Let's again set aside grim news for writing. I got a request for #writingtips on avoiding passive voice, so here's a full-proof method I learned in college. First, reminders. Passive voice: "The bill was passed by Congress." Active: "Congress passed the bill." 1/5
Turning passive to active is easy, so when writing your first draft DON'T WORRY about whether it's active or passive. Nail down your ideas and facts. That's the most important thing in writing--the meaning. 2/5
Next: highlight all forms of "to be," such as "is," "was," "were," etc. Circling words on a printout works well, but so does putting them in bold on your screen. Now the key step: rewrite the sentence eliminating the highlighted word. 3/5
I'll demonstrate by highlighting in CAPS. If you wrote "The man WAS eaten by the lion," it becomes "The lion ate the man." Or "The council IS planning to raise taxes" becomes "The council plans to raise taxes." Simple as that. 4/5
Disclaimer: If your meaning is best conveyed in passive voice, use it. But active generally works best and this method will help achieve it. Also, this works for dailies on deadline as well as long-term efforts. Stay safe, folks, and may all your verbs be strong. #writingips 5/5
