A few weeks ago I posted a series of articles about writing. I mentioned then that on occasion I will continue to publish more articles on the topic. Today, I want to present to you another writing recommendation. Beware, I will take you back to your high school grammar classes, but only for a bit.
I’d like to highlight two skills to help us write concise, to-the-point sentences, particularly for today’s readers who, unlike readers of old, prefer clarity and brevity.
Tip #1: Avoid the Passive Voice
Passive voice: The cake was baked by Sarah.
Active voice: Sarah baked the cake.
Writing in the passive voice makes text feel less dynamic. It slows the pace of the narrative, the action, and the dialog. How do you recognize a sentence written in the passive voice? Here are two clues.
Clue #1 – When the subject (in the example above, Sarah) is placed as the object. To remind you of high school English, in the sentence: I eat popcorn, “I” is the subject, “eat” is the verb, and “popcorn” is the object. To write this sentence in the passive voice, a much less desirable form, it would read: The popcorn was eaten by me.
Clue #2 – In the passive voice, “be” verbs (am, are, is, was, were) are used in front of the verb. In the example above with Sarah, you see “was baked” is passive.
Tip #2—Avoid Gerunds When Possible
Gerunds are verb forms that function as nouns in a sentence. They are created when we add “-ing” to a verb. When we do that, we turn a verb into a noun but maintain some verb-like qualities. Here are a few examples of the use of gerunds and how sentences can be improved without them.
With gerund: He started learning cooking last year.
Without gerund: He learned to cook last year.
With gerund: We began studying French last month.
Without gerund: We began to study French last month.
With gerund: They are practicing playing the piano.
Without gerund: They practice the piano.
With gerunds and passive voice: Our session was run by the CEO. He was expecting us to participate. We were trying to pay attention and be more engaging.
Without gerunds and with an active voice: The CEO ran the session. He expected us to participate. We tried to pay attention and remain engaged.
When you remove the passive voice and gerunds, you improve the pace and style of your prose and amp up the momentum of your content.
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