McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Problem with passive verbs
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: pathele on February 26, 2007, 10:23:17 PM ---I have always had an issue with writing passive verbs, especially when I write past tense.
--- End quote ---
Passive verbs aren't a problem in and of themselves. Just do what's right for the voice.
On Writing has some good advice in, but what I thought was most interesting in it was comparing King's advice on writing with what the autobiographical bits say about the kind of person he is. I'm sure his revision habits are quite strongly affected by the ways in which he says his memory is bad, for example, because he seems to be able to go back and give a clear through-read to something much closer to finshing first draft than I would ever be able to.
CynDe:
I used the "find/change" function on my computer to locate and bold all the uses of "was" and "were." It helped me edit and replace the passives whenever possible.
*Lady Disappearing Act *:
what about these guys, because this drives me crazy.
"There was a shocked and sudden silence as he met her eyes. Thirty years ago, she had had an encounter with his father, in which her uncle's best man had been mortally wounded....etc etc."
what's the cure for that?
HouseWren:
Hi. I replied to pathele in a PM because I'm not a writer and hesitated to intrude, but since this thread is still going, maybe someone else can use this. Passives aren't bad in themselves, and sometimes they serve a purpose. The best explanation of how to use them to advantage or avoid them for a good reason is in Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace, 2nd ed., by Joseph M. Williams. The book is aimed at non-fiction writers, but still deserves a look for Williams's take on clarity, coherence, concision, emphasis, and rhythm. The 2/E is out of print, but used copies are cheap and easy to find.
CynDe:
--- Quote from: Daoine on April 12, 2007, 02:21:39 PM ---what about these guys, because this drives me crazy.
"There was a shocked and sudden silence as he met her eyes. Thirty years ago, she had had an encounter with his father, in which her uncle's best man had been mortally wounded....etc etc."
what's the cure for that?
--- End quote ---
I would go with "Thirty years ago, she had an encounter..." the other "had" is not really necessary. I had a problem with that until a friend who is a grammar fiend corrected me.
Or, better yet, "Thirty years ago she encountered..."
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