[stylist] The passive voice

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

Julie,

Do you have an editor? Either a professional one or a friend who has
good editing skills? I know you are still in the drafting and revision
process, but if your intention is to submit to publishers, and you do
not feel you have the editing skills, I suggest you consider finding an
editor. You can pay for services like this, but you can also find others
willing to assist. It may be helpful and beneficial. Lori gave you some
great examples, and beyond actually pointing out where passive voice is
within your manuscript, I'm not sure how to better explain it. The
longer you write, it's something you usually begin to pick up on
yourself. Active voice just makes a manuscript crisper, clearer and more
in the moment for readers. Passive voice can also be clunky in terms of
sentence structure. Good luck and kudos on writing a full-length
manuscript.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
 
"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

Message: 7
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:17:39 -0500
From: "Julie J." <julielj at neb.rr.com>
To: Writer's Division Mailing List <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] the passive voice
Message-ID: <4F86E403.3010104 at neb.rr.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Thanks!  That did help a lot.  I also read the article concerning ending

sentences with prepositions.  I was so relieved to know there are 
instances where this is okay.  I was going quite mad trying to reword 
things to avoid the preposition at the end.

I've bookmarked the site.  I'm sure it will help me out with many more 
grammar and style issues.

Thanks!
Julie