Anyone who writes will most likely be familiar with Passive Voice.
It is a form of writing often frowned upon by critics and writers who always make the case for Active Voice over Passive Voice.
The difference between the two can seem minimal when only one sentence of each is used as an example:
Alice made the dinner- Active Voice
The dinner was made by Alice- Passive Voice.
As you can see, either way we still got to eat dinner, but if you fill a book with the passive version readers will get turned of very quickly.
But is that true?
I have been writing for many years now and still fall into the passive voice trap when rushing through a scene, but generally speaking it will only account for about 5% or less of the finished novel.
To date, I have not had one person comment or leave a review complaining about passive voice. The only time I have ever been pulled up on it is when I am Ghostwriting for another author.
So what’s my conclusion?
Readers in general don’t give a damn about passive voice once it is kept to a minimum, and some authors are obsessed by it!
If you are a writer you can self-edit your work using many tools that will search out your passive voice sentences for you. Microsoft Word, Prowriting Aid, Grammerly and the Hemmingway App all have good features for this. (I like Hemmingway App’s one the best- it will give you a nice coloured layout and a percentage score of Passive Voice in the full text). Check it out HERE (No affiliate link)
In conclusion, don’t fret about Passive Voice, simply try to keep it to a minimum
You can check out my slightly passive voiced books HERE
European P. Douglas Writer 