: Re: What can someone do who struggles to write in active voice? I will preface my question by stating I am very new to writing and new to this website. I am here for help. I'm writing a collection

@LarsenBagley300

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It is somewhat normal to write a first draft with a passive style.

Here is how you shift writing to a more active voice:

(1) Search through your document for is/was/were and similar verbs of being. Assess each instance, and decide if that word is part of a passive construction, and reformat to active if appropriate.

(2) Part of passivity, though, is not passive voice per se but comes about through the addition of qualifying action verbs. Trying to do something is less powerful that doing something. Scan through your document for any construction as: 'began to x,' 'tried to x,' 'thought about doing x' -- anything along these lines. Basically, such constructions place a weaker verb before a more active verb. (There is no try. Do. Or do not.)

(3) Some verbs are inherently considered weak, even 'action verbs,' if they are vague or overused, simplistic verbs. Running is weaker than bolting or dashing. Biting is weaker than ripping into. Thinking is weaker than calculating.

(4) Along the lines of 'thinking.' Any verb that you 'can do on your couch' should be critically examined. Looking, thinking, sitting, dreaming, remembering, and so on. Consider deleting any instance of a verb that does not require the character to physically move.

These are not absolute rules, of course. You must decide on a case-by-case basis. If you make those four editorial rounds on your writing, you'll have a more active piece of prose.

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