Writers hear a lot about using active verbs in their work. What’s this all about?
Writing Tip for Today: Let’s discuss passive and active constructions—and the pros and cons of each.
Always Active?
New writers often hear that passive verbs bad, active verbs good. In general yes, we should strive for particular and lively verbs in our work. I’ve written several posts on reducing the gerund construction (was “ing”) in concise writing.
While it is important to write in a way that best communicates to readers what you mean, the active verb rule has exceptions. To use a to be verb often implies a continual state of being. Consider the active sentence: He hated everything. This is active yet still general—we don’t know what he hates exactly.
If we write, He was a horrible raisin of a man, we get the sense that this guy was simply awful in most every way, shriveled in both appearance and in outlook. If you try too hard for active verbs, you might find yourself reaching for less particular words to avoid repetition. Don’t give in to sloppy is/are/were constructions, but don’t be afraid to use a was once in a while.
Tightened Writing
When we self-edit, writers can always be looking for ways to tighten the work. Those pesky gerunds (he was walking) shrink to he walked. By writing in a more controlled way, you not only manage your readers’ experiences, readers also receive the story in a more direct and easier-to-digest way.
Those red and blue underlines on your Word doc can hint at spots where you can tighten a sentence. Yet I always try to imagine exactly what an action conveys and adjust to a more particular verb if possible. EX: Instead of generic walking, he could stroll amble, saunter, stride.
But be careful here too. If you stuff your prose with too many active verbs, the passage can feel frenetic or confusing. The result may resemble a three-ring circus where the characters twirl, jump and somersault to readers’ distraction.
How you use active and passive constructions can also influence your writer’s voice.
Developing Voice
As you write, you probably long to develop a unique voice—a style readers instantly recognize. Yeah, me too. Most voice development happens over time as you practice your craft. But how you use active and passive constructions can also influence your writer’s voice.
Consider hard-boiled detective writer Elmore Leonard. His style leaned toward terse and to-the-point. Hemingway is famous for short, pithy sentences as opposed to say, nineteenth century writers. A fun analysis might be to investigate classic works to analyze the use of active and passive constructions.
Trends come and go but since Hemingway, E.B. White and Raymond Carver, readers tend to gravitate toward less flowery sentences. This requires more active verbs. Take a look at your own work to see how you tend to put together sentences. Are you using more active or more passive constructions? Try tightening some of the passive stuff to see if the writing is more direct.
