Active Voice and Action
Whether you're writing an English essay for class or a résumé to apply for a part-time position, it's important to use the active voice.
Let's compare the following:
The female protagonist was taken away by the evil henchman.
The evil henchman kidnapped the female protagonist.
Notice how it sounds more exciting in the second instance? That's because you've used the active voice. When you write using the active voice, it's very clear that someone is performing an action. An easy way to remember it:
Active voice: someone is doing something
vs.
Passive voice: something is done to someone
When writing an essay, tell the reader who exactly does what and your writing will stand out more. Similarly in a résumé, an employer wants to know the actions that you have done so make sure you've used active voice.
The second part is action. Word choice is important so make sure to choose strong verbs to convey your point. Let's look at the same example again.
The evil henchman took the female protagonist.
The evil henchman caught the female protagonist.
The evil henchman kidnapped the female protagonist.
More action is happening in the third example and the verb kidnapped clearly delivers on the message on what happened to the female protagonist and who stole her away.
Now go back to your piece of writing and see if you can make improvements to your writing by watching out for active voice and action.
Posted By Angel - Oct 14, 2016
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