Last week, we talked about the “write what you know” rule of writing. Today, we’re looking at the differences between active and passive voice.

The general rule of thumb is to write in an active voice. However, the passive voice does have a use, so don’t rule it out completely. You never know when it’ll come in handy!

Active Voice

Active voice is when your subject performs the verb.

Some examples of active voice are:

• John won the race.
• The dog chased the ball.
• Suzie loves to dance the salsa.

Active voice is the writing standard because it brings the action to life and draws the reader’s attention to the page. You get active voice by structuring your sentence so the subject performs the verb, and that’s the writing your readers enjoy.

Passive Voice

On the other hand, Passive voice is when the verb acts upon the subject.

Some examples of passive voice include:

• The race was won by John.
• The ball has been caught by the dog.
• Suzie’s amazing salsa routines are known by all.

Passive voice always includes forms of “to be” (was, is, was being, has been, etc.) and has a subtler tone than your active voice. That’s why it’s perfect for lab reports and other technical writings- it forces you to focus on the action instead of who’s performing it.

How to spot the difference

To find the difference between active and passive voice, you could go the boring route and check the placement of your subject and verbs.

Or, you can go the fun route and add some monsters.

If you aren’t sure about a sentence, remove the subject and add “by zombies.” If it makes sense, it’s probably in passive voice.

For example:

• The race was won (by zombies).
• The ball was chased (by werewolves).
• Salsa was danced (by vampires).

On the other hand, if you add a monster and it doesn’t make sense, you have an active voice.

• John won the race (by zombies).
• The dog chased the ball (by werewolves).
• Suzie danced the salsa (by Vampires).

Other tips

Like all writing rules, choosing between active and passive voice is at the author’s discretion. Passive voice isn’t necessarily bad, but it can take away from the story if you’re trying to write intense fiction. On the other hand, active voice isn’t ideal for technical reports. It all depends on what you’re writing, how you want it to sound, and how comfortable you are with the different voices.

Just keep your bag of monsters handy and find the voice that fits your style!

Do you prefer active or passive voice? Tell me about it in the comments!