Eliminate Passive Writing; 1st Word of Your Sentence Makes or Breaks It

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View the video tutorial or read the article below for bonus material.

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The first word of a sentence can make or break it,
can force it into a passive weak sentence or a vibrant active one.

Begin Sentences With a Verb

Passive writing plagues us all. I blame the sometimes antiquated grammar still taught in schools. Try this tip to auto-force an actively written sentence. Begin your sentence with a verb or at least an active phrase. It’s nearly impossible to write draggy, boring sentences when you start off with energy.

Sometimes I even turn nouns into verbs to pep up a boring sentence or technical paragraph. I’ve heard that called “verbify.” For example, the company name Google in verb form now means to do a web search; as in, “Just Google me.” You could even turn the noun “verb” into a verb by saying, ”People have verbed the word “Google.”

Always choose active voice over passive. When rewriting (sculpting) your work don’t allow sentences to just trickle from your pen. Work hard to create the active voice. The first word of a sentence can make or break it, can force it into a passive weak sentence or a vibrant active one.

Check this out: When you use passive words they force you to construct a weak, inactive sentence. Like the passive sentence I just wrote, using these words; “when you use” and “they force.”

Change that sentence to begin with the word “use”, which is active (rather than the sluggish “when you use”), and you force an active construction something like this:

“Use passive words to construct a weak, inactive sentence.” That’s the active voice.  You may not choose to say it exactly this way, but it illustrates the point.

One Word Always Better Than Two

Remember, passive writing uses more words, and boring unnecessary ones at that. That first passive sentence took 14 words, the second active rewrite used only 9 to say the same thing with some energy behind it. One word is always better than two, two words are always better than three, etc. Compare: “I slowly moved” to “I inched.”

I could go one, but that would defeat my purpose; tight, active writing that not only blogs scream out for, but every type of writing and genre. Of course, passive words must be used occasionally, (like the passive phrase I just wrote) but unless absolutely necessary just eliminate them.

More Examples From This Post:

Passive: Here’s a quick tip that will automatically force you to write an active sentence rather than a passive one. 19 words.
Active Rewrite: Try this tip to auto-force an actively written sentence. 9 words, though I may have created a new word with “auto-force.”

Passive: The wisest choice is to always choose the active form over the passive. 10 words.
Active Rewrite: Always choose active writing over passive. 6 words.

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To Learn More About the Art of Rewriting You May Purchase Aggie’s BooK

The Rewritten Word: How to Sculpt Literary Art No Matter The Genre