starts.”
My editor was right. I am catching myself now. The problem is, my mind still seems to radiate to passive first, especially sentences starting with or using: “it was” and “there was”.
For example, for some reason, I prefer to write: … so long as there was a set of young female eyes admiring his physique.
As opposed to: … so long as a set of young female eyes was near to admire his physique.
The struggle is real. I fight my PVL addiction daily.
In the words of Chicago: “Being without you, takes a lot of getting used to. Should learn to live with it, but I don’t want to. Living without you, is all a big mistake. Instead of getting easier, it’s the hardest thing to take. I’m addicted to ya babe, you’re a hard habit to break.”
Happy writing every one!
